Outdoor Adventures on the Big Screen at the NatureTrack Film Festival
John Palminteri
GOLETA, Calif. (KEYT) – The 2025 NatureTrack Film Festival (NTFF) is showcasing about 25 films including a special session for students in Goleta.
The festival began Thursday night at the Riviera Theatre in Santa Barbara. The two-day event has world-class films that celebrate nature and outdoor adventure. Friday’s films were at the Camino Real Cinemas.
In addition to Goleta there will also be films in Los Olivos and more plans to move throughout the West Coast to bring the films to more communities.
National and international filmmakers are taking part.
All proceeds from NTFF support NatureTrack and inspire respectful stewardship of our natural world. The films are meant to inspire, educate, and connect people with nature.
Three theaters were in use Friday, in collaboration with Metropolitan Theatres, for 5th graders in the Goleta Union School district.
Jack Hanson from Mountain View School said, “me and my family. Like, converted a bus into an RV. We go on trips, like Oregon, Washington. We are going to try to go to, northern Canada.”
Abby Pickens with NatureTrack said, “Nature track is all about fostering a lifelong fascination with nature. And we’re doing that through film today .”
Part of the outreach for the students is to be inspired by both the images and the thought of being closer to nature.
Hanson said, “I don’t really play video games, so, like, I do active stuff every day. I go outside.”
Sue Eisaguirre, NatureTrack Executive Director, said, “There’s something about seeing it on a huge screen in a theater and having that sound, that Dolby sound.”
Looking at the movies on the big screen with kids, Pickens said, “we get them excited about using their senses and nature and then they just open up and start exploring. A little bit shy at first, but by the end of the day, they’re exploring on their own and observing things that I’m not even pointing out.”
The festival has set up an area where many film makers are on hand to talk about their experiences and how they captured these images with nature.
Eisaguirre said, “so we’re reaching more people, different people. And they’re seeing these incredible nature films that motivate them to get out and do something or to just explore for the first time.”
Year round NatureTrack leads field trips with K though 12 students and offers the Freedom Trax all terrain mobility device so everyone can have access to trails and beaches.
“I think if we can expose people to as much nature and like getting people to create a relationship with, Mother Earth, I think that’s what we should all be striving for,” said Pickens.
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