from sbiff

Santa Barbara, CA –The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), presented by lynda.com, announces its stellar line-up for 2011. The 26th edition offers a vast array of films representing 49 countries and an astounding number of premieres sure to delight the cinematic tastes of SBIFF audiences. SBIFF is proud to welcome many promising and established filmmakers and honorees to join in its grand tradition of celebrating independent film. The Festival begins Thursday, January 27 and continues through Sunday, February 6, 2011. “We’ve taken a queue from Christopher Nolan’s Inception – “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger,” and so we have decisively and dynamically made our 26th festival grander in every way,” proclaims SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling.

OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT GALAS

SBIFF 2011 will kick off at the historic Arlington Theatre with the U.S. Premiere of Sarah’s Key directed by Gilles Paquet Brenner and starring Kristin Scott Thomas. Based on the international bestselling novel by Tatiana de Rosnay, the film beautifully interweaves two seemingly different stories, illustrating a remarkable connection between the past and present. The first story is that of Sarah, a ten year old Jewish girl living in Paris during World War II. The second story follows Julia (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist living in modern day Paris with her French husband assigned to write a story on the Vel’d’Hiv roundup of 1942, and upon investigation discovers she has a personal connection. The film takes an emotional look into a historical event long hidden, but now sure to never be forgotten. Following the Opening Night screening the festivities will continue with a party at Paseo Nuevo in downtown Santa Barbara. Opening night Film and Gala is sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter and Studio 7. Kristin Scott Thomas and Gilles Paquet-Brenner will be in attendance.

On Closing Night, SBIFF is proud to feature the Premiere of Georges Bizet’s popular opera Carmen in 3D, a dazzling film directed by Julian Napier filled with some of the best-loved music ever written, performed by some of the world’s greatest singers and marking the first time ever that an opera has been filmed and shown in state-of-the-art digital 3D. A co-production of 3D movie pioneer RealD and London’s internationally renowned Royal Opera House, Carmen in 3D gives the viewers the best seat in the house, taking them on a magic carpet ride onto the stage, behind the scenes and into the heart of the emotional production, immersing them as never before into this timeless story of love, jealousy and betrayal. Closing Night festivities take place at the historic Arlington Theatre and are sponsored by SB Independent and RealD…more