Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a film festival
and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival. Opening and closing night festivities take place at Santa Barbara
's historic Arlington Theater
.
The festival has honored and featured many major actors and film personalities, including Leonardo DiCaprio
and Al Gore
.
has historical roots in the filmmaking business.
In July 1912, American Film Manufacturing Company
based out of Chicago
had a studio branch in Santa Barbara nicknamed Matt R, which wasn’t doing so well. The Chicago office sent out Samuel Hutchinson to see if he could turn the company around, otherwise they were going to shut it down. He arrived and took the position as the main director for the company. This was at a time when cross-cutting
and flashbacks
were just being invented. The most popular genre at the time was the Western
, with the Bronco Billy
series being the most famous.
Flying A studios was built on an abandoned ostrich
farm at the corner of Mission and Chapala streets. By 1913 the studio was cranking out a movie every third day. Movies were a lot shorter then, running about an average of 14 minutes. Business was booming. Flying A was expanding, hiring on more crew members, including Victor Fleming
, who later went on to direct Gone with the Wind
and The Wizard of Oz
. In [1916] the studio cranked out 242 films. They continued to flourish until 1921.
Since then many other films have been made in the Santa Barbara area. More recent titles include, Of Mice and Men
, Seabiscuit
and Sideways
.
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival. Opening and closing night festivities take place at Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
's historic Arlington Theater
Arlington Theater
The Arlington Theater is the largest movie theater and principal performing arts venue in Santa Barbara, California, USA. In addition to regular screenings and artists, it is home to many events associated with the annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.- History :Located at 1317 State...
.
The festival has honored and featured many major actors and film personalities, including Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
and Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
.
History of Filmmaking in Santa Barbara
Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
has historical roots in the filmmaking business.
In July 1912, American Film Manufacturing Company
American Film Manufacturing Company
The American Film Manufacturing Company, also known as Flying "A" Studios, was founded in Chicago in fall 1910. In 1915, the formal name was changed to the American Film Company....
based out of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
had a studio branch in Santa Barbara nicknamed Matt R, which wasn’t doing so well. The Chicago office sent out Samuel Hutchinson to see if he could turn the company around, otherwise they were going to shut it down. He arrived and took the position as the main director for the company. This was at a time when cross-cutting
Cross-cutting
Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the...
and flashbacks
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
were just being invented. The most popular genre at the time was the Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, with the Bronco Billy
Bronco Billy
Bronco Billy is a 1980 American film starring Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke. It was directed by Eastwood and written by Dennis Hackin.-Plot:...
series being the most famous.
Flying A studios was built on an abandoned ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
farm at the corner of Mission and Chapala streets. By 1913 the studio was cranking out a movie every third day. Movies were a lot shorter then, running about an average of 14 minutes. Business was booming. Flying A was expanding, hiring on more crew members, including Victor Fleming
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz , and Gone with the Wind , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.-Life and career:Fleming was born in La Canada, California, the son of Elizabeth Evaleen ...
, who later went on to direct Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
and The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. In [1916] the studio cranked out 242 films. They continued to flourish until 1921.
Since then many other films have been made in the Santa Barbara area. More recent titles include, Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men (1992 film)
Of Mice and Men is a 1992 American film starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, directed and produced by Gary Sinise. It is the third movie adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1937 novel of the same name, and was preceded by the 1939 film version and the 1981 television movie.- Plot :George Milton is...
, Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (film)
Seabiscuit is a 2003 American biographical film based on the best-selling non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand...
and Sideways
Sideways
Sideways is a 2004 comedy-drama film written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne and directed by Payne. Adapted from Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, Sideways follows two forty-something year old men, portrayed by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who take a week-long road trip to...
.
10-10-10
One feature of the film festival is the 10-10-10 competition. Students currently enrolled in Santa Barbara area high schools and colleges are invited to submit either a 10 page sample of writing for the Screenwriting portion of the competition, or a five minute sample of their best filmmaking efforts for the directing portion. Ten writers are selected to write one 10-minute script each; the scripts are then matched with the ten filmmakers. Those students then have ten days to shoot and edit the completed ten-minute short film, during the ten days of the festival. Films are screened and winners are announced on closing night. A selection committee consisting of representatives from each school, Industry professionals and SBIFF representatives select the participants.Podcast
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is the first domestic film festival to offer video podcasts of their annual event.Awards
- The American Spirit Award
- The Gold Vision Award
- The Best Foreign Film Award
- Nueva Vision Award
- Best Documentary
- BAFTA Award for Best Short Film
- Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award
- Bruce Corwin Award for Best Live Action Short Film
- Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animation
- Sotheby's International RealtySotheby's International RealtySotheby’s International Realty is a luxury real estate brokerage agency that offers a collection of luxury homes, estates and properties for sale throughout the world. It is owned by parent company Realogy, which was spun off in July 2006 from former parent company Cendant. Sotheby’s has real...
10-10-10 Student Filmmaking Competition - 10-10-10 Student Screenwriting Competition
- Audience Choice Award for Best Film
- Special Jury Selection
Outstanding Performance of the Year Award
- 2012: Viola DavisViola DavisViola Davis is an American actress.Known primarily as a stage actress, Davis won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for her role in King Hedley II . She won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in the...
for The HelpThe Help (film)The Help is a 2011 comedy-drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. The film is about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in the early 1960s... - 2011: James FrancoJames FrancoJames Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
for 127 Hours127 Hours127 Hours is a 2010 biographical adventure drama film co-written, produced and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco as mountain climber Aron Ralston, who became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah in April 2003.... - 2010: Colin FirthColin FirthSirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
for A Single ManA Single Man (film)A Single Man is a 2009 drama film based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. It is the first film directed by Tom Ford. The film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of George Falconer, a depressed gay British university... - 2009: Penélope CruzPenélope CruzPenélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
for ElegyElegy (film)Elegy is a 2008 drama directed by Spanish director Isabel Coixet and based on a Philip Roth novel, The Dying Animal. Staring Penélope Cruz and Ben Kingsley. The film is set in New York City, but was filmed in Vancouver.-Plot:...
and Vicky Cristina BarcelonaVicky Cristina BarcelonaVicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall... - 2008: Angelina JolieAngelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
for A Mighty HeartA Mighty Heart (film)A Mighty Heart is a 2007 drama film directed by Michael Winterbottom; It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart. Although initially a financial failure, A Mighty Heart was met with relatively positive reviews from both critics and viewers alike.The film was screened out of... - 2007: Helen MirrenHelen MirrenDame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
for The QueenThe Queen (film)The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II... - 2006: Heath LedgerHeath LedgerHeath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
for Brokeback MountainBrokeback MountainBrokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry... - 2005: Kate WinsletKate WinsletKate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindEternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American romantic science fiction film about an estranged couple who have each other erased from their memories, scripted by Charlie Kaufman and directed by the French director, Michel Gondry. The film uses elements of science fiction, psychological...
and Finding NeverlandFinding NeverlandFinding Neverland is a 2004 semi-biographical film about playwright J. M. Barrie and his relationship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan, directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay by David Magee is based on the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee... - 2004: Charlize TheronCharlize TheronCharlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
for The Italian JobThe Italian Job (2003 film)The Italian Job is a 2003 heist film directed by F. Gary Gray. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Jason Statham, Mos Def, and Donald Sutherland. It is an American remake of a 1969 British film of the same name, and is about a team of thieves who plan to steal...
and Monster
External links
- SBIFF Website
- Santa Barbara Film Commission
- IMDb SBIFF page
- 2009 Santa Barbara International Film Festival - A Photoessay by Scott London
- 2010 Film Schedule