Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Post-screening conversation with UCLA Design Media Arts Professor **Rebeca Méndez**,** **UCLA English Professor **Elizabeth DeLoughrey**, and investigative journalist **Rosanna Xia** Co-presented with the UCLA Department of Media Arts Beneath the glittering surface of the Pacific lies a world of ancient kinship—and a hidden legacy of destruction. Guided by the abalone and the voices of the Tongva and Acjachemen peoples, this immersive journey into the California depths confronts a half-century of chemical dumping off the coast of Catalina Island, asking us to face what we have done and find the courage to do better. 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. Méndez's vision weaves together underwater footage, Indigenous song, and poetic storytelling into a call to action for all who share this fragile, living sea.