Historical film on islander now online to watch
A new documentary that premiered this past season is available to stream for free on YouTube.
The Captiva Island Historical Society (CIHS) and Sanibel Historical Museum and Village presented “Passion and Courage: The Esperanza Woodring Story” on Feb. 11 at BIG ARTS on Sanibel. The third collaborative film by the historical societies, the event included a Q&A with producer Ken Sneeden.
“Through exclusive interviews and compelling historical insight, the full-length documentary revealed what made barrier-island pioneer Esperanza Woodring a true local legend,” the CIHS reported.
Sneeden, who is also the CIHS documentarian, previously shared that the two historical societies teamed up and decided to do the production on her in order to preserve and share that history.
Running about 60 minutes, “Passion and Courage” was in production for over a year and was completed in January. There are interviews with more than 24 people included in the film.
Sneeden previously shared that it covers Woodring’s personal history as she came from a Spanish-American fishing family that was prominent on Sanibel and Captiva, even Cayo Costa. Her family first arrived in the late 1800s. Woodring was born in 1901 and she was a grandchild of a fishing captain who opened up a fishing rancho.
The documentary also touches on the way that Woodring interacted with other islanders, both personally and professionally. She became a fishing guide in the 1940s, which was not common.
In addition, the film speaks of her family as she married Sam Woodring Jr., son of Sam Woodring. Sneeden previously shared that Sam Woodring was one of the first homesteaders to settle on Sanibel.
“Acclaimed documentarian and award-winning broadcast journalist Ken Sneeden brought Esperanza’s story vividly to life, capturing a life of grit, kindness and resilience,” the CIHS reported.
“Passion and Courage” is now available to watch on its YouTube channel.
Find the channel on YouTube @captivaislandhistoricalsociety or visit https://www.youtube.com/@captivaislandhistoricalsociety/videos.
For more information, visit http://www.captivaislandhistoricalsociety.org/.
To reach TIFFANY REPECKI / trepecki@breezenewspapers.com, please email