SBIFF celebrated the big 4-0 with a jam-packed 12 days of screenings, celebrity tributes, free films, Q&As, and industry panel discussions spread across Santa Barbara at the Arlington Theatre, the new five-screen SBIFF Film Center (with major upgrades to come), the SBIFF Riviera Theatre, and the Marjorie Luke Theatre.
Along with nearly 350 screenings of 185 different films — including 32 world premieres and 74 U.S. premieres, with 52 percent of the films directed by women — they feted all five Academy Award for Best Director nominees, as well as major stars like Angelina Jolie, Ariana Grande, Kevin Costner, Timothée Chalamet, Zoe Saldaña, Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, Selena Gomez, Ralph Fiennes, and Colman Domingo, among others.
Montecito Award winner Colman Domingo with his presenter, Oprah Winfrey | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
The Artisan Awards | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Maltin Modern Master Award winner Angelina Jolie | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Cinema Vanguard Awards with (from left) Pete Hammond, Adrien Brody, and Guy Pearce | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom 
Arlington Artist of the Year Award winner Timothée Chalamet | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom
Surprise appearances by Oprah Winfrey, Josh Brolin, Rob Lowe, and Demi Moore were also a highlight for film fans.
The Audience Choice Award (sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent) went to the environmentally themed Out of Plain Sight. Directed by Daniel Straub and Rosanna Xia, the film has a local connection in that professor and oceanographer David Valentine and his team at the UCSB Valentine Lab are prominently featured in the feature-length documentary from the Los Angeles Times.
