Screening: The Sea Around Us
Co-presented with the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Beneath the glittering surface of the Pacific Ocean lies a world of ancient and ongoing kinship—and a hidden legacy of destruction. Guided by the cosmologies of the Tongva and Acjachemen peoples and the relation to the abalone, this immersive journey into the ocean depths confronts a half-century of chemical dumping off the coast of Catalina Island, asking us to renew relations with a mother ocean that has been exploited.
Created by artist Rebeca Méndez, The Sea Around Us is an immersive cinematic experience born from the shocking revelation that over 500,000 barrels of toxic chemicals—including the pesticide DDT+, acid sludge, and radioactive waste—were dumped into the ocean off Santa Catalina Island between 1947 and 1972, with disastrous implications for marine and human ecologies. Méndez’s vision weaves together underwater footage, Indigenous knowledge systems and song, and poetic storytelling into a call to action for care and accountability to our source of life. The screening is followed by a conversation with Rebeca Méndez, artist and professor in the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts, Professor UCLA English Professor Elizabeth DeLoughrey, and investigative journalist Rosanna Xia.
Ticketing: Admission is free. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis, limit one per visitor. Box office opens one hour before the event.