Many love stories. One contested paradise.

A documentary series by Kerry Candaele about art, memory, and lived experience in Venice Beach

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Venice Beach Love Stories

These are stories about love—love of place, of community, of art, and a way of life under threat.

Love that holds on even as the ground shifts beneath it.

A Documentary Series

The Stories

Five people. Five ways of holding on. A neighborhood where belonging must constantly be re-asserted.

The Muralist

Ivo Vergara

"Walls as testimony"

The Matriarch, the activist, the keeper of Oakwood history

Jataun Valentine

"Memory and dignity"

The Zoot Suiter

Tito Casillas

"Dressed in defiance"

The Bicycle Whisperer

Lance Small

"Keeping Venice rolling"

Coming Soon

The Skateboarder

"Flowing lines, fearless creativity"

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"Venice is a place of beauty and rupture, creativity and exile. Belonging isn't assumed here--it is fought for. Art keeps the record"

Our Mission

The Filmmaker

Kerry Candaele

Kerry Candaele has lived and worked in Venice Beach for over 25 years. As filmmaker, writer, and educator, his work explores the intersections of art, history, and human struggle.

Meet Kerry

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