Santa Barbara International Film Festival facts for kids
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Location | Santa Barbara, California, United States |
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Founded | 1986 |
Language | English |
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a super cool event that happens every year in Santa Barbara, California. It's a film festival, which means it's a big celebration of movies! For eleven days, people get to watch over 200 films from all over the world.
Besides showing movies, the festival also has special events. You can see famous actors and filmmakers honored. There are also talks where experts share their knowledge. Plus, there are programs to help people learn more about making films.
Contents
How the Festival Started and Grew
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival began in 1986. Over the years, it has changed and grown a lot.
When Roger Durling became the head of the festival in 2002, not many people were coming. He noticed that another big film festival, the Sundance Film Festival, was very popular in January. So, he decided to move the Santa Barbara festival to late January.
Roger Durling thought that if the festival happened just before the Academy Awards (the Oscars), famous actors who might win awards would come. This would give audiences a chance to see them up close! Many big stars have visited SBIFF, like Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Angelina Jolie.
Why the Festival is Important
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival wants to show movies made by independent filmmakers. These are people who make films outside of big Hollywood studios. The festival also likes to show films from different cultures.
For example, Roger Durling once made sure that one-third of the festival's movies were by Hispanic filmmakers. This was to better represent the Latino community in the area. He also added nature films, even though he joked they made him sleepy! But, he knew they brought in a lot of people.
Later, he added movies about surfing and adventure sports. These films attracted many young college students. Durling believes that film festivals should be for everyone, not just a small group. He said, "It should be like a candy store. Anyone should be able to walk in and grab whatever they want."
The festival has also honored many independent filmmakers. The organizers say that some of these honorees might not be the most famous stars. However, they have all made huge contributions to the movie world.
Awards Given at the Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival gives out many different awards. Here are some of them:
- Maltin Modern Master Award
- Montecito Award
- Outstanding Performer(s) of the Year Award
- The American Riviera™ Award
- Cinema Vanguard Award
- Virtuosos Award
- The Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema
- The Best International Film Award
- The Nueva Vision Award for the best Spanish/Latin American film
- Best Documentary Film Award
- Bruce Corwin Award for Best Live Action Short Film
- Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animation Short Film
- The Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award
- The Audience Choice Award
- 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking Competition
- 10-10-10 Student Screenwriting Competition
Montecito Award Winners
This award honors actors who have given amazing performances in their careers.
- 2005 : Annette Bening
- 2006 : Naomi Watts
- 2007 : Bill Condon
- 2008 : Javier Bardem
- 2009 : Kate Winslet
- 2010 : Julianne Moore
- 2011 : Geoffrey Rush
- 2013 : Daniel Day-Lewis
- 2014 : Oprah Winfrey
- 2015 : Jennifer Aniston
- 2016 : Sylvester Stallone
- 2017 : Isabelle Huppert
- 2018 : Saoirse Ronan
- 2019 : Melissa McCarthy
- 2020 : Lupita Nyong'o
Outstanding Performer(s) of the Year Award Winners
This award celebrates actors for their incredible work in specific movies.
- 2004 : Charlize Theron for The Italian Job and Monster
- 2005 : Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Finding Neverland
- 2006 : Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain
- 2007 : Helen Mirren for The Queen
- 2008 : Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart
- 2009 : Penélope Cruz for Elegy and Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- 2010 : Colin Firth for A Single Man
- 2011 : James Franco for 127 Hours
- 2012 : Viola Davis for The Help
- 2013 : Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook and The Hunger Games
- 2014 : Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine
- 2015 : Steve Carell for Foxcatcher
- 2016 : Brie Larson for Room & Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn
- 2017 : Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone for La La Land
- 2018 : Allison Janney & Margot Robbie for I, Tonya
- 2019 : Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody
- 2020 : Adam Driver & Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story
American Riviera Award Winners
This award recognizes actors who have made a significant impact on American cinema.
- 2004 : Diane Lane
- 2005 : Kevin Bacon
- 2006 : Philip Seymour Hoffman
- 2007 : Forest Whitaker
- 2008 : Tommy Lee Jones
- 2009 : Mickey Rourke
- 2010 : Sandra Bullock
- 2011 : Annette Bening
- 2012 : Martin Scorsese
- 2013 : Quentin Tarantino
- 2014 : Robert Redford
- 2015 : Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke
- 2016 : Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo
- 2017 : Jeff Bridges
- 2018 : Sam Rockwell
- 2019 : Viggo Mortensen
- 2020 : Renée Zellweger
The 10-10-10 Student Film Competition
A really cool part of the festival is the 10-10-10 competition for students! High school and college students from the Santa Barbara area can join.
Students can either submit a 10-page writing sample for screenwriting. Or, they can submit a five-minute video of their best filmmaking work for directing. Ten writers are chosen to write a 10-minute script each. These scripts are then given to ten filmmakers.
These student filmmakers then have just ten days to shoot and edit their short films. This all happens during the ten days of the festival! The finished films are shown, and the winners are announced on the last night. A special group of people, including teachers and film experts, choose the students who get to take part.
Images for kids
See also
In Spanish: Festival Internacional de Cine de Santa Bárbara para niños