About Us

NatureTrack is a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides cost-free outdoor field trips for Santa Barbara County school-aged children, utilizing local trails and beaches throughout the county.

NatureTrack Film Festival is a program of the NatureTrack Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Santa Barbara County that hosts outdoor field trips for students, transporting them from their indoor classrooms to “natural” classrooms, where learning comes alive as all their senses are engaged. Since its founding in 2011, NatureTrack has provided thousands of outdoor experiences for K-12 students in Santa Barbara County. NatureTrack Foundation gives thousands of K-12 students from a wide variety of socio-econimic backgrounds and circumstances the opportunity to engage with the outdoors in a way they may not have had the chance to in their everyday lives. As an extension of NatureTrack’s mission to inspire passion for nature, the NatureTrack Film Festival was born, bringing education through art and the outdoors together by showcasing inspiring and thought- provoking films to the community.

Learn More at www.naturetrack.org

The NatureTrack Film Festival features filmmakers selected from all over the world.

A group of people are posing for a picture in front of a banner with a carrot on it

NatureTrack Film Festival (NTFF) is a three-day celebration of nature and outdoor adventure through film. Started in Los Olivos in 2018, the festival has showcased hundreds of national and international filmmakers’ works to the thrill and delight of thousands of attendees. In 2024 NTFF will celebrate its 6th anniversary and will be held in Goleta, CA, bringing the festival to a wide and inclusive community full of nature enthusiasts and film lovers, as well as a region famous for its world class hospitality.

Submissions for the 6th festival are open now! We welcome long and short form submissions in the categories of Adventure, Animation, Biography, Conservation, Kids Connecting With Nature, Scenic, Student, and a special genre called Outdoors & Out of Bounds. Juried awards will be determined by a panel of film industry professionals, outdoor guides and teachers. Awards will be given out for Best in Category, Best Depiction of Children Connecting to Nature – the “Dan Conaway Award,” Best in Festival Overall, and an “Igniting Passion for Film Award.” There will also be an Audience Favorite award.

A group of people are standing in the grass holding wine glasses.

The concept of a Santa Barbara County based film festival dedicated to the outdoors and situated in the stunning natural setting of the Santa Ynez Valley, originated with NTFF founder and director Sue Eisaguirre who conceived the idea for a local nature film festival as an extension of the non-profit NatureTrack Foundation that she started in 2011.

Sue then recruited co-directors KC Murphy Thompson and Holly Cline. KC brought a film degree and a diverse industry background in TV, film and music to the team, while Holly brought tech muscle, graphic design and an extensive nonprofit arts pedigree to her role. By year 3 the three co-directors had succeeded in positioning NTFF in the international film festival firmament capturing Fest Forum's Best in Fest award for Best Charitable Film Festival in 2018.

After the COVID induced hiatus Holly and KC transitioned to consultant roles and happily passed their batons to incoming directors Mitchka and Francisco. They remain engaged with NTFF and are looking forward to many successful festival outings under the stewardship of Sue, Michka and Francisco.

NatureTrack introduces school children to outdoor spaces from the seashore to the inland oak woodlands of Santa Barbara County by providing cost-free outdoor field trips. Utilizing local trails and beaches throughout the county, NatureTrack instills students with leadership skills, attitudes and habits for lifelong learning, inspiring them to be respectful stewards of the natural world. Since 2011, thousands of students have had been gifted the opportunity to experience a NatureTrack field trip. Demand for the curriculum coordinated program has increased every year with teachers praising the docent-led excursions that align with classroom instruction. Sue was inspired to bring her outdoor vision indoors and onscreen for more people to enjoy and appreciate what her docents and students practice and experience in their outdoor “classrooms.”

Summer Screening Series

August 10, 7:30PM

Come Hell or High Water

Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek follows the painful but inspiring journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who moves home to coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians and face ordeals that include Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster in their struggle for self-determination and environmental justice.
Website
The Malloy Brothers

Following in the footsteps of their father, the Malloy brothers have been blazing trails off the beaten path since before they knew how to stand up on a surfboard.

Website

August 31, 7:30PM

Carrizo Plains - A Sense of Place

Carrizo Plain - A Sense of Place is a cinematic journey into a remarkable remnant of early California — the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Explored through the eyes of three artists, Chris Chapman, John Iwerks, and Bill Dewey, the Carrizo Plain comes to life in this 32-minute documentary that reveals the special character of this hidden landscape. Through their personal sense of place, we discover what makes the Carrizo Plain National Monument and places like it so important for us all.
Website
Range Rider

As wolves reclaim the wilds of Washington, range rider Daniel Curry attempts to bridge the divide between ranchers and predators and prove that coexistence is possible.
Trailer

September 14, 7:30PM

Bird Night

Nesting with the Devil

'Nesting with the Devil' tells the story of Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles, and their mysterious nesting relationship on the coast of British Columbia.

Trailer
The Snowy Plover & You

In this inspiring short film we get to know the Western Snowy plover, a threatened species in our own backyard, and learn how we can share its beach habitat and encourage recovery.
Website
Fresh to Frightening

The world of competitive yacht racing is fast, exciting, and glamorous.

From the America’s Cup to the Olympics to billionaires racing across exotic seas it is a world dominated by men. Gracing covers of yachting magazines the world over, images of these sailboats and their crews are captured by a small but elite group of yachting photographers – a profession also dominated by men.

But in the early ’80s, inspired by her father's Canada’s Cup yacht racing triumph a young girl from Burlington Bay Canada, Sharon Green, entered the fray.

Website

ICEolation

Two People, two weeks, two kayaks.
Sophie and Ewan took a journey beyond wilderness, a self supported journey via sea kayak to connect with an uninhabited land of ice and penguins.
The film takes you with them on their journey from the preparations of planning such an expedition, through the challenges and riding the highs of Antarctica.
Trailer
Boy Nomad

Boy Nomad follows a year in the life of 9-year old Janibek, who lives with his family in Mongolia’s Altai Mountains. His first love is racing horses, but this winter, his father will bring him on the toughest journey in a nomad’s life: the winter migration. When the film crew arrives, they discover the Altai is gripped in a “zhut”, a hard winter that blocks the passes and threatens to wipe out the family’s only possession: their animals.
Website

“The Beaver Believers” is a charming yet sobering tail of the unique individuals who are fighting to restore the North American Beaver to the watersheds of the American West.

From filmmaker Sarah Koenigsberg:
“Beavers can show us the way and even do much of the work for us, if only we can find the humility to trust in the restorative power of nature and our own ability to play a positive role within it. Shot in 8 western US states, Mexico, and Canada, through desert drought, raging wild fires, spring floods, and the peaceful calm of wetlands, this film will change the way you think about climate change and inspire you to take a bite out of the challenges we face, one stick at a time.”

Edited by Chris Cresci with an original score by Andrew Barkan, this special documentary is not to be missed!

A poster for a family friendly event called the beaver believers.

Meet the NatureTrack Film Festival Team

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Sue Eisaguirre

Founder/Executive Director of NatureTrack Foundation

Sue is the Founder/Director of NatureTrack, an outdoor education 501C3 foundation providing standards-based field trips in the nature world to inspire school-aged children to embrace our natural world with respect and wonderment. The NatureTrack Film Festival is an extension of the organization’s mission and seeks to ignite passion for nature through film; encouraging all generations to be stewards of and appreciate our natural resources.

sue@naturetrack.org

A man is carrying a camera on his shoulder.

Gareth Kelly

Managing Director

Gareth Kelly is an award winning filmmaker living in Goleta, California. Originally from the UK Kelly spent a decade in the construction industry before founding Bowline Films and pursuing his passion for filmmaking. As the Managing Director for the 6th NatureTrack Film Festival, Kelly is excited to build on the success of last year’s festival, the first in Goleta, and deliver a world-class event for the community, our partners and supporters.

gareth@naturetrackfilmfestival.org

A young man in a purple shirt is smiling for the camera.

Bryce Thompson

Programming Director

Bryce Thompson is a film researcher and educator who is one of the newest members of the NatureTrack team. Bryce attended the University of Oregon for his undergraduate degrees in History, Humanities, and Cinema Studies before moving to Los Angeles to work in film production and education, as well as to attain his master’s degree in Film and Media Studies at Chapman University. Growing up in Southern Oregon hiking, rafting, biking, and camping, Bryce has always had deep passions for the outdoors and nature, and he is very excited to join the NatureTrack team to couple those interests with his love of film as the Programming Director of this year’s film festival.

bryce@naturetrackfilmfestival.org