The 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival
SBIFF Hosts More Films and Oscar Nominees Than Ever Before
By Charles Donelan & Josef Woodard | March 3, 2022
Our city’s largest cultural event, the annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), opens on Wednesday, March 2, with a slate of films drawn from a larger pool of submissions than ever before. According to SBIFF’s new director of programming, Claudia Puig, the festival received approximately 5,000 applications from filmmakers in 54 countries. The result of this unprecedented demand for inclusion is a schedule that’s packed with excitement and a series of screenings that stretches from 8 in the morning until late in the evening every day between March 2 and closing night on March 12.
Known worldwide as a critical stop on the road to the Oscars, this year’s SBIFF fulfills that role to an extraordinary extent. At least 12 Academy Award nominees will appear this year, and every recipient of the festival’s celebrity tribute awards is coming to town with a nomination.
That list is genuinely incredible. Of the five men up for Best Actor in a Leading Role, three — Will Smith, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Javier Bardem — are receiving SBIFF awards. Of the five women nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, another three — Nicole Kidman, Kristen Stewart, and Penélope Cruz — will also be honored.
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