Santa Barbara International Film Festival announces winning films

The 26th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the winners of its 2011 festival competition Sunday morning.

Michael Rymer's Australian film "Face to Face" won the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema, which is given to a "unique" feature made outside mainstream Hollywood. The winner received a camera package worth $60,000.

Nathan Collett's "Togetherness Supreme" from Kenya took home the International Film Award.  There was also a special jury award given to actress Alicia Vikander from the Swedish film "Pure" directed by Lisa Langseth.

Patricio Guzmán's "Nostalgia for the Light" from Chile was the recipient of the Nueva Vision Award for the best Spanish/Latin American film.

Japan's "Patisserie" directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa won the East Meets West Cinema Award.

The Eastern Bloc Award went to the Romanian film "If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle," directed by Florin Serban.

Phil Grabsky's "The Boy Mir: Ten Years in Afghanistan" earned the Documentary Film Award.

The Bruce Corwin Award for Best Live Action Short Film Under 30 Minutes went to Brent Bonacorso's "West of the Moon," while the Corwin award for Animation Film Short went to the Oscar-nominated "The Lost Thing," directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan.

Mat Hames' "When I Rise" and Guzmán's "Nostalgia for the Light" were the recipients of the Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award.

The SB Audience Choice Award was given to Morgan Neville's documentary "Troubadours," about the L.A. music scene in the late '60s and early '70s.

The winners of the 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking and Screenwriting Competition will be announced during the closing-night festivities Sunday evening, which will also showcase the premiere of "Carmen in 3D."

-- Susan King

'The King's Speech' earns Santa Barbara fest honor

 

The cast of "The King's Speech" has been named the best motion picture ensemble of the year at the 26th Santa Barbara Film Festival.

The drama about the struggles of England's King George VI to control his stuttering problem received the Producers Guild of America award Saturday night and is poised to earn several Academy Award nominations Tuesday morning. Colin Firth, who plays the monarch, has already won the Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Movie Award for his performance and is considered the favorite to receive the lead actor Oscar.

Besides Firth, the period drama also stars Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi and Claire Bloom.

The award will be handed out on Jan. 31 at Santa Barbara's historic Arlington Theatre during the 11-day festival. Firth, Bonham Carter and others in the cast are expected to attend, as well as Tom Hooper, the film's director. Rush is also receiving another honor that night -- the Montecito Award Tribute.

"We are thrilled to not only recognize the extraordinary performance by Geoffrey Rush, but to be able to celebrate Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, two of our generation's most incredible actors, as well as a Broadway and West End stage and screen legend like Claire Bloom, who launched her career with Charlie Chaplin, is a dream come true," said the festival's executive director Roger Durling in a statement.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival takes place Jan. 27-Feb. 6.

For more information go to http://sbiff.org

--Susan King

Photo: Colin Firth, left, and Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech." Credit: Laurie Sparham/The Weinstein Co.

Santa Barbara Film Festival announces 2011 program

 
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which runs from Jan. 27 through Feb. 6, announced its lineup Thursday morning. The 26th edition of the festival will feature films representing 49 countries and numerous premieres.

The festival kicks off at the Arlington Theatre on Thursday, the 27th with the U.S. premiere of "Sarah's Key," directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Kristin Scott Thomas. Both the filmmaker and star will be in attendance.  The closing-night feature will be the premiere of Georges Bizet's famed opera, "Carmen in 3D."

Among other highlights of the festival are  the world premiere of "That's What I Am," starring Ed Harris and his wife, Amy Madigan, and  a field trip for 4,000 students to see a screening of "Toy Story 3" followed by a Q&A with director Lee Unkrich.

John Hawkes ("Winter's Bone") , Lesley Manville ("Another Year"), Hailee Steinfeld ("True Grit") and Jacki Weaver ("Animal Kingdom") also will be on hand to receive the festival's Virtuosos Award.

Films in the festival will compete in the following juried categories: independent features, international features, documentary features, Spanish/Latin American Cinema, Eastern Bloc, East X West, short films, animated short films.

The festival will also offer a "Focus on Quebec," a look at the culture of the Canadian province; "Reel Nature," a series of nature films programmed by cinematographer Mike DeGruy; "Real-Markable Stories," a series of documentaries; "World Cinema," a slate of international films; and "To the MAXXX, " a slate of sports films and documentaries programmed by Santa Barbara filmmaker Russ Spencer.

For the complete lineup go to http://sbiff.org

 

-- Susan King

Photo: Actor Ed Harris. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

 

Geoffrey Rush wins Santa Barbara film festival honor

Fresh off his win at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday,  Geoffrey Rush has been named the recipient of the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, it was announced Monday.

The Oscar-winning Australian actor will receive the honor, given to a performer for numerous "classic and standout" performances, during the 26th edition of the festival, which runs Jan. 27-Feb. 6. The tribute will take place Jan. 31 at the Arlington Theatre. Previous recipients of the Montecito Award have been Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Naomi Watts and Annette Bening.

-- Susan King

Photo: Geoffrey Rush at the AFI festival in November. Credit: Matt Sayles / Associated Press

 

Nicole Kidman named Santa Barbara fest's Vanguard Award winner

 

Honors for yet another potential Oscar nominee -- Nicole Kidman for her role as a grieving mother in "Rabbit Hole"-- are being announced ahead of the Academy Awards nominations. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival said Sunday that Kidman, who won the best actress Oscar as novelist Virginia Woolf in 2002's "The Hours," is the recipient of the Cinema Vanguard Award.

The tribute to the Australian actress will take place Feb. 5 at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara.

The award was created, according to the festival, "in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path -- taking risks and making significant and unique contributions to film." Previous honorees have included Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Stanley Tucci, Peter Sarsgaard, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ryan Gosling.

In  "Rabbit Hole," which opens in limited release on Dec. 17, Kidman and Aaron Eckhart play a couple trying to deal with the death of their child.

The 26th annual edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs from Jan. 27-Feb. 6.

For more information go to http://www.sbfilmfestival.org

-- Susan King

Photo: Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart in "Rabbit Hole." Credit: David Giesbrecht/Lionsgate

susan.king@latimes.com

Santa Barbara fest to honor Annette Bening

Annette Bening will receive the America Riviera Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 28, a prize bestowed upon "an actor who has had a strong influence on American cinema."

It's a good-luck omen in terms of Bening's Academy Award hopes. Last year's recipient was eventual Oscar champ Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side"). So were previous honorees Forrest Whitaker (2007) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (2006). Many other recipients at least scored scademy nominations, including Tommy Lee Jones (2008) and Diane Lane (2004). Kevin Bacon is the exception. He was hailed in 2005 but failed to receive recognition from the academy.

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo: Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right." Credit: Focus Features.