# 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, is the 2024 edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which took place from February 7 to February 17, 2024, at Santa Barbara, California, United States.
In November and December honorary awards were announced which are: Outstanding Performer of the Year Award for Bradley Cooper; Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence In Film for Ryan Gosling and Virtuosos Award for Lily Gladstone, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Greta Lee, Charles Melton, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, America Ferrera, and Andrew Scott.
The festival opened with the documentary Madu by Matthew Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson, story of a 12-year-old Nigerian boy Anthony Madu who moves to England to study ballet at a prestigious dance school. This year the festival inaugurated a new award 'Arlington Award', named for the historic venue where all the fest’s annual tributes timed to Oscar season take place. The award honors "an artist who is greatly admired and who has demonstrated an incomparable commitment to film and its craft". Annette Bening is the first recipient of the award.
The festival closed on February 17, with Chosen Family by Heather Graham, story of a yoga teacher Ann who is trying to find inner peace despite having problems in life. In total the festival showcased 45 world premieres and 77 US premieres altogether from 48 countries, with approximately 100 thousand attendees during the week slatted with screenings of over 200+ films. The winners were announced at a ceremony in Santa Barbara.

## Official selection

Source:

### Opening and closing films

Source:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Opening film ||||
| Madu | Madu | Matthew Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson | United States, Nigeria, United Kingdom |
| Closing film ||||
| Chosen Family | Chosen Family | Heather Graham | United States |

### World Premiere Feature Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 76 Days | 76 Days | Joe Wein | United States |
| Alien Contact | Alien Contact | Rick Rosenthal | United States |
| Art and Life: The Story of Jim Phillips | Art and Life: The Story of Jim Phillips | John Edward Makens | United States |
| Books & Drinks | Books & Drinks | Geoffrey Cowper | Dominican Republic |
| Chosen Family | Chosen Family | Heather Graham | United States |
| Dandelions | Dandelions | Basil Mironer | United States |
| Diving into the Darkness | Diving into the Darkness | Nays Baghai | Australia |
| Electra | Electra | Hala Matar | Bahrain |
| The Fight for Black Lives | The Fight for Black Lives | Micere Keels | United States |
| Giants Rising | Giants Rising | Lisa Landers | United States |
| God & Country | God & Country | Dan Partland | United States |
| Lili | Lili | Sylwia Rosak | Poland |
| The Long Game | The Long Game | Jace Anderson | United States |
| Madu | Madu | Matthew Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson | United States, Nigeria, United Kingdom |
| The Movie Man | The Movie Man | Matt Finlin | Canada |
| Okie | Okie | Kate Cobb | United States |
| Running for the Mountains | Running for the Mountains | Babette Hogan, Julie Eisenberg | United States |
| Send Kelp! | Send Kelp! | Blake McWilliam | Canada |
| Veselka | Veselka | Michael Fiore | United States |

### US Premiere Feature Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Achilles | | Farhad Delaram | Iran, France, Germany |
| Andragogy | Budi Pekerti | Wregas Bhanuteja | Indonesia |
| Atikamekw Suns | Soleils Atikamekw | Chloé Leriche | Canada |
| The Ballad of a Hustler | The Ballad of a Hustler | Heitor Dhalia | United States, Brazil |
| Before It Ends | Når befrielsen kommer | Anders Walter | Denmark |
| Birthday Girl | Birthday Girl | Michael Noer | Denmark |
| The Blue Star | La estrella azul | Javier Macipe | Spain, Argentina |
| Cinema Laika | Cinema Laika | Veljko Vidak | France, Finland |
| Cold | Kuldi | Erlingur Thoroddsen | Iceland |
| Cold Sigh | Cold Sigh | Nahid Azizi Sedigh | Iran |
| Coup! | Coup! | Austin Stark, Joseph Schuman | United States |
| Crush: Message in a Bottle | Crush: Message in a Bottle | Maya Gallus | Canada |
| Dance First | Dance First | James Marsh | United Kingdom |
| Days of Happiness | Les jours heureux | Chloé Robichaud | Canada |
| Dear Jassi | Dear Jassi | Tarsem Singh | India, Canada, United States |
| Disconnect Me | Disconnect Me | Alex Lykos | Australia |
| Edge of Everything | Edge of Everything | Sophia Sabella, Pablo Feldman | United States |
| El paraiso | El paraiso | Enrico Maria Artale | Italy |
| Estonia | Estonia | Måns Månsson, Juuso Syrjä | Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia |
| Excursion | Ekskurzija | Una Gunjak | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, France, Norway, Qatar |
| French Girl | French Girl | James A. Woods, Nicolas Wright | Canada |
| Good Savage | Good Savage | Santiago Mohar Volkow | Mexico |
| Green Night | Green Night | Han Shuai | Hong Kong |
| Hoard | Hoard | Luna Carmoon | United Kingdom |
| Homecoming | Máhccan | Suvi West, Anssi Kömi | Finland, Norway |
| I'm Just Here for the Riot | I'm Just Here for the Riot | Asia Youngman, Kathleen Jayme | Canada |
| The King Tide | The King Tide | Christian Sparkes | Canada |
| The Last Daughter | The Last Daughter | Brenda Matthews, Nathaniel Schmidt | Australia |
| The Last Movie | The Last Movie | Olaug Spissøy Kyvik | Norway |
| Let Me Go | Laissez-moi | Maxime Rappaz | Switzerland |
| Medium | Medium | Christina Ioakeimidi | Greece |
| Mimang | 미망 | Kim Tae-yang | South Korea |
| The Movie Teller | La contadora de películas | Lone Scherfig | Spain, France, Chile |
| Mr. Freeman | Mr. Freeman | Mads Matthiesen | Denmark |
| Much Ado About Dying | Much Ado About Dying | Simon Chambers | Ireland |
| On Earth as in Heaven | Sur la terre comme au ciel | Nathalie Saint-Pierre | Canada |
| On the Edge | État limite | Nicolas Peduzzi | France |
| The Other Son | El otro hijo | Juan Sebastián Quebrada | Colombia, France, Argentina |
| Over the Cracks | Sous le tapis | Camille Japy | France |
| Photophobia | Photophobia | Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavel Pekarčík | Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine |
| Point of Change | Point of Change | Rebecca Coley | United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Indonesia |
| Prison in the Andes | Penal Cordillera | Felipe Carmona | Chile, Brazil |
| Queen of Bones | Queen of Bones | Robert Budreau | United States, Canada |
| A Ravaging Wind | A Ravaging Wind | Paula Hernández | Argentina, Uruguay |
| The Reeds | The Reeds | Cemil Ağacıkoğlu | Turkey |
| Rickerl | Rickerl | Adrian Goiginger | Austria, Germany |
| The Rooster | The Rooster | Mark Leonard Winter | Australia |
| Seagrass | Seagrass | Meredith Hama-Brown | Canada |
| Snow Leopard | 雪豹 | Pema Tseden | China |
| Suze | Suze | Linsey Stewart, Dane Clark | Canada |
| That They May Face the Rising Sun | That They May Face the Rising Sun | Pat Collins | Ireland |
| The Tundra Within Me | Eallogierdu | Sara Margrethe Oskal | Norway |
| Unmoored | Unmoored | Caroline Ingvarsson | United Kingdom |
| Until the Music Is Over | Até que a Música Pare | Cristiane Oliveira | Brazil, Italy |
| Uproar | Uproar | Paul Middleditch, Hamish Bennett | New Zealand |
| The Vourdalak | The Vourdalak | Adrien Beau | France |

### Non Premiere Feature Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Abroad | 어브로드 | Giovanni Fumu | South Korea, United States |
| All You Hear is Noise | All You Hear is Noise | Ned Castle, Matt Day | United States |
| Another Happy Day | Another Happy Day | Nora Fiffer | United States |
| Ashima | Ashima | Kenji Tsukamoto | United States |
| Blaga's Lessons | Уроците на Блага | Stephan Komandarev | Bulgaria |
| Brothers | Bratři | Tomáš Mašín | Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia |
| Bye Bye Tiberias | Bye Bye Tiberias | Lina Soualem | France, Palestine, Belgium, Qatar |
| City of Wind | Sèr sèr salhi | Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir | Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar, France |
| The Contestant | The Contestant | Clair Titley | United Kingdom |
| Copa 71 | Copa 71 | Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine | United Kingdom |
| The Cowboy and the Queen | The Cowboy and the Queen | Andrea Nevins | United States |
| Eat Bitter | Eat Bitter | Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, Ningyi Sun | Central African Republic, China |
| Ezra | Ezra | Tony Goldwyn | United States |
| First Time Female Director | First Time Female Director | Chelsea Peretti | United States |
| First We Bombed New Mexico | First We Bombed New Mexico | Lois Lipman | United States |
| Fresh Kills | Fresh Kills | Jennifer Esposito | United States |
| A Happy Day | A Happy Day | Hisham Zaman | Norway |
| I’ll Be Right There | I’ll Be Right There | Brendan Walsh | United States |
| In the Rearview | In the Rearview | Maciek Hamela | Poland, France, Ukraine |
| Joika | Joika | James Napier Robertson | New Zealand, Poland |
| La Extorsión | La Extorsión | Martino Zaidelis | Argentina, USA |
| Limbo | Limbo | Ivan Sen | Australia |
| A Look Through His Lens | A Look Through His Lens | Matthew Berkowitz, Gregory Hoblit | United States, France, Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Lucha: A Wrestling Tale | Lucha: A Wrestling Tale | Marco Ricci | United States |
| Mourning in Lod | Mourning in Lod | Hilla Medalia | United States |
| One Life | One Life | James Hawes | United Kingdom |
| Pet Shop Days | Pet Shop Days | Olmo Schnabel | United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Mexico |
| Seven Blessings | Seven Blessings | Ayelet Menahemi | Israel |
| Shari & Lamb Chop | Shari & Lamb Chop | Lisa D’Apolito | United States |
| Show Her the Money | Show Her the Money | Ky Dickens | United States |
| Sira | Sira | Apolline Traoré | Burkina Faso, Senegal, France, Germany |
| Solitude | Einvera | Ninna Pálmadóttir | Iceland, Slovakia, France |
| Sorry/Not Sorry | Sorry/Not Sorry | Caroline Suh, Cara Mones | United States |
| The Taste of Things | The Taste of Things | Trần Anh Hùng | France |
| Thank You Very Much | Thank You Very Much | Alex Braverman | United States |
| TransMexico | TransMexico | Claudia Sanchez | United States |
| We Are Guardians | We Are Guardians | Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman | United States, Brazil |
| We Grown Now | We Grown Now | Minhal Baig | United States |
| Wicked Little Letters | Wicked Little Letters | Thea Sharrock | United Kingdom |
| Without Air | Without Air | Katalin Moldovai | Hungary |

### 2024 SBIFF Short Films

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 72 | 72 | Marissa Chibás | United States |
| 841 | 841 | Rachel Burnett | United States |
| The ABCs of Book Banning | The ABCs of Book Banning | Sheila Nevins | United States |
| Above & Within | Above & Within | Patrick Hall | United States |
| Alarms | Apnées | Nicolas Panay | France |
| And Now I Lay Me Down | And Now I Lay Me Down | Rani DeMuth | United States |
| Area Boy | Area Boy | Iggy London | United Kingdom |
| The Ballad of Tita and the Machines | The Ballad of Tita and the Machines | Miguel Angel Caballero | United States |
| Basri & Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy | Basri & Salma dalam Komedi yang Terus Berputar | Khozy Rizal | Indonesia, United States |
| A Bird Called Memory | Pássaro Memória | Leonardo Martinelli | Brazil, United Kingdom |
| The Birthday Party | Il compleanno di Enrico | Francesco Sossai | Germany, France, Italy |
| A Body Called Life | A Body Called Life | Spencer MacDonald | United States |
| Boo | Boo | Genevieve Aniello | United States |
| Breaking Silence | Breaking Silence | Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein | United States |
| The Breakthrough | The Breakthrough | Daniel Sinclair | United States |
| Dammi | Dammi | Yann Mounir Demange | France, United Kingdom |
| Dog Apartment | Koerkorter | Priit Tender | Estonia |
| Don’t Cry, Gabriel | Pleure pas Gabriel | Mathilde Chavanne | France |

## Awards

Sources
* Audience Choice Award: TransMexico by Claudia Sanchez
* Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema: Edge of Everything by Sophia Sabella and Pablo Feldman
* Jeffrey C. Barbakow Award – Best International Feature Film: Andragogy by Wregas Bhanuteja
* Best Documentary Award: Diving Into the Darkness by Nays Baghai
* Nueva Vision Award for Spain/Latin America Cinema: The Blue Star (La estrella azul) by Javier Macipe
* Best Nordic Film Award: Before It Ends (Når Befrielsen Kommer) by Anders Walter
* Social Justice Award for Documentary Film: The Last Daughter by Brenda Matthews and Nathaniel Schmidt
* The ASC Award for Cinematography: The Movie Teller by Lone Scherfig
* ADL Stand Up Award: The Last Daughter by Brenda Matthews and Nathaniel Schmidt
* Best Documentary Short Film Award: A Man’s Man by Myles Desenberg
* Bruce Corwin Award – Best Live-Action Short Film Area Boy by Iggy London
* Bruce Corwin Award – Best Animated Short Film On the 8th Day (Au 8ème Jour) by Agathe Sénéchal, Alicia Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin and Théo Duhautois
* Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence In Film: Ryan Gosling
* Maltin Modern Master Award: Robert Downey Jr.
* Montecito Award: Jeffrey Wright
* Outstanding Performer(s) of the Year Award: Bradley Cooper for Maestro
* The American Riviera Award: Mark Ruffalo
* Cinema Vanguard Award: Paul Giamatti
* Arlington Award: Annette Bening
* Outstanding Directors of the Year:
** Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
** Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
* Virtuosos Award:
** Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
** Colman Domingo – Rustin and The Color Purple
** America Ferrera – Barbie
** Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
** Greta Lee – Past Lives
** Charles Melton – May December
** Da'Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
** Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers
* Variety Artisans Award:
** Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell – Songwriter – Barbie
** Stephane Ceretti – VFX – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
** Ludwig Göransson – Composer – Oppenheimer
** Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer – Production Designer – Barbie
** Kazu Hiro – Hairstyling/Makeup – Maestro
** Jennifer Lame – Editor – Oppenheimer
** Rodrigo Prieto – Cinematography – Killers of the Flower Moon
** Michael Semanick – Re-recording Mixer – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
** Holly Waddington – Costume Designer – Poor Things