Posted by Larry Gleeson

Maltin Modern Master Award honoring Glenn Close

Sunday, February 3, 2019
3:00PM
Arlington Theatre
Santa Barbara, CA

Glenn Close is set to receive the prestigious Maltin Modern Master Award at the 34^th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.  Close will be honored this afternoon, at 3:00 PM, February 3rd, for her longstanding contributions to the film industry, most recently gracing the silver screen in Sony Pictures Classics’ The Wife. Leonard Maltin will return for his 28^th year to moderate the evening.

Glenn Close is one of the great actresses of our time. Versatility is her hallmark, and there is clearly nothing she can’t do. She became a star with her first feature film, The World According to Garp, and has gone on to play everyone from Cruella de Vil to aging silent-film star Norma Desmond in the stage musical of Sunset Blvd. I can’t wait to spend an evening with her onstage at the Arlington Theater,” states Maltin.

Directed by Berlin Silver Bear-winner Björn Runge, The Wife is adapted by Jane Anderson from the Meg Wolitzer novel of the same name.  After nearly forty years of marriage, JOAN and JOE CASTLEMAN (Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce) are complements: Where Joe is brash, Joan is shy. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as Great American Novelist, Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm, and diplomacy into the private role of Great Man’s Wife, keeping the household running smoothly, the adult children in close contact, and Joe’s pills dispensed on schedule. At times, a restless discontentment can be glimpsed beneath Joan’s smoothly decorous surface, but her natural dignity and keen sense of humor carry her through the rough spots. The Wife debuted in theaters this summer.

The Modern Master Award was established in 1995 and is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF.  Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin.  Past recipients include Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney and Peter Jackson.

The 34^th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will run through Saturday, February 9^th.

Posted by Larry Gleeson

First-time U.S. feature directorial debut for French filmmaker Vanessa Filho

French filmmaker Vanessa Filho is making her U.S. premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival with Angel Face (Gueule d’ange), starring powerhouse French actress, Marion Cotillard, Alban Lenoir and introducing “the little miracle,” Ayline Aksoy-Etaix. Angel Face made its world premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

I had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Filho to discuss her film. Vanessa’s poise is extraordinary and her film is one of the most heady, realistic films about an eight-year old girl and her mother as both long for love in a world where finding acceptance is difficult.

Posted by Larry Gleeson

Outstanding Directors of the Year Award
sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter
honoring:
Alfonso Cuarón (Roma),
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite),
Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman),
Adam McKay (Vice),
and Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

Thursday, January 31, 2019
8:00pm
Arlington Theatre
Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara Film Fest: All 5 Oscar-Nominated Directors Set For Panel and Tribute
by Scott Feinberg – The Hollywood ReporterUnless you’re are going to be at the 91st Oscars, the only opportunity to see all five of the filmmakers who are nominated for this year’s best director prize together will be at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 31.

Roma‘s Alfonso Cuarón, The Favourite‘s Yorgos Lanthimos, BlacKkKlansman‘s Spike Lee, Vice‘s Adam McKay and Cold War‘s Pawel Pawlikowski will gather at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre for the fest’s annual Directors Panel, which Scott Feinberg will be moderating.

The evening will consist of individual interviews with each director, followed by a group conversation and then the presentation of the fest’s Outstanding Directors of the Year Award to each filmmaker.

Tickets Here!

Posted by Larry Gleeson

I’ve seen quite a few Opening Night films at numerous festivals, but I’ve never seen one quite like the Opening Night film at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival,  Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy, a feature-length documentary that tells the story of Mike deGruy, an irrepressibly curious and enthusiastic underwater filmmaker who died suddenly in 2012 while filming for director James Cameron.

DeGruy had filmed the oceans for more than three decades becoming as famous for his on camera storytelling as for his glorious, intimate visions of the sea and the creatures who live in it. According to the film’s website, divingdeepmovie.com if Mike deGruy were alive today he would be spending all his energy to fight on behalf of the ocean, for continued exploration, particularly of the deepsea, research, understanding and ultimately encouraging a reciprocal relationship with it before it is too late.

Inspired to share his legacy as a filmmaker and storyteller, and to spread his mission for protecting the ocean, his wife and filmmaking partner Mimi deGruy returned to the edit room to produce Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy. A documentary filmmaker in her own right, Mimi worked with Mike producing numerous hours of award-winning television for the National Geographic Channel, the BBC, and other broadcasters. Prior to working with Mike, she worked for CNN, on Turner Broadcasting’s “Portrait of America” series, and on the PBS series “The Infinite Voyage.”

When she was finally able to watch footage after Mike died, Mimi deGruy found a piece she’d never seen, shot not long after the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill. She watched it again and again and knew she had to make a film. The footage depicted a different Mike because at that moment, he’d gone from an artist sharing the wonder of the deep to an enraged and impassioned warrior.

Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy. is full of breathtaking footage shot by Mike and in-depth interviews with Sir David Attenborough, James Cameron, and Sylvia Earle, among many other DeGruy collaborators including his children Max and Frances. What emerges is a very human story of a man, his friends, acquaintances and family members who had a passion for the ocean and turned it into a mission.

Along the way we see the numerous lives that he touched and his enduring call for everyone to look into their own backyards and find something that needs to be fixed and then fix it! It’s almost fitting that he earned the nickname Mike Debris as he wanted his equipment to perform in an optimal way and that way was the Mike deGruy way. Anything less was just not acceptable. So, often times, Mike would modify the equipment to meet his needs. Unfortunately, it didn’t always turn out so well for the equipment!

Neverthelss, Mike deGruy, an Olympic caliber spring-board diver, swam, dived and filmed in oceans around the world and in the process became the first to film many rarely seen creatures in their own oceans. He was also a passionate advocate of the ocean’s creatures and became increasingly outspoken as an environmental activist.

Told through the eyes and voice of Mimi DeGruy,  Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy celebrates deGruy’s remarkable life, career and what he passionately believed: we are destroying the ocean before we even know what’s there. Mike deGruy had a tremendous belief in the ability of communities to work together to affect positive change and he saw in the next generation a group of people who could make that happen.

Oscar and Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter, Christopher Cross, wrote the film’s closing tune, “Diving Deep,” an ode to Mike DeGruy. Ultimately, the  Diving Deep: The Life and Times of Mike deGruy is about hope.Highly recommended.

Posted by Larry Gleeson

First-time Director, Bing Liu, popped into Santa Barbara this afternoon and participated in a Q & A hosted by Santa Barbara International Film Festival Program Director Michael Albright after a screening of Bing’s award-winning work, Minding the Gap.

Bing’s film is a documentary that tracks the lives of the individuals in his home-town of Rockford, Illinois who frequent a skateboard park as well as his own journey in coming to terms with life in a city marred by spousal abuse and outright flight after the community was dealt a strong economic blow from the 2008 financial crisis.

Utilizing a steady-cam, archival footage and some highly-polished cinematography, Bing strings together a fluid, self-reflexive narrative that is both emotionally rewarding and aesthetically appealing.

Minding the Gap premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and has garnered numerous awards this past year on the festival circuit including the Top Audience pick at the Toronto International Film Festival. In addition, Minding the Gap is short-listed for this year’s Oscar in the Documentary Film Category and is part of the SBIFF Documentary Spotlight Series featuring all fifteen short-listed films.

Until next time I’ll See you at the cinema!