Directors’ Cuts at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

And then there were two…. As SBIFF’s illustrious list of tributes went into the home stretch on Friday night, the Outstanding Directors panel suddenly shifted from a threesome to a twosome. The Daniels, of Everything Everywhere All at Once fame, had to pull out on short notice, leaving only Todd Field (Tár) and Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) sharing the Arlington stage for the evening.

But the positive upshot was that closer attention and deeper diving could be granted these two stellar cinema figures. As different as the pair are, they share the distinction of having made two of the more artistic and challenging, yet still accessible, films of the past year. Both films have been duly laureled with Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenwriting nomination honors.

Field, who showed up in a Boston baseball cap, sneakers, and a sweater, lives up to moderator Scott Feinberg’s “three for three” baseball analogy, having made three acclaimed films — In the Bedroom, Little Children, and Tár. Having briefly been an actor, with an IMDB résumé including Twister and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Field had a close encounter with the business of acting to inform his directorial work.