“Andrew Garfield has long since proven himself to critics and audiences alike. It’s no simple matter to balance a career between mainstream Hollywood movies and challenging director-driven projects, but he has done exactly that and done it well,” said renowned film critic Leonard Maltin, a longtime SBIFF moderator and namesake for the festival’s prized Maltin Modern Master Award.
Garfield — a two-time Academy Award nominee who is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for his latest performance in Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, the story of OpenAI and a two decade artificial intelligence arms race. He will join Maltin for an on-stage conversation reflecting on his acclaimed career and wide-ranging body of work on February 6, 2027, at the 42nd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The timely film, which will be released theatrically by NEON on Christmas Day after premiering to critical acclaim at the New York Film Festival, follows a computer scientist and AI pioneer Professor Geoffrey Hinton, who makes a breakthrough he is certain will alter humanity forever. Sam Altman, Elon Musk and the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley race to become part of their vision. As the technology becomes more powerful and more valuable than anyone ever imagined, a battle wages over who should control the tech that could change the fate of humanity. View trailer here.
Past recipients of the Modern Master Award include last year’s Adam Sandler and Academy Award–winning actors Angelina Jolie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Robert Downey Jr., Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, and Christopher Plummer, and acclaimed filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Sean Penn, Clint Eastwood, and Peter Jackson.
Garfield joins that prestigious group having established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation, moving between intimate character-driven dramas, major studio films and acclaimed stage productions. He earned his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of WorldWar II medic Desmond Doss in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge and his second for his performance as composer Jonathan Larson in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick … Boom!, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He also received a Golden Globe nomination for his breakout performance in David Fincher’s The Social Network. His filmography is extensive, but he is probably best known for playing Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man films.
The 42nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place February 3-13, 2027. Additional awardees announced so far include John Malkovich, who will receive the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award on February 12, 2027. In addition, Emily Blunt will receive the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film at a black tie fundraiser on December 10, 2026. For more information, see sbiff.org.
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