Love Birds - Award Winning Oscar Eligible Short Doc Screening

What happens when a discovery in marine science becomes a national controversy? Love Birds, an award-winning documentary short directed by Elliott Kennerson and Angel Morris, tells the remarkable story of the female gull pairs found on California’s Santa Barbara Island in 1972 and the personal and political fallout of the discovery.

On the heels of its jury award at the 2026 International Ocean Film Festival in the Bay Area, Love Birds returns to San Francisco on November 19 for a screening at the Roxie Theater, with IOFF as screening partner.

San Francisco director and producer Judy Irving (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Pelican Dreams) joins Love Birds director Elliott Kennerson for a post-show discussion and audience Q&A.

Produced with NBC News Studios and now in an Oscar run, Love Birds brings together marine science, LGBTQ+ history, and the politics of who gets to define what’s “natural.” The story offers a fresh angle for coverage spanning LGBTQ+ history, science, documentary filmmaking, and the evolving cultural conversation around nature and identity.

Preceded by a program of short documentary official selections from the IOFF.

*Limited edition signed posters will be available for purchase day of for $15. All proceeds go to supporting the education programs of the International Ocean Film Foundation (IOFF).