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Under executive director Roger Durling, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF, February 4-15, 2025) has thrived by not only mounting an eclectic film festival but riding the awards season waves by programming prestige interviews with Oscar contenders.

All the festival’s popular panels are held at State Street’s capacious Arlington Theatre. The festival is adding two new tributees, Oscar nominees Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”) and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”), to TCM host Dave Karger’s popular Virtuosos tribute on Sunday, February 9 at 8 p.m.

They will join panelists Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez (“Emilia Pérez”), Harris Dickinson (“Babygirl”), Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), Clarence Maclin (“Sing Sing”), Mikey Madison (“Anora”), and John Magaro (“September 5”). The festival may not have foreseen that Torres might be rubbing shoulders with rival Oscar nominee Gascón in the wake of her recent scandal. Netflix may opt not to send Gascón. (Netflix had no response at press time.)

Every year, screenwriters, directors, and producers promote their films on panels, with past speakers like Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Kristen Stewart, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Nolan, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Bong Joon Ho, and more submitting to in-depth tributes.

The panels, tributes, and special screenings lure not only local cinephiles but the area’s few hundred Academy members eager to hear Oscar contenders talk about their creative process. Most of the tributes and panels are held in person at the historic Arlington Theatre, and they’re posted online.

SBIFF 2025, the 40th edition, will open with the U.S. premiere of “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” and will unspool 12 days of film programming from 60 countries, including 32 world premieres such as Maxim Derevianko’s “Ai Weiwei’s Turandot,” as well as red-carpet tributes to filmmakers and talent including Colman Domingo, Angelina Jolie, Ralph Fiennes, Zoe Saldaña, Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce. The closing night film is the U.S. premiere of “A Missing Part.” Tickets are available here.

I will return to moderate The Writers Panel on Saturday, February 8 at 11 a.m. The Oscar nominees include “The Brutalist” co-screenwriter Mona Fastvold, Golden Globe-winning screenwriter Peter Straughan (“Conclave”), “Nickel Boys” co-screenwriter Joslyn Barnes, “A Real Pain” writer Jesse Eisenberg, “September 5” writer Tim Fehlbaum, and “Sing Sing” co-screenwriter Clint Bentley, whose “Train Dreams” just premiered to kudos at Sundance.

The Animation Panel moderated by Durling will take place on February 5 at 5 p.m. with creators Gints Zilbalodis (“Flow”), Kelsey Mann (“Inside Out 2”), Nick Park (“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”), and Chris Sanders (“The Wild Robot”).

The International Features Panel moderated by Durling will convene on February 9 at 11:00 a.m. with Zilbalodis (“Flow”), writer-director Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”), writer-director Walter Salles (“I’m Still Here”), and Mohammad Rasoulof (“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”).

The Producers Panel moderated by Nicole Sperling (The New York Times) will meet on February 10 at 5:00 p.m. with producers of Oscar-nominated films including “Anora,” (Alex Coco), “The Brutalist” (Brian Young), “A Complete Unknown” (Alex Heineman) and “Dune: Part 2” (Cale Boyter).

The Women’s Panel starts on February 15 at 11:00 a.m. PT, moderated by Madelyn Hammond. Oscar nominees include Smriti Mundhra, director of documentary short “I Am Ready, Warden,” Victoria Warmerdam, writer-director of live-action short “I’m Not A Robot,” Paula DuPré Pesmen, producer of documentary feature “Porcelain War, ” Emily Kassie co-director of documentary feature “Sugarcane,” and Diane Warren, veteran songwriter of Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight.”