The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is always starry a celebration of up and coming filmmakers and Oscar hopefuls, but this year the programmers have also decided to make it more accessible. For the first time, it鈥檒l be free for the community, organizers announced Tuesday.
The 36th installment kicks off on March 31 with the world premiere of Aaron Mauer鈥檚 鈥淚nvisible Valley鈥� about the people of California鈥檚 Coachella鈥檚 Valley, from the undocumented farmworkers to the wealthy snowbirds and music festival partiers. The film also explores the 鈥渓ooming ecological crisis threatening it all.鈥�
After a year of mostly online film festivals, the festival is taking a hybrid approach and building two beachside drive-in
Celebrity honorees at the 36th installment include Amanda Seyfried, Delroy Lindo, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bill Murray and Carey Mulligan, who is getting the Cinema Vanguard Award. Virtuoso Award recipients include Riz Ahmed, Maria Bakalova, Kinglsey Ben-Adir, Andra Day, Sidney Flanigan, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim and Zendaya. That event, moderated by Dave Karger, will take place on April 3.
Feature films in the lineup include 鈥淭rees of Peace,鈥� about four women hiding and fighting for survival during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, 鈥淐oast,鈥� about a teenager in a small town who falls for a punk singer, and 鈥淎laskan Nets,鈥� a documentary about a high school basketball team who has a shot at the state championship for the first time since 1984. Other films include 鈥淟ast Call,鈥� a documentary about the hospitality industry in Queens at the outset of COVID-19, 鈥淗ighway One,鈥� set around a New Year鈥檚 Eve party in rural California and 鈥淭he Revolution Generation鈥� about the largest youth generation in history and the challenges they face. The documentary 鈥�$avvy鈥� explores the topic of women and personal finances.
U.S. premieres include 鈥淔ellinopolis,鈥� about the world of Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, 鈥淭each Me If You Can,鈥� a French documentary about teachers in Burkina Faso, Bangladesh and Siberia, and 鈥淪ix Angry Women,鈥� from New Zealand, which covers the 1984 kidnapping of an Auckland University lecturer.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 festival will look different on many fronts, but we are unchanged when it comes to what鈥檚 most important: our love of film, and our dedication to bringing forward a program of unmatched quality and sharing it with our community,鈥� said Roger Durling, the festival鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淲e are so excited to have the opportunity to be a source of joy and optimism.鈥�
Closing night on April 10 will highlight short documentaries by local filmmakers, covering subjects as diverse as an annual trip by the Chumash people to a historic site, a woman鈥檚 quest to restore ecosystems with sheep and how the residents of Santa Barbara survived 2020.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival regularly attracts more than 100,000 attendees annually.
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
