SBIFF - 180° South: World Premiere

What makes the Santa Barbara Film Festival so special is the wide array of wonderful films that film makers from all over the world premiere during the 10 day long event.

On this evening, the very crowded Arlington Theater was premiering 180 South.  This is the story of American adventurer Jeff Johnson's 6 month journey to Pataganio.  His goal was to re-enact the journey of explorer, environmentalist, and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard.  The expedition was inspired from footage discovered from the 1968 journey of Chouinard and best friend Doug Tompkins as they explored mountain ranges and never before surfed coastline on a 5,000 mile trip from Ventura, California to deep in the heart of Patagonia.

On hand for the film was Chouinard, Johnson, executive producer Rick Ridgeway, director Chris Malloy and the films fearless cinematography crew headed by Danny Moder.

From the beginning of the film all scenes follow Jeff's modern day adventures along with Chouinard's and Tompkins recounting of their trip back in 1968.  Chouniard and Tompkins pure love of travel and adventure is what makes this film so inspiring.  According to Chouinard, the real adventure begins when real problems arise and this no frills attiude is the underlying motive for Johnson's trek to follow in their footsteps.

An amazing scene is when the mast on Johnson's boat complete breaks in half, an event so devestating that most travelers would stop right there.  Instead the crew recovers the broken parts, makes it into shore somehow, finds shipbuilding architectual plans, and takes about a month to repair the damage.  Off they go to continue with the adventure.

Chouinard and Johnson are much more than travelers and thrill seekers.  During their 50 year friendship and many adventures, they also developed an understanding of how important the environment is.  They have created a 2 million acre park preserve which has become a global symbol of environmental consciousness.

180 South is a must see for adventures, environmentalists, and movie goers everywhere.