SBIFF at the Oscars
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 12, 2024

The masterful moviemakers of 2023, at least as measured by the powers that be, have been speechifying down in L.A. at the SAG and PGA awards and across the pond for BAFTA. Many of them will likely get one last chance to orate on their opportunities and output at the Oscars, when the Academy Awards […]

A Purrfect Project
By Richard Mineards   |   February 20, 2024

Montecito filmmaker Daniel DeVorzon, son of Oscar nominee Barry DeVorzon and his wife Jelinda, has found the purrfect project. Daniel, who is also the producer and composer, has made Nine Lives about the connection between one free spirited cat and the humans who love her. Despite a perilous start in life as a feral feline […]

 

Recently Trending

More from Montecito

The Zone of Interest
By Christopher Matteo Connor   |   February 20, 2024

Jonathan Glazer’s new Oscar-nominated film, The Zone of Interest, has finally hit SB screens, and if you’ve yet to check it out, it’s a definite must-see. But be warned: it’s a difficult watch. Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, lives – quite literally – next to the largest and most notorious of concentration camps. There, […]

A SBIFF Wrap Up
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 20, 2024

SBIFF is surely sliding toward the end of this year’s festivities, but there’s still plenty to enjoy over the final three days, with opportunities to partake in pretty much all that the fest has to offer. That includes SBIFF’s tributes, the legendary sessions in which the actors engage in 90-minute or longer programs on their […]

Closing out SBIFF with Heather Graham
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 20, 2024

Heather Graham has made a career out of portraying the charming, sexy-but-sweet girl who’s lighthearted and lovable as she’s in on the joke. Think Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the girl Jon Favreau finally connects with in Swingers, roles on TV’s Scrubs and Californication, and even Rollergirl in Boogie Nights. Graham plays a […]

 Montecito Filmmaker, the Monarch and Monty
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 13, 2024

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 […]

New Names on the Marquee
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 13, 2024

Late additions to the schedule include Annette Bening, who leapfrogged Barbie’s Margot Robbie to grab a Best Actress nod for Nyad, and also grabbed the last spot in SBIFF’s tributes.Bening will be profiled with the fest’s inaugural Arlington Award on February 16. Rounding out the panel participants, representatives of all 10 Oscar-nominated movies will populate […]

Advertisement
  • Woman holding phone

    Support the
    Santa Barbara non-profit transforming global healthcare through telehealth technology

  • Puig’s Picks at SBIFF
    By Steven Libowitz   |   February 13, 2024

    SBIFF Program Director Claudia Puig shared a few of her favorite films that will be unspooling over the next 10 days at the festival: Madu – I adore this movie with all my heart. It’s a documentary about a 12-year-old Nigerian kid who wants to be a ballet dancer, but there is no ballet in […]

    Striking Gold: SBIFF Scores at Globes 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   January 23, 2024

    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 […]

    Read more...

    Gosling Going for Gold with SBIFF
    By Steven Libowitz   |   January 16, 2024

    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 […]

    Portman, Moore, and Melton Stun in Todd Haynes’ New Murky Melodrama
    By Christopher Matteo Connor   |   December 19, 2023

    The quote from Todd Haynes, director of the new film May December, states: “…If there’s any universal theme in all my films, it seems to be disease… And I hope that changes, but I have a feeling it may not until things change in the world…” And while Haynes said that in 1995, it’s been […]

    Intro to Overture: UCSB’s Future Film Legends Seek Resources and Dangle Carrots
    By Jeff Wing   |   December 19, 2023

    I spoke with Writer/Director Iris Ortega Quevedo and Producer Isabella Leonard about their UCSB Film Studies project; a short, wordless feature called Overture that is already creating buzz. “Student film” suggests the fledgling efforts of young academic cinephiles feeling their way forward. On the other hand we have George Lucas’ THX 1138 [Star Wars], Greta […]

    ‘Dream Scenario’
    By Christopher Matteo Connor   |   December 12, 2023

    “Have you been dreaming about me?” It’s a question asked by Paul Matthews, played to perfection by Nicolas Cage, in Kristoffer Borgli’s newest surreal dark comedy, Dream Scenario. And the answer to that question? Yes. In fact, millions of people around the world have! In a bizarre, Luis Buñuel-esque turn of events, Paul Matthews – […]

    Cinema Society Soaring 
    By Steven Libowitz   |   December 5, 2023

    SBIFF’s private preview series with post-screening talent Q&A sessions – which is not exclusively private these days – heats up mightily in the waning weeks before winter as the Oscar hopefuls queue up for attention. Screenings at the Riviera Theatre this week start (Friday, December 1, at 7 pm) with Armenia’s Oscar Submission Amerikatsi – […]

    Advertisement