The documentary film Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club will make its West Coast premiere tonight as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The festival is known to draw in numerous Hollywood luminaries As Oscar season heats up. This years SBIFF tributes, each of which includes an on-stage interview, film montage and an award ceremony, will celebrate the work of Will Smith, Helen Mirren (_The Queen_), Forest Whitaker (_The Last King of Scotland_) and Dreamgirls director Bill Condon. Former Vice-President Al Gore and director Davis Guggenheim are scheduled to receive the David Attenborough Award for Excellence in Nature Filmmaking from last years winner James Cameron.
Wetlands Preserved, which traces the history of the famed Tribeca nightclub Wetlands Preserve, was named Best Documentary at the Asheville Film Festival and Best Unreleased Film at the Stony Awards. The film incorporates archival footage, soundboard recordings and the efforts of a dozen digital animators to chronicle the clubs tenure from February 1989 through September 2001. The documentary features music from Phish, Blues Traveler, moe., The Disco Biscuits, Dave Matthews Band, Sublime, Ben Harper, Spearhead, 311, Ani DiFranco, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Spin Doctors, Fishbone, Agnostic Front and many additional artists. The film will screen at the SBIFF tonight, Friday January 26, (Marjorie Luke Theatre, 10 PM) and again on Tuesday January 30 (Center Stage, 9:30PM). Site Editor Dean Budnick, who doubles as the films director, will participate in a Q and A after tonights screening.