NIK BLASKOVICH/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
“If you’re not a surfer after seeing this film, you’re going to feel like you are.”
Sunday night’s SBIFF event at the Arlington, “Storm Surfers 3-D” was a much mellower event than the previous two. No Hollywood, no ravenous banks of paparazzi, no screaming, adoring fans holding up posters. But the Arlington was modestly packed with serious surf fans waiting to see this breakthrough surfing documentary made all the more remarkable with its use of?3D.
The night was made even more special with the announcement that the film had just won the Australian Oscars —the coveted AACTA — for Best Documentary Feature. That made the journey to Santa Barbara for its two directors — Justin McMillan and Christopher Nellius — and its three stars — famous big-wave surfers Tom Carroll and Ross Clarke-Jones and surfing forecaster Ben Matson — all that more special. As the directors said just before the screening, the Arlington was the best theater they’d ever screened in.