36TH SBIFF TO OPEN WITH
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF “INVISIBLE VALLEY”
AND CLOSE WITH SANTA BARBARA
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS
FESTIVAL TO PRESENT 47 WORLD PREMIERES
AND 37 U.S. PREMIERES
SCREENING ONLINE AND AT TWO FREE
OCEAN-FRONT DRIVE-IN THEATRES
The 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) will take on an entirely new look this year with the build-out of two state-of-the-art, beachside drive-in theaters sponsored by Toyota Mirai, where every film screening will be offered to the community for free, alongside a ticketed online component that will feature the entire film program in addition to SBIFF’s notable celebrity tributes, industry panels, and filmmaker Q&As.
SBIFF Director Roger Durling on the red carpet at the Opening Night Film ‘Diving Deep:The Life And Times Of Mike deGruy’ during 34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the historic Arlington Theatre, January 31, 2019, in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Larry Gleeson/HollywoodGlee)
SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling stated, “This year’s Festival will look different on many fronts, but we are unchanged when it comes to what’s most important: our love of film, and our dedication to bringing forward a program of unmatched quality and sharing it with our community. We are so excited to have the opportunity to be a source of joy and optimism.”
OPENING NIGHT
SBIFF 2021 will start with the Opening Night Film, presented by UGG®, on Wednesday, March 31, online and at both Drive-in theatres with the WORLD Premiere of INVISIBLE VALLEY directed by Aaron Maurer.
INVISIBLE VALLEY skillfully weaves together the seemingly disparate stories of undocumented farmworkers, wealthy snowbirds, and music festival-goers over the course of a year in California’s Coachella Valley. The intimate, on-the-ground profiles drive home the incongruity of the lifestyles that coexist in an affluent community. In exploring the history of the region as well as its future, the film uncovers an undercurrent of a looming ecological crisis threatening it all.
CLOSING NIGHT
Closing Night Film on Saturday, April 10, the spotlight is on Santa Barbara to highlight a series of short documentaries by local filmmakers. This distinctive selection of films covers a range of iconic people and places in the Santa Barbara area including the Chumash people’s annual trip to their historical village site, one woman’s journey to restore ecosystems with her flock of sheep, a local musician who received care and support from Hospice of Santa Barbara, the story of a community surviving 2020 through outdoor dancing, an artist who specializes in miniature diorama art, and a celebrated local roller-skating icon who sparked a community group known as the SB Rollers.
FREE OCEAN-FRONT DRIVE-IN THEATRES
Check out the schedule for the drive-ins. RSVPs for each film will open 24 hours in advance of showtime. Stay tuned for more!
