Tag archives: film
It was a summer of truly spectacular performances across chamber concerts, recitals, orchestral evenings and more. That’s to be expected every summer at the Music Academy. There were also several special programs in the “American Mosaic” season, clearly meant to elevate our experiences of democracy and contemplation of the perhaps dwindling American Dream for many […]
Student filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit their work for the 4th annual Montecito Student Film Festival, taking place Saturday, Nov. 14, at Westmont College in Montecito. The festival’s call for entries opened March 1, and submissions will be accepted through midnight on June 1. The festival aims to empower the next […]
Westmont senior Ashley Clark, an English and theater arts double major from Henderson, Nevada, participated in the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s competitive five-month filmmaking program. During that time, she wrote a screenplay, Deus Ex Machina. The festival paired her with UC Santa Barbara international student Can Basoglu, who directed the short film that premiered […]
The 41st Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has completed yet another voyage around the sun. Under the capable baton of Executive Director Roger Durling and his talented team the festival remains dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema and attracting Oscar nominated talent worldwide. Over 100,000 attendees reveled […]
Hollywood has hoofed it back down to L.A. Independent filmmakers from across the globe have moved on to their next festival. Documentary directors are diving into new projects. Yes, SBIFF 41 is in the rearview mirror. But fret not, plenty of foreign films, mini-budget movies, daring documentaries, arthouse wonders, and retrospectives are still around, not […]
Last week, we said we weren’t going to tally up the total number of current Academy Award nominees coming to SBIFF this year. But I couldn’t resist reporting on the deluge of such Oscar-decorated actors and others who showed up on a single day last Sunday. We got to hear from the producers of all […]
At a moment when conversations around health are both deeply personal and publicly fraught, conditions that live quietly inside the body often remain the least understood. Medicine itself is built on privacy – doctor-patient confidentiality exists for good reason – and when pain carries even a hint of stigma or embarrassment, silence can become the […]
Artnet tempted me with a list of “The Best Art World Movies of 2025” and they were all so good I had to share. These films deal with prescient themes such as gender, art theft (both outright and AI generated), collaborative relationships in artists’ lives, and include documentaries on controversial art figures that we thought […]
Ifn previous years, many of the films in SBIFF have only had something of a tangential connection to the Santa Barbara area, maybe a producer or an actor, or below-the-line production crew. But you can’t get more Santa Barbara, and even more specifically, Montecito, than Relatively Normal. This full-length feature is having its world premiere […]
The 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival opens on February 4 with a single event at the Arlington Theatre, but the U.S. premiere of A Mosquito in the Ear is not an opening night to miss. The drama with dialogue in both English and Hindu focuses on the international adoption of a four-year-old girl in […]
With the start of the 41st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival less than two weeks away as this issue hits newsstands, you’d think the folks over at SBIFF might be a little bit too busy to be booking special screenings. Nope. On January 29, a mere six days from opening night, the Riviera Theatre […]
The big news since we last mentioned the upcoming 41st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (excluding the big January 14 announcement of the film screenings and such – frustratingly slated to drop well past our deadline, ahem) is the addition of a trio of true superstar actors collectively receiving the newly-named Hammond Cinema Vanguard […]
It’s one of the axioms of the arts that just as the year is winding down, the Oscars and other film award races are heating up. What also warms up as the weather cools in our community is anticipation of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which presents its 41st annual event February 4-14. There’s […]
As Lucy Liu’s new film Rosemead comes to the Santa Barbara Cinema Society, the actress discusses where the film falls – and where she herself falls – on the American cultural landscape. Lucy Liu is speaking from NYC, though she won’t be there long. Award season has come in like a lion, and with it […]
This Saturday night at the Arlington, Jeff and Susan Bridges are introducing a screening of Heaven’s Gate, the 1980 epic Western film written and directed by Michael Cimino, whose The Deer Hunter won five Academy Awards less than two years earlier, including Best Picture and Best Director. But this isn’t just some random revival of […]
In its third year, the Montecito Student Film Festival will showcase a diverse selection drawn from nearly 900 submissions submitted by local, national and international student filmmakers on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Porter Theatre and surrounding venues on campus. Audiences will enjoy creative stories, meaningful documentaries, exciting visual storytelling techniques, and roundtable discussions featuring leading professionals in the […]
Cyndi Silverman’s first months as executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara led into the pandemic, which of course forced cancellation of the organization’s annual Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival (SBJFF). Five years later, Silverman, now CEO, is understandably proud of her accomplishments, most notably spearheading a complete remodel of the Jewish […]
Hahn Hall is back in action again on October 29 as Camerata Pacifica plays on a rare Wednesday evening for the local launch of “Beethoven 32,” its momentous three-year cycle featuring principal pianist Gilles Vonsattel performing all 32 of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas. Vonsattel dives right in, beginning the cycle with the “‘Hammerklavier,’ Sonata No. 29 […]
On October 16, the Lobero hosts a benefit evening supporting Good Samaritan Shelter centered around the premiere of Hope Lives Here: Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness. This short documentary created for Public Broadcasting offers an intimate look at the challenges of homelessness in Santa Barbara County, and the impact of programs that provide shelter, support, […]
When I was 12 years old the classic Hollywood star machine was in the throes of extinction (not to suggest I had anything to do with that). Tinseltown was being overthrown by UnmediatedGritTown as a new generation of auteurs stormed the Dream Factory ramparts, broke into the place and tore down the velvet curtains. David […]
