The Artful Roger

Roger Durling has been writing for the Independent for a long time. He is one of the better-known Santa Barbarans in both quantity and quality of contributions as the executive director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) and as a professor at Santa Barbara City College.

How did you first hear about Whitney Brooks Abbott? What was the most inspiring thing about this story to you?  I have been aware of her work since the early 2000s, and I own a few of her paintings. I was most inspired by the fact that she comes from a multigenerational family of both farmers and painters, and that they’ve been here in Carpinteria since the early 1900s.

Would you consider yourself an art lover/connoisseur? What kind of art do you enjoy the most?  I definitely consider myself an art lover. I have the most knowledge when it comes to film, but I have always been drawn to painters. Both film and painting share frame composition, and that’s the aspect that fascinates me the most about both.

Tell me about the art of putting on SBIFF. What has the journey been like since 2002?  It’s been surreal. I compulsively loved film since I was a little kid, but I never imagined that I could make a living sharing my love and passion for film with others. I’m a very lucky person to have landed this job and to be here in Santa Barbara.