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IN THE SPOTLIGHT Santa Barbara International Film Festival By Kelly McCarthy
The festival attracted more than 40,000 visitors and screened Nearly 150 films, with a special focus on Spanish and Latin American cinema. In addition, American independents, major studio releases, award-winning foreign films and international documentaries offered filmgoers a plethora of choices. In particular, The Return (2003), Russia's Foreign Language Film Oscar submission about two brothers whose lives are changed when reunited with the father they haven't seen in twelve years, was a Reelwriter.net favorite. Brimming with heavy hitters and up-and-coming talent, the ten-day cinematic extravaganza was as much for movie fans as it was for the industry talent themselves who gathered to swap insights into the art of filmmaking. Festivities began with the opening night film, Miramax Films' heartfelt and beautifully crafted Valentin (2003), directed by Alejandro Agresti and starring ten-year-old Rodrigo Noya. Reelwriter.net opened its heart to Noya, who showed a range of emotions reserved for someone three times his age. Throughout the film, Valentin deals with abandonment, death and love. But while most children would require an adult to guide them in times of crisis, it is little Valentin (Noya) who consoles, advises and brings love to those around him. As an actor, his brilliance was in his subtle and honest choices.
"I think it's a shame that in general the actors have been overlooked in this recent round of awards," says Jackson. "People talk about fantasy not being a genre taken seriously and in some respects it has been obviously overlooked in this year's nominations. But I think the acting nominations suffered for the fact that these actors were playing hobbits or wizards, or whomever they were playing. And people thought maybe, oh well, that's not a legitimate character. But everyday that the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is screened around the world, Sean Astin is making people cry. It's the quality of his performance doing that. In a sense, that's probably Sean's best reward." Speaking of rewards, movie fans and film students alike were enlightened by both the screenwriter's and director's panels that included: Gary Ross, Seabiscuit (2003); Phillippa Boyes and Fran Walsh, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003); Jim Sheridan, In America (2005); John August, Big Fish (2003); Patty Jenkins, Monster (2003); Thomas McCarthy, The Station Agent (2003); Peter Weber, Girl with a Pearl Earing (2003) and Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain (2003). Reelwriter.net was fortunate to speak with Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Artistic Director, Roger Durling, following the big event. Kelly McCarthy: What was it like putting together both the star-studded panels and the diverse group of films? Roger Durling: I didn't come on board until six months before the festival. So, it was a lot of catch up and it felt like I was constantly out of breath. When it came to the films, I felt very confident about that aspect of the program. I go to almost every film festival you can imagine. It was a lot of work but I just love doing it. So it never felt like it was a lot of work. For the program I had a vision that it needed to be diverse. So my staff and myself sought different films from different countries. But when it came to the talent, to me that was the challenge because I don't have big Hollywood contacts. But we engaged PMK, which is the big PR firm. I think it was a true collaborative effort this year. Our goal was to honor people who were at the peak of their powers; young talent who were current. McCarthy: What was your all over vision for the festival? Durling: I wanted a more Latino influence. Our opening night film was Valentin (2002) (filmed in Buenos Aires) and we also showed twelve Latino films in competition. That was a first for the festival. The educational aspect was also really strong. In the past, the film festival had not done much with the city of Santa Barbara. But this year, it was important for us to make it a community festival. So, we came up with all of this programming to engage the city, and it became electrified. For example: we had a field trip to the movies where we rented the biggest theatre, Arlington, and on the Thursday morning before the film festival we opened it up free to the school district from the third to the sixth grade. We screened Winged Migration and the students were given a study guide. We also moved digital days, the technical aspect of the festival to City College. Our documentary panel, which was a first for us, was incredibly well attended. On the first Sunday of the festival we sponsored a night shoot with the Brooks Institute, a cinematography school in town. We had a student digital contest, so there were kids running around the whole city filming. We did a sidebar about women in cinema at the museum of art. We sponsored trial hikes, walks through the city for people at the festival who were tourists. Whenever we could, we were just thinking of creative ways of engaging the city. McCarthy: In honoring such talent as Peter Jackson, Charlize Theron, Denys Arcand and Jim Sheridan Santa Barbara ignited plenty of pre Oscar buzz excitement. Was that your goal? Durling: We didn't really seek that out so much, but it just happened. Our timing was perfect, one month before the Oscars. And it helped that we are so close to Hollywood. But the Oscar part was just extra icing on the cake. We had planned that in two or three years from now we'd achieve what we did this year, getting the front runner for best director and the front runner for best actress. That it happened this year, we are all amazed. Opening night was magical and from there on I knew that the city had embraced us. I knew that my team at the festival was going to pull through and we were going to make it. And I was amazed at the reception. McCarthy: What are your favorite moments from the festival? Durling: There are so many that it's hard to pin-point. There was a moment at the Peter Jackson tribute, where I felt like I was in a Fellini movie. It was so carnival like, with all of the media attention and all of the people screaming. It was just surreal. I'll always remember that. It was a real surprise that Fernando Meirelles, the director of City of God (2002) showed up. That was a highlight. McCarthy: You also captured something very special in this year's tributes to Charlize Theron, Performance of the Year Award, and in the salute to Diane Lane. How did you make those choices? Durling: Most film festivals honor somebody like a Harrison Ford or a Robert Redford, somebody whose had a long career behind them and are deserving of a long tribute. We decided to recognize young people in their careers that are just now getting the accolades, like Charlize. The night she was honored, she was amazed to look back at her young career. It was a great journey for the audience. It was a great journey for her. We were able to provide a prospective for her that to me was so magical. It was the same with Diane Lane. That was the kind of magic Carol (Marshall) and I looked for. McCarthy: When do you start back on the festival circuit looking for films? Durling: I'll go to Telluride in the Fall, and from there I go to Toronto, San Sebastian and AFI. McCarthy: How soon will you get started for next year's Santa Barbara Festival? Durling: We started already. Unofficially the dates are January, 28 to February 6, 2005 McCarthy: Thank you Roger. Reelwriter.net will be sure to be there in 2005. © Reelwriter.net 2004 |
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What better place to be for pre Oscar buzz than the 19th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, (January 30 to February 8). This year, the festival featured such talent as Academy Award Nominees Peter Jackson, director of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003); Jim Sheridan, director of In America (2003) and actress Charlize Theron of Monster (2003). From red carpet tributes to provocative films like The Barbarian Invasions (2003) by Canadian director Denys Arcand, quaint Santa Barbara might as well have been called BARBARAWOOD. Thanks to artistic director Roger Durling, it was the premier event leading up to the Academy Awards. Peter Jackson went on to take home the coveted Oscar statuette for Best Director. Charlize Theron won for Best Actress and Denys Arcand took home his Oscar for the Best Foreign Film, The Barbarian Invasions (2003).
Talking about subtle, the art of subtlety wasn't clearly evident in Peter Jackson's early work. But his remarkable transformation from B-slasher film director to an artist with a magical vision who masterfully captured J.R.R. Tolkien's work on the big screen was enough to earn Jackson this year's prestigous Modern Master Award, which took place on January 31. It was richly deserved. The evening, which featured clips from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, as well as his early work, was a pure case study in a director's cinematic evolution. Jackson's early work, including the film Bad Taste (1987) comically attacked the horror and shock film genre. His characters are beheaded, disembowled and hacked away in a series of gory and creative ways. His other early work includes Meet the Feebles (1989), The Frighteners (1996) and Braindead (1992). Though Jackson says he was basically doing the same kind of filmmaking in his early years as he's doing now, but with a smaller budget, it's hard to imagine. He has made such a giant leap with the Lord of the Rings trilogy it's hard to believe he's the same director. While this year's awards snubbed Jackson's actors he continues to credit their work for the film's success. |
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