By Jim Logan
Voice Managing Editor

When Cody Westheimer comes home for a visit, he heads to the Ellwood Bluffs to be with his father.
His dad, Dr. Eric Westheimer, is nowhere to be seen, but Cody can feel him. Everywhere.
“That’s where we scattered his ashes, and it’s always been a special place to me,” he said.
Eric Westheimer was a respected, even beloved, veterinarian in Goleta for 30 years. He died in January from a brain tumor. He was 56.
Cody was especially close to his dad and his death haunted him. A few months later he was at a beach in Los Angeles with his wife. The waves were good and dolphins swam maybe 30 feet out.
“Seeing the dolphins going in and out of the water reminded me of watching nature with my dad,” he said. “I almost felt his presence.”
The experience also gave him an idea, something that would honor his father and the deep connection they shared in the Ellwood Bluffs.
The result is “Waves — An Elegy,” a short documentary that Westheimer directed, filmed, edited and narrated. He also composed the score and performed all but one of the instrumental parts.
It’s a warm, touching tribute to the father who introduced him to the magic of the sea as a child and became his guide, companion and mentor.
It’s also something of a modest hit on the film festival circuit, and will be shown Saturday night as part of the Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival.
Art Phillipe, the festival director, said “Waves” was selected from more than 1,000 submissions. It was an easy pick, he said.
“The No. 1 factor is that it’s a beautiful, poetic piece that shares with an audience one man’s love for the ocean and how he shared that with his son.
“On top of that it was beautifully shot. He’s a first time filmmaker and he has an eye for framing and lighting and he composed and performed all the music for the movie. He pretty much did it all.”
Westheimer, who grew up in Winchester Canyon, didn’t set out to make a movie for the festival circuit. It was a labor of love, shot with a friend’s borrowed HD video camera in one day.
When he arrived at the bluffs at dawn, the first thing he saw was dolphins in the surf. They were there at sunset, too.
“It was just a crazy day. I really felt my dad’s presence there when we were shooting.”
Westheimer, 26, is no stranger to the movie industry. A graduate of the music composition program at USC’s Thornton School of Music, he’s an up-and-coming film composer with a lengthy list of credits in feature films and documentaries. He can also play a wide variety of instruments, including the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, that’s featured in “Waves.”
His connections in the industry helped keep the film’s costs down to an almost absurd $190. His crew was minimal: his mother, Karen Westheimer, and his wife, Julia Newmann, are co-producers.
He credits his mother with offering advice that genuinely improved the film. Initially, Westheimer planned to use only images and a soundtrack, but she persuaded him to add narration.
The result: “Instead of a lot of shots with waves with roses in there it became this highly personal, touching piece,” he said.
In truth, Westheimer wasn’t quite sure what he had at first. He’d made a movie for himself and his mother. It was personal, and how do you judge that?
“I knew I had something that was very special to me,” he said. “I’m having some shock that we’re having some success with the festivals.”
In literature an elegy is defined by Webster’s as “a poem or song of lament and praise for the dead.” It’s also used in music, Westheimer said, as a celebration.
In “Waves” it manages to be both.
“I definitely wanted this to be about the place, my father and my relationship with him. Just the connection with this place, a connection I like to think we still have.
“I don’t feel like I could have done anything better to honor him. It’s a very honest film.”