SBIFF
By the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)
Angela Bassett will be honored with the Montecito Award at the 38th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Bassett will receive the award on Thursday, February 9th, 2023 at an in-person conversation about her career leading up to this year’s performance in Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER directed by Ryan Coogler from Disney Studios.
“Ms. Bassett has had an illustrious career as an actor, director and producer and in WAKANDA FOREVER reminds us why she’s so greatly revered. She’s regal, fierce and commanding as Queen Ramonda. We bow down.” SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling stated.
Angela Bassett is an actress, director, and executive producer known for captivating, emotionally-tinged performances full of dignity in treasured films such as MALCOLM X, BOYZ IN THE HOOD, WAITING TO EXHALE, HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, and of course, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. She has since made star-turns in the historic BLACK PANTHER, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-FALLOUT, BUMBLEBEE from Paramount, as well as the television hits 9-1-1, and MASTER OF NONE. Other recent projects include Disney and Pixar’s Academy Award-winning animated feature SOUL, for which she lent her melodious voice for the character, Dorothea Williams; feature films OTHERHOOD and GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE from Netflix; and THE FLOOD from National Geographic, for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Narrator. Further, she was nominated for two Emmys, including Outstanding Narrator for the IMAGINEERING STORY: THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW. Bassett recently wrapped production on the Netflix Originals feature film, DAMSEL, opposite Millie Bobby Brown.
The Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish areas in Santa Barbara. Past recipients include Penélope Cruz, Amanda Seyfried, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts and Javier Bardem.
The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place LIVE February 8 – February 18, 2023. 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 and tickets for the 2023 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
Last year, SBIFF had a triumphant return to in-person screenings, panels, and events. The festival had 48 world premiere, 95 U.S. premieres, with honorary awards feted on Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Kristen Stewart, Penélope Cruz, Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Caitriona Balfe, Ariana DeBose, Alana Haim, Ciarán Hinds, Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Simon Rex, Saniyya Sidney, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kenneth Branagh, Jane Campion, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Steven Spielberg. Historically, A-list guests ascend to Santa Barbara, making it a must-stop location on the awards circuit, and the festival delivers an unprecedented number of films with many World and U.S. premieres. The film lineup and schedule will be announced January, 2023.
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 37 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.
