‘Anxious Nation’

Santa Barbara International Film Festival movie shows how young people and their families are dealing with anxiety

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Jamie Lee Curtis, who earned an Oscar nomination for her role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” will receive the Maltin Modern Master Award at 8 tonight as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Movie critic Leonard Maltin will interview Ms. Curtis on stage at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara. For more information, see sbiff.org.

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@newspress.com.

TODAY

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues daily through Feb. 18. See sbiff.org for the schedule.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Entangled:

Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The museum is open from 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and college holidays. For more information, call 805-565-6162 or visit westmont.edu/museum.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Interlopings: Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from nonnative plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Coast artist and London native Annie Hoffman’s exhibit “Seeing Ourselves in Colour” will be displayed through Feb. 28 at Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit anniehoffmann.com.

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “The Search for the Modern West,” an exhibit, continues through Feb. 20 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, see sullivangoss.com or call the gallery at 805-730-1460.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence Mattei: Portrait of a Community” is on view now through May at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, which is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 E. De la Guerra St. Admission is free.

Hours are currently from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, visit www.sbhistorical.org.

4 and 8 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805965-5400.

By DAVE MASON

NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

Laura Morton’s daughter Sevey struggled with anxiety since she was a baby.

Ms. Morton felt defeated as a parent and didn’t understand why her daughter wasn’t getting better. This led her to wonder how other families were dealing with the mental health of their children.

Ms. Morton teamed up with Santa Barbara entrepreneur Kathy Ireland and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Vanessa Roth to create “Anxious Nation,” which will screen at 1:20 p.m. Sunday at Fiesta Five, 916 State St., as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The 100-minute documentary will be shown again at the same theater at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Ms. Morton and her daughter Sevey, who’s doing well today but continues to work on her with anxiety, are featured in the movie, along with other families and experts such as Dr. Shefali Tsabery and Tim Storey, both of “Super Soul Sunday,” a self-help talk show hosted by Montecito celebrity Oprah Winfrey; Harold Koplewicz, founder of the Child

Mind Institute; Lynn Lyons, author of “The Anxiety Audit,” and Kenya Hameed, a clinical neuropsychologist with the Child Mind Institute. Experts also include Jeff Zeig of the Erikson Institute and founder of Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference.

Ms. Morton, a New York Times bestselling author who lives in San Diego, and Ms. Roth are the movie’s directors and writers. Ms. Morton and Steve Purcell are the producers.

“It’s film you have to experience,” said Ms. Ireland, the movie’s executive producer and a former supermodel and TV actress. “There are not adequate words to describe it. It’s very helpful in initiating conversations.

It’s powerful.

“I believe what sets this movie apart is its authenticity, its honesty,” Ms. Ireland told the News-Press this week. “We experience the lives of several different children, teenagers, young people, their families and leading experts in the medical community. It takes such an honest look (at anxiety).

“Anxiety does not discriminate, regardless of economics or ethnicity,” she said. “I believe Santa Barbara is a microcosm of an anxious nation.

FYI

“Anxious Nation” will screen at 1:20 p.m. Sunday at Fiesta Five, 916 State St., as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. It will be shown again at the same theater at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday. For more information, go to sbiff.org. For more about the movie, go to anxiousnation.com.

“I know families who are suffering from this (anxiety), and they need to understand they’re not alone, that there’s hope,” Ms. Ireland said. “It shines a bright light on that.”

She stressed the importance of discussing anxiety, the root of problems such as crime and suicides, and detaching anxiety from any stigma.

“I have served on boards of education for over 25 years,” Ms. Ireland said. “I have a huge place in my heart for young people.”

Ms. Ireland also said she and Ms. Morton, a New York Times bestselling author, have known each other for years.

Ms. Morton told the News-Press that “Anxious Nation,” which had its world premiere in October, has been screened at nine festivals, including the Corona Film Festival, where it won the best female filmmaker award.

“For me, the greatest reaction have been the emails through our website, anxiousnation.com,” Ms. Morton said. She said people have told her they realize they and their families aren’t alone after watching “Anxious Nation.”

“They say, ‘I thought it was just happening in our home.’”

Ms. Ireland said “Anxious Nation” will provide some tools for dealing with anxiety and will help people realize they don’t have to be defined by their anxiety.

“I’ve seen such a sense of relief when people walk out of the theater having experienced ‘Anxious Nation,’” she said.

Ms. Morton said the documentary addresses the importance of using the proper medication in treating anxiety. She noted it’s not one size fits all and that the correct diagnosis plays a crucial role.

“We decided to let the stories of medications unfold organically,” she said. “One of our cast members was overly medicated and wrongly medicated. Some were properly medicated, and it helped and worked.

“If you’re properly diagnosed, medication can help,” Ms. Morton said. “If you’re improperly diagnosed or wrongly medicated, medication can hurt you.

“And not everyone needs medication,” she added.

She also noted medication doesn’t have to be long-term.

Ms. Morton said many kids deal successfully with their anxiety through creative pursuits such as music, dance and sports. “There’s a lot of ways you can channel your energy.”

Ms. Ireland noted that one girl in “Anxious Nation” shared her faith in God as a healing force. “As Laura said, everybody is unique.”

“We talk about finding something that works for you,” Ms. Morton said. “Finding a therapist — we liken it to finding a good pair of jeans.”

Ms. Morton said her daughter has found acting to be therapeutic.

“Sevey is in high school,” Ms. Morton said. “Sevey is still working on her anxiety and uses tools. She’s doing great.”

“She’s been my greatest teacher, since the day she was born,” Ms. Morton said. “Having this open dialogue between us keeps us well aware of where we are individually and together.” email: dmason@newspress.com

8 p.m. Transform Through Arts will present 10 dance companies in “Colors of Love” at the Center Stage Theater, upstairs at Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara. General admission costs $30 in advance and $35 at the door. Tickets are $25 for students. To purchase, go to www. centerstagetheater.org.

FEB. 12

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues daily through Feb. 18. See sbiff.org for the schedule.

1 p.m. Participants in Ted Nash’s workshop will go on stage at the Mary Craig Auditorium, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St. The free program is called “Transformation: Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance and Evolution” and will feature student composers, performers and writers from Mr. Nash’s workshop. 2 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, The play is about an Afghan man hiding from the Taliban in his sister’s home in Kabul. Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805965-5400..

FEB. 14

6 to 7:30 p.m. Nicole Lvoff and Joe Woodard will perform on Valentine’s Day at the Crush Bar & Tap, 1129 A State St., Santa Barbara. Their music varies from Beatles songs to jazz standards. For more information, go to crushbarsb.com.