Hollywood 101
Our world-renowned FILM FESTIVAL finds the sweet spot between Hollywood and international cinema
Bradley Cooper
Written by Josef Woodard
The 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which wrapped on February 17 with the world premiere of Heather Graham’s good-natured rom-com Chosen Family, achieved its long-standing game plan of finding the sweet spot among Hollywood celebrities and Oscar-timed buzz, serious international cinema, feel-good diversions, documentaries, and other facets of film.
As a popular part of its densely packed 10-day (plus one opening night) festival, the celebrity-tribute component was well stocked with Oscar-nominated actors, starting with the prefestival Kirk Douglas award tribute to Ryan Gosling (aka “Ken”). Regrettably, Annette Benning—the only woman on the tribute schedule—had to cancel. But due kudos were given to other powerful actors—Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Paul Giamatti, and Jeffrey Wright (honored for his rare leading role in American Fiction). The Outstanding Directors night focused on Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), who accepted his award by asserting that “the real gift was getting to make the movies.”
Three peripheral celebrities generated their own special buzz. Lily Gladstone, the first Native American nominated for an Oscar (for Killers) was greeted with a hero’s welcome; she commented, “A win by one of us is a win for all.” Billie Eilish showed up at the Arlington and helped sell out the normally more specialized Variety Artisans panel, noting that her Barbie theme song “picked me up like a little hook lifting me out of a dark place.” Musician John Batiste showed up for a soulful and heartfelt Q&A with festival head Roger Durling, following the poignant doc American Symphony.
In the all-important heart of the program—its 200-plus screening schedule, with an unusually broad geographical sweep—programming director Claudia Puig, in her third year here, summoned an impressive range of cinema. By festival’s end, the avid SBIFF-goers could find resonance in Durling’s opening night comment that “we come to the movies for the feeling of being alive.” sbiff.org
Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images (Brad Pitt; Finneas and Billie Eilish). Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images (Bradley Cooper; Jeffrey Wright; Paul Giamatti; Roger Durling, Justine Triet, and Martin Scorsese; Emma Stone; Mark Ruffalo; Greta Lee, Andrew Scott, Charles Melton, America Ferrera, Lily Gladstone, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph; Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Rob Lowe)
