SBIFF Opening Night pays tribute to beloved late cinematographer Mike deGruy

Wednesday’s opening night gala at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival features an emotional tribute to a local hero.

Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy premieres at the Arlington Theatre.

Mike was a world renowned ocean cinematographer from Santa Barbara who died tragically nearly six years ago to the day in a helicopter crash while filming in Australia.

Mike’s widow, Mimi, directed, produced and wrote the 81 minute film which is chock-full of raw footage and archived clips from Mike’s excursions, which took him all over the world.

Morning Anchor Danny Max interviewed Mimi about the film. She said her husband’s death motivated her because “he wasn’t able to finish what he wanted to do.”

“I would say the message largely that he wanted to convey is the feeling that we are destroying the ocean before we’ve even known what’s there,” Mimi deGruy said. “95 percent of the ocean is unexplored, which is kind of incredible when you think about it, it covers 75% of the Earth’s surface and we’ve only really explored 5 percent.”

Mimi called the film “a gift.”

Diving Deep premieres Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. SBIFF runs through February 9.

For more information, visit the Santa Barbara International Film Festival website.