Damien Chazelle, Kenneth Lonergan & More to Be Honored at Santa Barbara Film Feest

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced today that Barry Jenkins, Damien Chazelle, Denis Villeneuve, and Kenneth Lonergan will receive the 2017 Outstanding Directors of the Year Award. They will each be celebrated individually for their films Moonlight, La La Land, Arrival, and Manchester by the Sea respectively. The individual honors will be followed by a joint conversation between the directors on their craft and the landscape of modern day filmmaking. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, February 7th at the historic Arlington Theatre.

"These directors are true visionaries, with a body of work that exemplifies excellence in filmmaking," said SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. "We are thrilled to honor this group for their indelible contributions to cinema."

The Outstanding Directors of the Year Award is given to directors that push the boundaries of cinema with their innovative approach. They are master storytellers, bringing their vision to life on screen.

Past recipients include Adam McKay (The Big Short), Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Lenny Abrahamson (Room), and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight).

The festival previously honored Warren Beatty (Rules Don't Apply) with its Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film and has announced that it will honor Isabelle Huppert (Elle) with its Montecito Award, Denzel Washington (Fences) with its Maltin Modern Master Award; Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone (La La Land) with its Outstanding Performers of the Year Award; Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea) with the Cinema Vanguard Award, and Aaron Taylor Johnson (Nocturnal Animals), Dev Patel (Lion), Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures, Moonlight), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Ruth Negga (Loving), Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins), and Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences), with the Virtuoso Award, and Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water) with the American Riviera Award, among additional, yet to be announced, honorees.

For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, please visit www.sbiff.org.

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 30 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States - attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

SBIFF continues its commitment to education and the community through free programs like its 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking and Screenwriting Competitions, Mike's Field Trip to the Movies, National Film Studies Program, AppleBox Family Films, 3rd Weekend and educational seminars. This past June, SBIFF entered a new era with the acquisition of the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. The theatre is SBIFF's new home and is the catalyst for program expansion and marks the first time that Santa Barbara has had a 24/7 community center to expand their mission of educational outreach.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos