Special Slices of SBIFF 2013

SOCIAL JUSTICE CINEMA: Critically important films about war, violence, environmental catastrophe, and the uplifting people struggling to make the world better are all on display in the films this year vying for the 14th annual Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award for Documentary Film. The reception for those filmmakers is on Friday, January 25, 5-7 p.m., at Sullivan Goss/Arts & Letters Café, 7 East Anapamu Street. See fundforsantabarbara.org.

PICK A WINNER: It’s easy to be a voter in The Santa Barbara Independent‘s Audience Choice Award, in which the public’s favorite film is honored on Closing Night. To participate, just tear your score into the ballots handed out at each screening, and tell your friends about which films they should see!

MEET THE MAKERS: The Santa Barbara Independent never sleeps during film fest, and throughout the next 11 days, we’ll be publishing dozens of interviews with filmmakers at independent.com/sbiff. Plus, for the second straight year, we will be publishing Meet the Makers, a series of newsletters full of those interviews that comes out four times during the fest.

TICKETS & PASSES: There’s a variety of ways to enjoy SBIFF 2013, from all-access passes to ticket packs. To purchase online, see shop.sbiff.org.

10-10-10 @ 10: It’s the 10th anniversary of 10-10-10, the student filmmaking competition that started in 2004 and added a screenwriting component two years later. So don’t be worried if you see high schoolers acting out dramatic scenes on the sidewalk this week, for 10 crews have 10 days to construct a 10-minute film. They’ll be judged by industry insiders, and then the winning films will be aired on the huge Arlington screen on Closing Night, February 3. See sbiff.org/events/10-10-10.

FREE FAMILY FUN: For the seventh year in a row, SBIFF’s AppleBox series encourages the young and young at heart to come see age-appropriate films on the big screen each weekend morning. This year’s selections, which all screen in 3-D at the Arlington on weekend mornings, are the following: Brave (Sat., Jan. 26, 10am), ParaNorman (Sun., Jan. 27, 10am), Wreck-It Ralph (Sat., Feb. 2, 9am), and Frankenweenie (Sun., Feb. 3, 10am).