Santa Barbara Sunday

The opening weekend successfully kicked off with incredible films and celebrity tributes and today was no exception.  What ticks me off is having so many great films and not enough hours in the day to see everything.  By the time I got my blog posted, half the day was shot and so I shoe-leather-expressed it up to the Victoria Hall to check out one of this year’s nominees for The Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award for Documentary Film entitled, “Pray The Devil Back To Hell", directed by Virginia Reticker.

Opening credits rest on West African folk art that depict topical struggles of the day such as – war, rape, and drugs with a matter-of-fact tone.  The juxtaposition of vibrant color expressing dire straits is disturbing at best, yet within the art itself, lies the sense of potential and hope.  And we, the audience, sit on the edge of our seats the entire time waiting for that hope to be realized.

Shot partially with a handheld camera, the powerful footage shows first hand the dangers that both the people of Liberia worked desperately to escape and what the filmmakers endured in order to tell this story. 

In a tireless fashion, Liberian women, both Christian and Muslim, gathered together in solidarity with the "soul" purpose of bringing peace to their country, to their city, and to the lives of their children. 

The film takes you on an emotional ride from beginning to end and is a clear definition of why people risk their lives to tell stories and why film plays such an important role in documenting and exposing social causes.  After seeing this film, not only will you never again ask “Why me?”  But, I defy you not to be motivated to take up a cause greater than yourself.