Tag archives: film festival
The Illuminate Film Festival’s second year in town takes place May 1-4 at various venues all within a two-block radius downtown, where the fest will screen 20 films that are all about raising awareness to explore human potential, spiritual growth and social change. There are 14 feature-length documentaries and a series of micro-shorts that touch […]
In a town rife with special film events seemingly every fortnight if not more often, it wouldn’t be wrong to think of the Illuminate Film Festival as a series of gatherings where film is, in many ways, only incidental to the mission. Billing itself as the world’s leading showcase for conscious cinema, Illuminate launches its […]
Maybe the best remedy for SBIFF withdrawal symptoms is to dive right back into the movies, perhaps particularly ones that are up for Academy Awards. Many of the nominated features can be seen at cinemas around town, but unless you’re an Academy member, chances are you haven’t viewed the vast majority of short films up […]
The glittery path from Hollywood to Santa Barbara for the annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival got covered with ashes earlier this month from the devastating Los Angeles area wildfires that are still wreaking havoc on the greater community. The concept of rolling out the red carpet might have lost some of its luster, with […]
After briefly considering canceling the milestone 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the wake of the Los Angeles fires, SBIFF did postpone announcement of the full lineup and schedule for a few days. But the slate is now complete for the fest, which runs February 4-15, its longest iteration yet, showcasing a total […]
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is not only adding a 12th day for its 40th incarnation, slated for February 4-15, but is also finally employing the Riviera Theatre, SBIFF’s recently refurbished state-of-the-art year-round home, as a venue for the festival. The Riv will have its own dedicated film pass. All of the 2025 SBIFF […]
Back in 2018, Dawa Tarchin Phillips, resident teacher of Bodhi Path Santa Barbara and co-founder and former Director of Education of UCSB’s Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential, led two dozen people on an around-the-world pilgrimage, visiting 17 sacred sites in five countries on four continents in 30 days. “The intention was to learn about […]
The results are in and the awards handed out at the second annual Montecito Student Film Festival on March 23 at Westmont’s Porter Theatre. About 150 people attended the festival throughout the day to watch 41 films, pared down from the more than 500 that were submitted. Chase Olivera, an 18-year-old student at College of […]
Santa Barbara certainly has no dearth of film festivals, but until now there hasn’t been a festival that directly addresses the region’s rare confluence of people who are both cinema-savvy and socially conscious. If Illuminate hadn’t come along, perhaps someone would have had to invent one to interact at that intersection. Fortunately, the Illuminate Film […]
The second annual Montecito Student Film Festival has exploded in popularity and gone global. Student filmmakers from 65 countries have submitted more than 500 films for the free event. Attendees can watch films throughout the day, Saturday, March 23, from 10 am – 5 pm in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. Festival producer Tamia Sanders (’24) says […]
The area’s newest film festival, and one with a decidedly different focus, gets going next month. The ILLUMINATE Film Festival, an annual celebration of short and full-length evolutionary cinematic endeavors that aspire to elevate humanity’s sense of self, purpose and possibility, is actually celebrating its 10th anniversary, but relocated from Sedona, Arizona last year. With […]
Monty Roberts is the Salinas-bred cowboy who spent years trying to turn the equestrian community from “breaking” horses through violence to instead gaining their confidence through trust and gentility. The story of the owner of the decades-long Flag is Up Farms in Solvang and his ability to train horses through his kinder method isn’t a […]
Get ready, Santa Barbara. It’s time to roll out the red carpet and rev up for 11 roaring days and nights of film screenings, seminars, panels, actor tributes and other awards, plus parties, as the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival takes over the town. Start stocking up on sleep and shore up your […]
Just three weeks after this issue hits newsstands, the 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival launches 11 days of screenings, seminars, speakers and sensational opportunities for sightseeing of stars. As always, Academy Award nominees and other award show hopefuls will be gracing the stage at the Arlington for in-depth conversations about their art during the […]
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has its annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film on tap in January as part of its pre-festival slate before the 39th festival takes over town February 7-17. Perennially praised actor Ryan Gosling is set to receive the prestigious prize at a black-tie dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara […]
The Music Academy’s Hahn Hall was socially gridlocked when the ILLUMINATE Film Festival, a leading event for evolutionary cinema, celebrated its 10th anniversary and move to Santa Barbara from Sedona, Arizona. The fun fest included an exclusive screening of The Monk and the Gun, a charming and provocative feature film set in Bhutan in 2006, […]
Illuminate Film Festival (IFF) is celebrating its 10th anniversary by moving from Sedona, Arizona, to another somewhat spiritually-elevated community much closer to the sea. A leading festival for evolutionary/conscious cinema – focusing on films that uplift, elevate, and inspire lasting personal and social transformation – the IFF is hosting a benefit reception at the Music […]
Film festivals are coming fast and furious in the middle of fall, with the Jewish Film Festival continuing for four more days through November 5, and the Ojai Film Festival set to hit the theater November 2-6. The latter fest found in the mountain community will screen more than four score films from around the […]
The Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival returns to the New Vic Theatre November 1-5 at a tense time in Israel and around the world, but aside from beefing up security at the theater, the festival is focusing on what it does best, which is to present some of the finest international cinema about the Jewish […]
The NatureTrack Film Festival is back in a big way for South Coast folks as the nonprofit’s re-mounting of its nascent festival moves to Goleta’s Fairview Cinemas for a weekend packed with nature-centric movies spanning adventures and stories via feature film and documentaries October 6-8. With new curators in place, the fest promises to be […]
