A Film Centered Time and Place
At 40, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival followed a time-tested format, but with a critical new game and home.
Josef Woodard
Recent Stories
SBIFF Day 12 | Adventures in TBA Land
That’s a wrap on the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival for our Senior Arts Writer.
SBIFF Day 11 | The Knowing Eyes of a Child
‘Tiny Lights’ earns big praise from our Senior Arts Writer, along with Colman Domingo and other penultimate day cinematic treasures.
SBIFF Day 10 | Building on a Two-Shot
A tribute to two actors plus three films occupy our senior arts writer on the Film Festival’s 10th day.
ON the Beat | Orchestral Convergence Week
This week’s musical menu includes two concerts featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, and the next Santa Barbara Symphony program.
SBIFF Day 9 | Balletic Action Connection, and News from Mongolia
A week and some change in and our senior arts writer is still going strong.
Film Unites | A Healthy Downpour of Film Festival Action, in Progress
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, at its mid-point, is a rich and varied 40th birthday celebration.
SBIFF Day 8 | A Completely Known
From Chalamet and Brolin’s bro-fest to the quieter moments of powerful small films, our senior arts writer is squeezing every moment of joy out of SBIFF.
SBIFF Day 7 | Of Truffles and Producers
The role of the producer is to make It happen, and indeed they did.
SBIFF Day 6 | Forever Young, Super Bowling for Stars
From Neil Young and Ariana Grande to Turkish Filmmaker Hikmet Kerem Özcan, Superbowl Sunday had something for everyone in Santa Barbara.
