SBIFF Fires up 

After briefly considering canceling the milestone 40^th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the wake of the Los Angeles fires, SBIFF did postpone announcement of the full lineup and schedule for a few days. But the slate is now complete for the fest, which runs February 4-15, its longest iteration yet, showcasing a total of 33 world premieres and 74 U.S. premieres from 60 countries among its offerings. 

SBIFF will be raising funds for wildfire-impacted communities via partnership with Direct Relief, the globally-massive Montecito-based nonprofit, with donations earmarked for those affected by the unprecedented disaster.

Meanwhile, at least one of the featured films focuses on the destructive ferocity of wildfires, as a new National Film Board of Canada documentary called Incandescence makes its stateside debut on February 13-14. The film weaves together immersive on-the-ground footage with first-person accounts from Indigenous elders, first responders, and ordinary people forced to react to a rapidly evolving ecosystem. We imagine we’ll see many more entries specific to L.A.’s disaster in next year’s fest.

The 2025 fest will be bookended by French-language features, with the charming romcom Jane Austen Wrecked My Life playing on Opening Night, while SBIFF 2025 closes with another U.S. premiere in the dramatic comedy A Missing Part. And Oscar nominations will be announced as this issue hits newsstands on January 23, so we’ll soon know how many of SBIFF’s impressive slate of tribute honorees – including Angelina Jolie, Ralph Fiennes, Zoe Saldaña, Timothée Chalamet, Colman Domingo, Adrien Brody, and Guy Pearce, among several others – have received the coveted nods (Hint: probably nearly all of them). 

Look for much more about SBIFF in our upcoming issues as the area’s biggest event of the season gets underway.