SBIFF
Five-time Academy Award-nominated actress Annette Bening will be honored with the inaugural Arlington Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Bening will receive the award on Friday, February 16th, 2024 at an in-person conversation about her career leading up to her acclaimed performance in this year’s NYAD, directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.
“This is the first award added to our slate in twenty years. It is made to honor an artist who is greatly admired and who has demonstrated an incomparable commitment to film and its craft. Ms. Bening has not only displayed all of those qualities, but is considered by us to be a friend of the film festival. It feels fitting that this award – named after the home of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival – is first given to her,” said Executive Director Roger Durling.
Bening is a celebrated actress across stage and screen. She most recently starred with Jodie Foster in NYAD, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, for which she received her fifth Best Actress Oscar nomination. Bening also received nominations for AMERICAN BEAUTY, THE GRIFTERS, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and BEING JULIA, milestones in an impressive 35 year film career that also includes such notable classics as BUGSY, 20TH CENTURY WOMEN and THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT.
On stage, Bening was last seen on Broadway in Jack O’Brien’s 2019 revival of Arthur Miller’s classic ALL MY SONS alongside Tracy Letts, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. Past theater credits include: KING LEAR; RUTH DRAPER MONOLOGUES; THE CHERRY ORCHARD; TALKING HEADS; HEDDA GABLER; and MEDEA. Bening received a Tony Award nomination and won the Clarence Derwent Award for Outstanding Debut Performance of the Season for 1987 Broadway debut in COASTAL DISTURBANCES.
The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place LIVE February 7 – February 17, 2024. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. Passes for the 2024 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
A-list and industry guests will once again ascend to Santa Barbara, making it a must-stop location on the awards circuit, and delivering a record number of films with many World and U.S. premieres. The 39th festival will open with the World Premiere of Disney’s MADU and it will close with the World Premiere of CHOSEN FAMILY directed by Heather Graham starring Julia Stiles, Heather Graham, Andrea Savage, Thomas Lennon. The festival will debut 45 World Premieres and 77 U.S. Premieres from 48 countries. Film lineup and full festival schedule can be found on sbiff.org.
About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 39 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.
SBIFF continues its commitment to education and the community throughout many free educational programs and events. In 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s new state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.
