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SBIFF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and education organization dedicated to making a positive impact utilizing the power of film. SBIFF is a year-round organization that is best known for its main film festival that takes place each year in February. Over the past 30 years the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums. We bring the best of independent and international cinema to Santa Barbara, and we continue to expand our year-round operation to include a wide range of educational programming, fulfilling our mission to engage, enrich and inspire our community through film.
In June 2016, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. The theatre is SBIFF’s new home and is the catalyst for our program expansion. This marks the first time that Santa Barbara has had a 24/7 community center focused on the art of film and is an incredible opportunity to expand our mission of educational outreach. Particularly important to SBIFF is making available high quality learning opportunities for underserved and vulnerable populations. Our programs and reach are more robust than ever before.
SBIFF's partner ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) of Santa Barbara/Tri-Counties announced today that it has awarded its ADL Stand Up Award to the feature film The Quiet Girl, a touching fictional drama about a young girl sent by a dysfunctional family to stay with foster parents.
A jury of local ADL staff and supporters annually present the ADL Stand Up Award to a film in the festival that exemplifies the impact storytelling can have in fostering mutual understanding and respect, consistent with ADL’s over 100-year-old mission “to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” The award is sponsored this year by the Skinner Social Impact Fund and Steve and Cindy Lyons.
“In a language we rarely hear on screen, this film otherwise feels like it could be occurring next door,” said ADL Regional Director Dan Meisel. “Our jury appreciated how ‘quietly’ this story reminds us that much of our identities reside below the waterline of what others see, and that we need to dive in with authentic interest to earn the trust and other rewards of true connection.”
The Quiet Girl was written and directed by Colm Bairéad, based on the 2010 novella Foster, by Claire Keegan. It is the first Irish language film to be nominated for an Oscar, in its case for Best International Feature Film. Its lead cast include Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, and newcomer Catherine Clinch. “In bringing this film to life, we sought to create an honest, respectful and compassionate work,” said Bairéad. “These are qualities that, we believe, should guide us all. We would like to thank the ADL for this special recognition.”
ADL’s jury also expressed appreciation for The Nannies (a fun but poignant portrayal of the challenges encountered by undocumented childcare providers in Paris) and The Harvest (a generational drama that unfolds in the home of a Hmong family in Californian).
The Quiet Girl will first screen at the festival on Wednesday, February 15, at 6:00 p.m. at the Metro 4 Theatre, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers co-moderated by Meisel and Puig. The film is currently scheduled to screen again on Thursday, February 16 at 5:00 p.m. at the same location. Passes and MiniPaks can be purchased at sbiff.org.
This is the seventh year ADL Santa Barbara/Tri-Counties has sponsored its Stand Up Award. Previous winners explored the lives of a drag performer in Cuba (Viva, 2016), Polish migrant workers in Sweden (Strawberry Days, 2017), Syrian refugees seeking passage to Berlin (Sky and Ground, 2018), a team of basketball players with disabilities (Campeones, 2019), courageous women leading Britain’s resistance efforts in occupied France (Liberté: A Call to Spy, 2020), a harrowing dramatic portrayal of four women’s struggle to survive the Rwandan Genocide (Trees of Peace, 2021), and a diverse group of at risk teenagers expressing the challenges they faced through spoken word poetry (Our Words Collide, 2022).
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has star wattage and a wealth of premieres in a Mediterrean-style city by the sea.
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The team of editors of the The Santa Barbara Blog:Carol Marshall, Felicia Tomasko, Vanessa McMahon, Marla and Mark Hamperin, Kim Deisler and Bruno Chatelin
