Santa Barbara Film Festival 2021

The 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival kicks off on March 31st and runs through April 9th. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival regularly attracts more than 100,000 attendees annually.

This year’s Film Festival has adopted a hybrid format and has built two large beachside drive in theaters for the screenings.  There will also be a paid online feature. There will be 47 World Premieres from forty five countries along with tributes, panels, and network community outreach programs.

Celebrities attending the 36th Santa Barbara International Film Festival attending include Bill Murray, Sacha Baron, Amanda Seyfried, Delroy Lindo, and Carey Mulligan who will receive the Cinema Vanguard Award.

“This years festival will be different on many fronts, but we haven’t changed in terms of what’s more important: our love of film and our determination to offer an unheard of quality program and share it with our community,” said Rodger Durling CEO of the festival. “We are very happy to have the opportunity to be a group of joy and optimism.”

Closing night on April 10 will highlight short documentaries by local filmmakers covering subjects as diverse as an annual trip by the Chumash people to a historic site, a woman’s quest to restore ecosystems with sheep and how the residents of Santa Barbara survived 2020.

Films and Ticket Information

Santa Barbara International Film Festival

(All images included here with permission from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 3.26.2021)