Woefully, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (#SBIFF), presented by UGG®, has concluded. As an avid cinephile and film lover, covering any film festival is a tremendous honor for an underemployed writer like myself. So thank you for supporting my newly independent journey; if you’re new, happy to have you, and enjoy this bonus content!
“We were so happy to have persevered and have brought a strong slate of films and a sense of continuity with this years’ SBIFF. We look forward to seeing you all in person next year,” Roger Durling, #SBIFF executive director, says as he announced the award-winning films for the 36th edition.
The films were chosen by jury members Tony Anselmo, Antwone Fisher, David Freid, Li Cheng, Geoffrey Cowper, Patricia Rosema, Siqi Song, Mark Stafford, Rita Taggart, Paul Walter Hauser, Anthony, and Arnette Zerbe. The Audience Choice Award, sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent, was determined by attendees online and at SBIFF's Drive-In Theatres.
Audience Choice Award sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent: Jeff Harasimowicz’s Alaskan Nets
Best Documentary Short Film Award: Richard Reens’s Pant Hoot
Bruce Corwin Award – Best Live-Action Short Film: Christopher Oroza-Nostas’s Savior
Bruce Corwin Award – Best Animated Short Film: Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson’s Kapaemahu
Best Documentary Award sponsored by SEE International: Nina Stefanka’s Mirage (“Miraggio”)
Jeffrey C. Barbakow Award – Best International Feature Film: Nisan Dağ’s When I'm Done Dying
Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema: Alanna Brown’s Trees of Peace
Nueva Vision Award for Spain/Latin America Cinema: Eduardo Crespo’s We Will Never Die
Valhalla Award for Best Nordic Film: Henrik Ruben Genz’s Erna at War (“Erna I Krig”)
Social Justice Award for Documentary Film: Michael Webber’s The Conservation Game
The ADL Stand Up Award sponsored by ADL Santa Barbara/Tri-Counties, the Skinner Social Impact Fund, and Steve and Cindy Lyons: Alanna Brown’s Trees of Peace
Amanda Seyfried was honored and recognized with the Montecito Award. Moderated by Variety editor and Indiewire’s Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson, it’s presented to a person in the entertainment industry who has made a significant contribution to film. Recent past recipients included Lupita Nyong’o (2020), Melissa McCarthy (2019), and Saoirse Ronan (2018).
The actress has been acting for two decades. Her most impressive career accolade is her performance in David Fincher’s MANK (Netflix), for which she recently received Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice nominations.
💣 Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, her mother was an occupational therapist, and her father was a pharmacist. She started modeling at age 11, appearing in print ads for clothing companies, including the Y2K staple Limited Too. “I heard about open calls to be a model listening to the Casey Kasem radio show. My mother and I would take the bus from Allentown to nearby New York City when I was 10 to go to auditions, and the bus fare was only $18. Modeling was great because I had my own money to buy jeans and shoes.”
💣 Seyfried began modeling at a young age and stopped when at seventeen to take vocal lessons, study opera, and train with a Broadway coach. She got her acting start in soap operas as an extra in the daytime series such as Guiding Light, eventually landing recurring roles on As the World Turns (2000 to 2001) and All My Children (2002-2003).
Seyfried gained prominence following her feature film debut in the teen comedy Mean Girls (2004). Her recurring role as Lilly Kane on the then UPN turned Hulu television series Veronica Mars (2004–06). “I remember when I got the role in 'Mean Girls.' My life turned in a day, in an hour. The movie became a big hit. Because I was only 17 at the time and shooting in Toronto, my mother had to live with me as I was not old enough to be emancipated.” She went on to land supporting roles in independent films such as 2005’s Nine Lives and Alpha Dog (2006) and portrayed Sarah Henrickson on the HBO series Big Love until 2011. Continuing to act, Seyfried’s IMDB speaks for itself. The panel aired on Friday; here are the highlights:
💣 Seyfried’s star power was ascending with her starring roles like 2008’s Mamma Mia! (2008) and the dark comedy Jennifer’s Body (2009), both films have achieved cult status with huge followings. Seyfried had this to say about “It was very hard to land the role in 'Mamma Mia!'. But I got the role and was thrilled to share the space with actor Meryl Streep. My biggest challenge was to make sure that Meryl Streep was OK with me. And she was! I learned so much from her.” Noting a similar rapport, moderator Thompson compared that to co-star Gary Oldman in Mank, “We worked well together because we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Seyfried said.
💣 After the event, director Fincher presented the Montecito Award to Seyfried, saying she was a “dream come true.”
Delroy Lindo is honored and recognized for his work in film throughout the years with The American Riviera Award, moderated by Variety editor and Indiewire’s Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson. The American Riviera Award was established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American cinema.
Lindo indeed has cultivated a career not only as a character actor in films like Malcolm X, Get Shorty, Gone in 60 Seconds but as a great actor altogether. In films a previous Spike Lee joint (a childhood favorite), Crooklyn and Clockers are just a few. His most recent work as a Paul, a Vietnam veteran in Spike Lee’s DA 5 BLOODS (Netflix) alongside Chadwick Boseman (RIP) and Jonathan Majors.
This gripping film centers around four Black Vietnam War veterans struggling with their past ghosts and inner demons as they return to search for their fallen squad leader's remains. Also, for the fortune, he helped them hide. If you haven’t seen this film, please watch it because Delroy will blow you away, as will the entire stellar cast.
Born in England to Jamaican parents, Lindo studied acting in San Francisco with a lasting legacy of a hardworking ethic example of theater work. He regularly cites as a formative influence into whatever medium he is engaged in, “in the ten years I worked as a theatre actor, I developed for myself a work ethic. He says, a way of working that I stick to, and I bring that ethic developed in the theatre to my work for the camera,” Lindo said. With a portfolio that ranges from theater to film, comedy to drama, historical fiction to action, Lindo is known for diving into his characters and delivering unforgettable performances. Here are some highlights:
💣 Lindo said that providing the monologue took weeks of preparation, and he committed the words to memory so that he did not fumble when it was time to shoot the scene. “I had a few weeks to prepare myself. Anytime I was on set, and I had a break from filming, I would go off and work on the monologue, so by the morning that we did that scene, I felt that I was as ready as I could be”.
💣 Lindo said he talked to two of his cousins and other Vietnam veterans to use their experiences to stitch together and create Paul's character. While it was a challenging role to play a Vietnam veteran wrestling with PTSD and tormented by his past, Lindo said he felt tremendous support from director Lee that allowed him to get into character. “This journey that I had been on with Spike, that culminates with this work at this time, I cannot say enough how safe I felt,” Lindo said. “I felt safe enough to commit in that way.”
💣Lindo said that the entire cast of Da 5 Bloods shared a special bond that “does not come along every day” and that it was “foundational” in allowing the actors to commit to the work with a “level of safety and freedom.” While Lindo said he did not feel heroic himself for playing Paul's role, there were a couple of scenes where he got to watch his colleagues perform, and they were “extraordinarily heroic.”
💣 Lindo talked about the various ways he prepares for a character. When preparing to play Rodney's role in Richard Price’s 1995 film Clockers, Lindo found out that Rodney’s character’s based on an actual person. Asking Price to introduce him to the person who inspired the character, Lindo hung out with the person for about three weeks. “I was talking to him, observing him, watching him, just trying to take in everything about who this man was and what made this man tick and why he did what he did,” Lindo said. “All of those things were really valuable for me.”
💣 When preparing to play, Satchel Paige, one of the most famous and successful baseball players in the Negro League, made it to Major League Baseball in Kevin Sullivan’s Soul of the Game. Lindo said he took pitching lessons on the mound and even dance lessons to perfect Paige’s stance. “I wanted to be balletic enough to represent Satchel as best as I could,” he said.
Reclaim Idaho
Seemingly a David and Goliath tale, except this isn’t just a feel-good underdog story, although it is, except it’s so also much more than that. This little initiative that could, otherwise known as Reclaim Idaho, raised a crucial awareness of the sad realization that Americans seem to face at our elected officials' hands. Around 62,000+ Idahoans were uninsured and without a safety net to fall back on.
Reclaim Idaho is an inspiring documentary of a grassroots movement that started in 2017 as an uprising to encourage government negligence awareness. Its leading star is a 1977 sage green Dodge camper with both sides labeled with “Medicaid for Idaho.” Still, the stars are the dynamic duo and devoted volunteers with transformative power. After all, the power of the people is stronger than the people in power.
As a symbol of protest to the Affordable Care Act, Republican-run states all over the US refused to expand Medicaid to help the uninsured in their states. For Idahoans, that negligent choice left an estimated 62,000 - 100,000 people at risk of not having any access to health insurance. Deemed “not poor enough” for Medicaid and not rich enough for any private options, many Idahoans left without the income or means needed to qualify for ACA subsidies; this means these Idahoans fell by the wayside and became known; as ‘The Medicaid Gap.’
Reclaim Idaho successfully spearheaded the initiative campaign to get Medicaid Expansion on the 2018 ballot. Through the valiant efforts of a married couple Emily and Garrett Strizich (along with their newborn in tow), they converted a camper into a statewide beacon of hope to all who encounter it— expanding their efforts by building a grassroots network of over 2,000 volunteers in over 25 Idaho counties. The volunteers initiated conversations so that Idahoans may come together to accomplish what the Idaho legislature failed to do. Healthcare isn’t a nonsensical or radical concept; it’s a highly politicized bipartisan issue in America instead of a human right.
Grassroots initiatives like Reclaim Idaho serve as a reminder that movements and uprisings can spark a dazzling change against the rampant and divisive rhetoric that only seeks to diminish any possibilities of a better future because of agendas and super PACs with hidden corporate marionette strings. Reclaim Idaho reminds us not to underestimate our community, unity isn’t out of reach, and citizens can become citizen lawmakers.
Under My Skin
Is there anything more captivating than an exploration of self captured on film? Under My Skin is an unexpectedly honest and compelling story of gender identity. Making its premiere at London’s Raindance Film Festival back in October, the film centers around a free spirit named Denny (Liv Hewson; Bombshell, Santa Clarita Diet) finding love but, more importantly, finding themselves. Under My Skin explores the experience of being non-binary through four unique yet corresponding perspectives.
As we get to know Denny, we see they’re someone quietly assured about their art and craft until it warrants unsolicited attention from a corporate lawyer named Ryan (Alex Russell (Chronicle, SWAT).
It’s a tale as old as time, a love story. Except in this film, the classic is non-conforming to outdated purists standards and instead told more honestly thanks to writer/director David O’Donnell. Its boy meets them love tale for the modern-day.
Portraying Denny as an ensemble of actors (all who identify as non-binary or trans-non-binary) are Hewson, Bobbi Salvor Menuez (Euphoria, Nocturnal Animals), Lex Ryan, and Chloe Freeman. While some will inevitably find the character change a bit perplexing, the portrayals add to Denny’s depth. The inner turmoil is fascinating as we see Denny’s overrun with self-doubt and inner anxieties due to being unsure of themselves. We see it building itself in Denny’s art, the overshadowing figure of self-hatred or anger because of their internal struggle with identity and self-acceptance. Denny in four parts, each vulnerable and compelling because of the multi-layer of actors and viewers will also see how their self-discovery journey affects their newfound love with an enamored Ryan, who’s head over heels for Denny.
Under My Skin is an engrossing standout at #SBIFF for me.
✨ Today’s special edition of Youthquake is part three of my #SBIFF coverage. Keep an eye for more occasional future bonus content.
