All posts by HollywoodGlee

I’m a veteran of several film festivals including the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the American Film Institute's AFIFest Hollywood and AFI DOCS, the famed Venice International Film Festival, the San Luis Obispo SLO Film Fest, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's family of festivals including the SBIFF, the SBIFF French Wave Festivals and the SBIFF Showcase Film Series. To date I’ve written and published over 150 film reviews and have work posted on four sites including sbccfilmreviews.org, imdb.com. I have also been published in Classic Film Images magazine. In addition to writing reviews and covering film festivals, I am currently seeking distribution for new films. I have contacts in several major markets including Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and Cannes, France. So when you’re looking for your film to get noticed, remember HollywoodGlee can help. We have professional marketers, respected critics and the most knowledgeable contacts on what film festival and/or distribution channel is right for you and your film. See you at the movies!
#SBIFF, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

THE 37TH ANNUAL SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OPENS WITH THE U.S. PREMIERE OF THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

KRISTEN STEWART, WILL SMITH, NICOLE KIDMAN, JAVIER BARDEM, PENELOPE CRUZ, AUNJANUE ELLIS, BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, CIARAN HINDS, CAITRIONA BALFE, ARIANA DEBOSE, ALANA HAIM, EMILIA JONES, TROY KOTSUR, SIMON REX, SANIYYA SIDNEY, AND MANY MORE TO BE HONORED THROUGHOUT THE 11-DAY FESTIVAL

PANEL DISCUSSIONS WILL INCLUDE STEVEN SPIELBERG, KENNETH BRANAGH, JANE CAMPION, MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA AND MANY MORE

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse speaks onstage at the Opening Night Film “The Phantom of the Open” during the 37th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on March 2, 2022, in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee)

 

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (March 2, 2022) – Last night the 37th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, returned in person and opened with the world premiere of The Phantom of the Open.

 

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse speaks onstage at the Opening Night Film “The Phantom of the Open” during the 37th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on March 2, 2022 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for SBIFF)

Moviegoers watched on as Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse took to the stage to welcome attendees from all over the world to Santa Barbara.

 

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 02: SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling speaks onstage at the Opening Night Film “The Phantom of the Open” during the 37th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival at Arlington Theatre on March 2, 2022 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for SBIFF)

 

The festival’s Executive Director Roger Durling then introduced the film and said, “While tonight is a celebration, we’re at the same time holding a place in our hearts for the people of Ukraine…Art has the power to bring us together…It’s essential that we started the festival with something positive, a crowd-pleaser, and something uplifting.”

 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN, a heartwarming British comedy starring Oscar winners Sally Hawkins and Mark Rylance. The film is based on the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, who entered the 1976 British Open despite never having played a round of golf before. He shot the worst round in Open history and drew the ire of the golfing elite, but he ultimately became a folk hero. More importantly, he showed his family the importance of pursuing your dreams.

This year’s festival will feature a full lineup of films including 48 world premieres and 95 US premieres from 54 countries – up 59 more films than last year! As a festival with such diverse leadership, and a particularly strong Latino presence, it was of utmost importance to the team to have films from all over the world be represented, including Nordic/Dutch, Eastern European, Middle Eastern/Israeli, and of course, Spanish and Latin American Cinema.

The funds raised through the festival and affiliated events are vital to the community, providing direct support for SBIFF’s plethora of free programs that serve over 14,000 people annually and reach some of the most vulnerable members of society – including at-risk and underserved youth, low-income families and their children, cancer patients, and transit-dependent senior citizens. SBIFF screens Academy fare in the Arthouse theater throughout the year, even throughout the pandemic, to encourage people to come back to the theater in a safe way.

Upcoming tributes will include live presentations to Kristen Stewart, Will Smith, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Aunjanue Ellis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciarán Hinds, Caitriona Balfe, Ariana DeBose, Alana Haim, Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Simon Rex, Saniyya Sidney, and many more.

 

 

The 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, will take place IN-PERSON on March 2 through March 12, 2022. 200+ films, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout Santa Barbara, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. This year’s lineup is available on SBIFF’s mobile app. For additional information or to buy passes, visit sbiff.org.

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film. In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.

 

(*Featured photo credit: Trina Hobson/Getty Images for SBIFF)

(Press release courtesy of Sunshine Sachs, Michelle Tarangelo)

#SBIFF, Film Festival

Patagonia Films Unveils Three-piece Film Set for 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Patagonia Films Unveils Three-piece Film Set for 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival

 

As the Santa Barbara Film Festival is kicking off THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN at 8 P.M. tonight at the historic Arlington RTheatre in downtown Santa Barbara, Patagonia Films announced it is showcasing three films:

 

The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez – World Premier
Directed by Stacy Peralta 
Thurs, March 3 – 8:40 PM (followed by a post-screening Q&A with Gerry Lopez and Stacy Peralta)
Sat, March 5 – 8:20 AM 
Location: Metro 4
From Award-Winning documentary filmmaker Stacy Peralta comes Patagonia’s The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez, a film that lifts the veil on one of surfing’s most enigmatic heroes. Known as Mr. Pipeline for his calm demeanor in the tube, Gerry Lopez built his career with aggressive surfing that left behind a trail of blood and tears. He is one of the most influential surfers and surfboard shapers of all time, an entrepreneur, a family man, a movie star, and a lifelong yogi who brought surfing to new frontiers. For the first time, the story of this enigmatic hero is being told in full. 

 

Newtok

Directed by Andrew Burton and Michael Kirby Smith 
Locations: Metro 1, Tues, March 8 – 5:00 PM
                   Fiesta 2, Thurs, March 10 – 8:30 AM
Water will erase Newtok, Alaska. Built on a delta at the edge of the Bering Sea, the tiny Yup’ik village has been dealing with melting permafrost, river erosion, and decaying infrastructure for decades. To keep their culture and community intact, the 360 Yup’ik residents must relocate their entire village to stable ground upriver while facing a federal government that has failed to take appropriate action to combat climate change. In moving their village, they will become some of America’s first 21st-century climate refugees. It is a verité portrait of a village seeking justice in the face of climate disaster.
The Ocean Solution
Part of the ‘Nature Shorts’ 
Directed by Darcy Hennessey Turenne
Locations: Tuesday, March 8 – 11:20 AM, Metro 2
                  Thursday, March 10 – 7:20 PM, Fiesta 2
Farming under the sea? Meet Bren Smith, the ocean farming pioneer whose vertical kelp and shellfish farms can transform the way food is produced. As a commercial fisherman, Bren’s career was nearly wrecked by the crashing cod stocks in the North Atlantic; he then turned to oyster farming, just in time for catastrophic, climate-driven storms to show him there wasn’t a solid future in that, either. Unwilling to tether himself to land, he took the hard lessons learned and returned to the sea with a new method of restorative ocean farming. What he discovered is a way to produce large quantities of nutritious food that also fights the climate crisis, cleans the ocean, creates aquatic habitat and sustains his sea-going way of life.
#SBIFF, Arlington Theater, Feature Film, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Santa Barbara Film Festival Kicking Off With THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

The 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), featuring  48 world premieres and  95 U.S. premieres from over 54 countries, along with tributes featuring the year’s top talent, panel discussions, and free community education and outreach programs. The festival will start with the Opening Night Film, the U.S. Premiere of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN, a heartwarming British comedy starring Oscar winners Sally Hawkins and Mark Rylance, on Wednesday, March 2nd, 8:00 P.M., at the historic Arlington Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara, Calif. The Opening Night Film will be presented by UGG.

 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN

 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN is based on the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a dreamer and unrelenting optimist, who managed to gain entry to the qualifying round of The British Open Championship in 1976, despite never having played a round of golf. He shot the worst round in Open history and drew the ire of the golfing elite, but he ultimately became a folk hero, and more importantly, he showed his family the importance of pursuing one’s dreams. Tickets are available HERE.

Masks and proof of vaccination will be required to enter  the theater.

 

 

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films including 100+ premieres representing over 60 countries, tributes, and panel discussions, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.

 

television

FELIX & PAUL STUDIOS, IN ASSOCIATION WITH TIME STUDIOS, LAUNCH “SPACEWALKERS” WITH META QUEST

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

FELIX & PAUL STUDIOS, IN ASSOCIATION WITH TIME STUDIOS, LAUNCH THE SPECIAL FEATURE “SPACEWALKERS” EXCLUSIVELY WITH META QUEST 

 

Witness The World’s First Spacewalk Captured in Cinematic VR on Meta Quest’s  VR Headsets

 

Spacewalkers

 

WHAT: SPACEWALKERS, part of Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, is the latest special feature from Felix & Paul Studios. Accessible only on Meta Quest VR headsets, witness the world’s first-ever spacewalk captured in cinematic VR outside the International Space Station.

 

SPACEWALKERS SYNOPSIS: In spring 2021, Felix & Paul Studios sent the first-ever cinematic virtual reality camera designed to operate in the vacuum of space to the International Space Station. The result is a spectacular, fully immersive, 10-minute experience that will allow you to witness the world’s first spacewalk as if you were actually there. The images were captured in low Earth orbit over several days using specialized 3D, 360-degree Space Cameras. Catch this feature and more Emmy Award-winning experiences in the Space Explorers app on Meta Quest.

 

WHEN: March 1, 2021 at 12:00 AM PST / 3:00 AM EST In Horizon Venues

 

ACCESS: There are two ways to experience this content in fully-immersive virtual reality (VR) Meta Quest and Quest 2 headsets for free:

  • Oculus TV: Experience this content in high-quality 3D, 360° on Oculus TV HERE.
  • Horizon Venues app: You can also view the content on Horizon Venues HERE as part of its “Always On” Programming from March 1 at 12:00 AM PST to March 31 at 11:59 PM PST.

 

About Space Explorers: The ISS Experience

The largest production ever filmed in space, Emmy Award-winning Space Explorers: The ISS Experience is an epic immersive series that invites you to join eight astronauts on life-changing missions aboard the International Space Station. The series features NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Christina Koch, Jessica Meir, Andrew Morgan, Nick Hague and Victor Glover, CSA astronaut David Saint-Jacques, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi. Shot over two years using Felix & Paul Studios’ specialized 3D, 360-degree Space Cameras, and with exclusive access to the crew, the production produced over 200 hours of high-end virtual reality footage, and the first-ever visuals of the ISS, Planet Earth, and a spacewalk captured in high-end cinematic virtual reality. Get access to the astronauts’ full experience through moments of camaraderie, shared meals, and personal video logs. Behind the scenes, the footage is available at Time.com/Space.

 

About Felix & Paul Studios

Felix & Paul Studios is an EMMY® Award-winning creator of immersive entertainment experiences, creating unparalleled, highly engaging, presence-based experiences for the next generation of technology-enabled devices and venues. The studio’s catalog of over thirty 3D, 360-degree experiences exhibits the “industry’s best” in the new medium of immersive storytelling, including:

 

  • Originals: The Space Explorers series, Traveling While Black, MIYUBI, the Nomads series, Strangers with Patrick Watson:
  • Productions with notable franchises: Jurassic World, Cirque du Soleil, Fox Searchlight’s Wild and Isle of Dogs, and The Confessionals series with Just for Laughs starring Howie Mandel, Lilly Singh, Judd Apatow and Trevor Noah.
  • Collaborations with world-renowned leaders and performers: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, LeBron James, President Bill Clinton, Eminem, Wes Anderson, Brie Larson, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray and many others.

 

The studio’s content is available for distribution in a range of immersive formats including 360-degree mobile on 5G-enabled smartphones, tablets, and headsets; 360-degree full-dome projection in domes and planetariums; fully-immersive VR on Meta Quest and other high-end virtual reality platforms; Giant Screen projection for science centers, space welcome centers and large-format cinemas; and the touring life-scale immersive exhibit, THE INFINITE, produced in partnership with PHI Studio. Felix & Paul Studios is the leading Space Media Company and the only media company recognized as an “Official Implementation Partner” by the ISS U.S. National Laboratory.

 

About TIME Studios

TIME Studios is the Emmy Award-winning television and film division of TIME, the global media brand that reaches a combined audience of more than 90 million around the world. Built on the foundation of TIME’s award-winning visual journalism, which has earned over 52 major awards and nominations in the last seven years, and achieved 577 million video streams across all platforms in 2019, Emmy-winning TIME Studios harnesses the access and authority of one of the world’s most trusted and respected brands to bring premium truth-based programming to television and film around the world while continuing to push the boundaries of journalism and visual storytelling through new cutting-edge mediums including virtual reality and augmented reality.

 

About Meta Quest

The Meta Quest team at Reality Labs lets people defy distance—connecting with each other and the world—through world-class VR hardware and software. The Meta Quest content team pursues the creation of best-in-class games, narrative experiences, and new VR use-cases like fitness, productivity, and travel. Meta Quest joins other teams at Reality Labs dedicated to cutting-edge research, computer vision, haptics, social interaction, and more. Reality Labs is committed to driving the state of the art forward through relentless innovation.

(Press release from Jesse Cohen)

#SBIFF, Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Free SBIFF Filmmaker Seminars!

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

 

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is once again offering free filmmaker seminars. In previous years, the seminars were held behind the Lobero Theatre.

 

 

This year, however, the conversations will be held outside at Casa de la Guerra located at 15 East De La Guerra Street in downtown Santa Barbara.

The topics reflect films and highlights from the various sections and sidebars programmed for this year’s festival.

 

Topic – Diversity
Thursday, March 3 – 11:00 AM

Topic – Women Filmmakers
Friday, March 4 – 11:00 AM

Topic – Independent Filmmakers
Monday, March 7 – 11:00 AM

Topic – The Future of Theaters (In this Age of Streaming)
Tuesday, March 8 – 11:00 AM

Topic – International Filmmaking
Wednesday, March 9 – 11:00 AM

Topic – Documentary Activism
Thursday, March 10 – 11:00 AM

Topic – How to Make a Great Short
Friday, March 11 – 11:00 AM

 

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films including 100+ premieres representing over 60 countries, tributes, and panel discussions, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.

 

(Sourced from SBIFF.org)

 

Film Festival

“Citizen Penn” Wants Ukraine Supported Against Russia

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Hollywood actor and producer Sean Penn visits positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the frontline with Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 18, 2021. Sean Penn came to Ukraine to shoot a film.
(Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation Press Service via AP)

 

Hollywood film humanitarian (Citizen Penn), Sean Penn, is smack-dab in the middle of the most dangerous region on the planet, the battlefields of Ukraine. As the Russian military apparatus surrounded and consequently invaded its western-looking, democratic neighbor, Penn was working in Ukraine on a documentary exploring “the consequences of Russian agression” for Vice Studios when hostilities were happening.

 

In a publicly issued statement, Penn declared,

Sean Penn is visiting Ukraine for a new documentary for Vice Studios on the consequences of Russian aggression. (Photo @AP)

“Already a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and If he doesn’t relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind…President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.”

 

Often characterized and stereotyped by early-career exploits of consistently making news headlines for punching cameramen, his political viewpoints, and marrying the world’s most recognizable pop star of the time, Madonna, Penn has diligently changed his image through extensive efforts to aid assistance to his fellow ‘man’ in war-torn, disaster laden, disaffected countries beginning in 2002 with the war in Iraq, adding a herculean Haitian earthquake response effort, and more recently expanding the availability  COVID-19 vaccines to 1.3 million disadvantaged and low-income Los Angeleans through his CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort). CORE emanated from Penn and international aid worker, Ann Lee’s experiences in their Haitian relief and recovery efforts.

In today’s LATimes article, “Actor Sean Penn wants U.S. to help rescue Ukraine from Russian invasion,” journalist Meg James expounds upon Penn’s efforts to reach out to Ukraine. Ukrainian citizens and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lament the feelings of isolation as they fight for their freedom and the survival of their beloved Ukraine.

“America isn’t here. The European Union isn’t here,” a 24-year-old hotel employee in Kharkiv, Ukraine, named Alexander (he declined to give his last name)…So we’re fighting on our own.” Zelensky communicated that Ukraine needed more people like Penn and the true friends who support Ukraine’s struggle to maintain its freedom in the face of the Russian onslaught via a Facebook post, “Sean Penn demonstrates the courage that many others, including Western politicians, lack.

 

 

This afternoon, the German government announced a shipment of 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine “as quickly as possible.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. “In this situation, it is our duty to help Ukraine, to the best of our ability, to defend itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.”

As reported in The Wrap, a recent petition by the Ukrainian government has called for producers, exhibitors, and world film festivals from screening and distributing Russian Federation cultural cinema and its distorted propaganda messaging. Russia has a long and storied cinema tradition of using the apparatus to further the ambitions of the federation. In recent years, several Russian films made their appearance at top world festivals.

 

 

#SBIFF, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, SBIFF Virtuosos

SBIFF Adds Ciarán Hinds as honoree for Virtuosos Award

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

CIARÁN HINDS TO BE HONORED WITH SBIFF’S VIRTUOSOS AWARD

 

Ciarán Hinds

 

Tonight, Saturday, March 5th, 8 PM, at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, Calif., Ciarán Hinds will be honored with the Virtuosos Award presented by UGG at the 37th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. He will be joining fellow honorees Caitriona Balfe (Belfast), Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), Jamie Dornan (BELFAST) Emilia Jones (CODA), Troy Kotsur (CODA), Simon Rex (Red Rocket), and Saniyya Sidney (King Richard) at an in-person conversation about their respective films and Hinds Oscar-nominated performance in Kenneth Branagh’s BELFAST from Focus Features.

The Virtuosos Award is an honor created to recognize a select group of talent whose noteworthy performances in film have elevated them into the national cinematic dialogue. The evening will be moderated for the 12th year by Dave Karger, Turner Classic Movies host.

Last year’s Virtuosos included Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami), Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian), and Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie).

 

The 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, will take place in IN-PERSON from March 2 through March 12, 2022. 200+ films, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout Santa Barbara, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. This year’s lineup is available on SBIFF’s mobile app. For additional information or to buy passes, visit sbiff.org.

 

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films including 100+ premieres representing over 60 countries, tributes, and panel discussions, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.

 

(Sourced from SBIFF News)

 

 

television

SBIFF Announces Outstanding Directors and all Panelists!

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORS OF THE YEAR AWARD

 

 

Paul Thomas Anderson (LICORICE PIZZA), Kenneth Branagh (BELFAST), Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (DRIVE MY CAR), and Steven Spielberg (WEST SIDE STORY) will receive the 2022 Outstanding Directors of the Year Award sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter at an in-person conversation about their respective films. Following one on one conversations, all the honorees will join in a panel discussion. The event will take place on Thursday, March 3rd at the historic Arlington Theatre, and will be moderated by Scott Feinberg.

 

SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling (Cr, Clint Weisman Studio)

“The heart and soul of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has always been the camaraderie and conversation emanating from its panels. After two years of virtual dialogues, it will definitely be thrilling and exhilarating to be in a room listening live to all of this incredible talent,” remarked SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling.

 

 

The Writers Panel will be in-person Saturday, March 5 @ 11:00 am, moderated by Anne Thompson. Panelists include:

 

Kenneth Branagh (BELFAST)
Siân Heder (CODA)
Adam McKay (DON’T LOOK UP)
Denis Villeneuve (DUNE)
Zach Baylin (KING RICHARD)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (THE LOST DAUGHTER)
Jane Campion (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Eskil Vogt (THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD)

 

The Producers Panel will be in-person Saturday, March 5 @ 2:00 pm, moderated by Glenn Whipp. Panelists include all ten Best Picture Oscar-nominees:

 

Lauar Berwick (BELFAST)
Patrick Wachsberger (CODA)
Kevin Messick (DON’T LOOK UP)
Teruhisa Yamamoto (DRIVE MY CAR)
Mary Parent (DUNE)
Tim White (KING RICHARD)
Sara Murphy (LICORICE PIZZA)
J. Miles Dale (NIGHTMARE ALLEY)
Tanya Seghatchian (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Rita Moreno (WEST SIDE STORY)

 

The inaugural Animation Panel will be an in-person Sunday, March 6 @ 11:00 am, moderated by Roger Durling and admission is FREE. Panelists include:

 

Charise Castro Smith – Co-Writer/Co-Director (ENCANTO)
Charlotte De Le Gournerie – Producer (FLEE)
Enrico Casarosa – Co-Writer/Director (LUCA)
Mike Rianda – Co-Writer/Co-Director (THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES)
Don Hall – Co-Director (RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON)

 

The Women’s Panel will be in-person Saturday, March 12 @ 11:00 am, moderated by Madelyn Hammond. Panelists include:

 

Jessica Kingdom – Director (ASCENSION)
Lynn Harris – Producer (KING RICHARD)
Diane Warren – Composer Oscar-Nominated Original Song “Somehow You Do”
Amber Richards – production design (THE POWER OF THE DOG)
Elizabeth Mirzaei – Director – Oscar-Nominated Short (THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR)

 

 

The 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG®, will take place in IN-PERSON from March 2 through March 12, 2022. 200+ films, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout Santa Barbara, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. This year’s lineup is available on SBIFF’s mobile app. For additional information or to buy passes, visit sbiff.org.

 

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 36 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000+ attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films including 100+ premieres representing over 60 countries, tributes, and panel discussions, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.

 

(Sourced from SBIFF News)

 

#Berlinale, Berlin International Film Festival, Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival Issues Statement on the Situation in Ukraine

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Posted by Larry Gleeson

Berlinale Statement on the Situation in Ukraine

 

“We – festival workers, artists, filmmakers … – think fondly of our friends in Ukraine and we are by their side in a call for peace.

One week ago, the Berlin International Film Festival was celebrating a complicated yet successful edition. Filmmakers, artists, and journalists from all over the world gathered in Berlin to enjoy a collective and joyful experience. The feeling of being together again, with no distinctions of nationality, religion, or culture, transported us in a way that film festivals can accomplish.

While these memories remain fresh, other images have broken into our lives, bringing a darker perspective. The world is on a verge of a huge crisis. As a showcase of the free world, the Berlinale has always put at its center the notion of freedom and the will to bridge East and West.

Throughout its history, the Berlin International Film Festival has had the opportunity to showcase films relating to Ukrainian history and culture in all sections of the festival, recently, this year’s Klondike by Maryna El Gorbach and Terykony by Taras Tomenko, Oleg Sentsov’s Numbers in 2020, back to the films of Kira Muratova and the early short films of Myroslav Slaboshpytsky, and many more.


Films cannot change society and the course of history, but they can help in changing the minds of people. Films are telling us that the world is already in a too precarious condition to add even more suffering and destruction.”

 

(Released by Berlinale Press Office)

#Berlinale, Berlin International Film Festival, Film Festival

Successful Berlinale Flying the Flag for Cinema

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Posted by Larry Gleeson


Successful Berlinale 2022: Flying the Flag for Cinema

 

On the last day of the festival, Berlinale director duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian bid farewell to the audience at the Cineplex Titania cinema © Sandra Weller / Berlinale 2022

 

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival wrapped successfully with numerous audience screenings. On the last day of the festival, Berlinale director duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian bid farewell to the audience at the Cineplex Titania cinema (former Titania-Palast) – the very setting in which the festival was held for the first time in 1951.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the Berlinale 2022 was able to take place as an in-person festival in compliance with a strict hygiene and security concept, and the organizers were delighted with the lively interest shown by the public and trade visitors. Due to the pandemic, only 50 percent of seats in the cinemas were occupied.  This stipulation was enthusiastically accepted and a total of 156,000 tickets were sold. The Berlinale also took to the spotlight as a media event.

 

Iris Berben featured on the Red Carpet and Big Screen at the 2022 Berlinale Opening Gala (Photo cr. Berlinale)

 

The 2022 festival took place in a different format: From February 10 to 16, film teams from abroad presented their films to the public and accredited audiences at the premieres.

On the evening of February 16, the festive Award Ceremony festive took place in the Berlinale Palast, culminating in the presentation of the Golden Bear to Alcarràs (director: Carla Simón). From February 17 to 20, the public had an opportunity to see the Berlinale films in repeat screenings during the “Publikumstage” (“audience days”).

 

Carlo Chatrian, left, and Mariette Rissenbeek

“The successful conclusion of the Berlinale 2022 gives us great pleasure and confidence for the future. Sharing a cultural experience is possible even in times of pandemic; indeed, it becomes especially important then. We intended to fly the flag for cinema with this year’s festival, and we were thrilled to receive so much support for this from audiences and filmmakers alike,” commented Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.

 

While the festival was able to take place in person, the European Film Market (EFM), the Berlinale Co-Production Market, Berlinale Talents, and the WCF Day of the World Cinema Fund were realized primarily as online formats.

At the WCF Day on February 16, 2022, the panels and discussions focused on the development of funding and decolonization strategies. With its differentiated funding program, the World Cinema Fund has been working to promote cultural diversity, cooperation, sustainable development, and the promotion of cinema in regions with weak film infrastructures since 2004, and thus aims to contribute to the democratization of international filmmaking.

 

Check out the recording of WCF Day 2022!

 

In addition, 1,438 pre-arranged and specially planned individual meetings with interested co-producers and financiers took place at the Berlinale Co-Production Market for the feature film and series projects selected in 2022. Three cash prizes were awarded to new projects. The pitching events “Co-Pro Series” and “Books at Berlinale” as well as the talk formats were also very popular with the 574 participants. Alcarràs by Carla Simón was the second former Berlinale Co-Production Market project to win the Golden Bear. In 2019, the project had already won the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award.

The online edition of the European Film Market (EFM) of the 72nd Berlinale came to a successful conclusion on February 17 and Berlinale Talents also looked back on a successful 20th-anniversary edition.

The 73rd International Film Festival Berlin will take place from February 16 to 26, 2023.

 

(Press release provided by Berlinale Press Office)