Roger Durling with Director John Madden and Actress Tena Desae
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

Roger Durling: John I’ll start with you. I was telling you outside, it’s so refreshing to find a movie that’s a love story about people that have such a long experience. Normally, we are used to seeing first love in movies. Is this one of the things that attracted you to the project?

John Madden: Yes, absolutely. You managed very cunningly not to use the word old or elderly in that formulation. It’s a word we’re not supposed to use anywhere, because it’s something we are not supposed to want to be. I think it’s a topic worth lifting the lid on. I speak from that constituency rather than from outside of the constituency. The idea of the film was appealing on a bunch of levels. Partly because it allowed you to look at that subject and look at that experience with humor because it’s an absurd situation – these people being thrown at this extraordinary culture.
The film is partly about old people behaving like teenagers, you know. That is unless you all still smoke apple tobacco here in Santa Barbara. Yeah I’m being a little facetious about it but I don’t mean to be facetious because it’s not a facetious film. It appeared to me enormously that you could tell a story about people at this point or at the point where people stop paying attention to them or put them in a ghetto in some way. But actually of course their life is every bit as vivid full of desires, disappointments, rivalries and all kinds of things that don’t stop just because you get past the age of sixty.

Durling: Of course we all have loved your past films. You had an incredible ensemble in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and now another incredible ensemble in this film. Is this something you enjoy – creating a complicated narrative around these ensembles?

Madden: I do enjoy that. You know there is a kind of entropy that starts to happen when you’ve got a narrative challenge, when you’ve got to weave a lot of stories together and balance them. I particularly like films that have a mixed tone. I like films that are veering between a more emotional terrain and something the rug can be pulled out from underneath. Both the films you mentioned have that quality, but also, on the ensemble front it’s incredible. That’s a pretty amazing bunch of actors at the center of the story, but then to bring them together with someone like Tena, whose first English language film it is, and Dev Patel, who’s incredible talented young guy at the very beginning of his life. That’s also immensely appealing.

Durling: Tena, he mentioned the fact that this is your first English language film. Here you are with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy – all these greats of film, with John Madden directing. What was this like for you?

Tena Desae: The entire thing is just the biggest blessing of my life. When I was auditioning for the film and I saw the bulletin board in the office with the pictures of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Dev Patel, I got very excited because I’m such a huge HARRY POTTER fan, JAMES BOND fan and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN fan. Then I found out John was directing, I was like “Oh my god I’m going to meet him.” He is so relaxed. He doesn’t behave like he’s a big director, which is so awesome.
I think the most important thing was for me to deal with my dad and mom, because they were very particular that I take photographs and get autographs. I haven’t got my autograph from John yet. He’s always like, “Hmmm later we have already worked together.” That’s something I’m still working on. It’s a joyride for me to be actually in the presence of these guys.

Durling: So Sweet! Now John, you could have easily made this post card movie about India and have just beautiful locations, but instead there’s grittiness. It is a very sensuous movie in that regard because you could feel the dust, you could feel the color, and you could feel the smells.

Madden: Believe me; you couldn’t quite feel the smells.

Durling: [Laughs] At least imagine. You know what I mean?

Madden: I do, maybe the question that you’re asking. I guess it already has a concept of India, and the visual concept of India that the people tend to receive – because it’s the one that is promoted by tourist boards and so forth – is an image of infinity, serenity, peace, calm, spirituality. And all of those things are true, but this is also true and slightly more true of common experience, a certain city experience. It’s something of a truism to say the term “culture shock” could literally been coined to describe the experience of going to India because it’s from a Western perspective. It’s completely overwhelming, startling, shocking and an ‘assort on the senses’ is the phrase that we used to describe it in the film, and that’s exactly what it is.
I found that after recovering from the shock in a couple of days, I started to become incredibly energized by it because it’s visually a startling place. Incredible. Like a kind of story in almost every frame you look at. Life is lived outside of courses most of the time so that makes the experience of being around people quite different than you feel anywhere else. It’s chaotic, it’s completely chaotic, but of course they learn to live with chaos, and they move through the chaos without worrying about it. You know, health and safety issues being applied to India is just a joke. It’s a joke. You take your life into your hands when you go on the roads there without question, and that’s depicted in the film.
We used to have a point system, all of us in the country, about spotting the motorcycle with the most number of people on it. I’m not kidding you; you see entire families including mothers-in-law, babies and children on one bike with not a crash helmet in sight. You know it would be one thing, but you’re seeing 400 of these on a small road weaving in and out of each other. I saw two bikes with a ladder in between the two bikes going around a roundabout and I just thought, “That was a fifteen pointer in our book.” I’m just saying that to illustrate the situation.
But I wanted to paint the country as these people would have seen it and would have experienced it. They are not there as tourists. They’re there with no money. They’re staying in a place that they thought was going to be one thing and turns out to be something completely different. They have to go out there and engage with that world, get themselves a job, or mend a tap or whatever it may be. So I wanted as far as possible to get into the midst of that and film it the way it was. But it still feels a very attractive place and I hope it does because it’s an amazing place.

Durling: You speak about a journey as a director in India. Had most of the cast, crew and yourself been in India before and experienced it?

Madden: I have to be completely honest and say no. There were only two people in our group who had been there, which was Celia Imrie and Maggie Smith. Celia had done a gap year thing at some point in her life and Maggie had been there once to see her son filming. I had never been there but had a date to take my wife on a significant anniversary which is this year. But I got there two years early as it turned out. So, we were all very much in the same situation and there was a sort of spectrum of reactions to the place, not unlike some of the ones in the film. Not quite as extreme.

Desae: I was told John acted like Penelope Wilton’s character.

Madden: [Laughs] No! Penelope Wilton’s character’s reaction to the place is not an uncommon reaction, nor is it a completely unjustified reaction for a moment in my view, but hopefully not longer than that. But of course she has other reasons for resisting everything that’s going on around her because she painted herself into a corner.
Durling: Yeah, one of my questions later on was going to be about Penelope Wilton. To me she had one of the most challenging characters because all the characters, including Tena’s, are opening up to this world, maturing, learning and going through this enlightening process. It’s so entreating to watch Penelope’s character because she is going inwards and shutting down.

Madden: Yes, it’s invidious of me to select anybody in this ensemble because obviously my heart is with all of them and they are all amazing performers. But, that marriage is the spine of the story because obviously they are all transformed by the place they’re in, by the experience they’re having. But, that couple transformed in a way that’s slightly counterintuitive but terribly important, which makes them realize this marriage they’re in was over long ago, she said. It’s quite a difficult idea to convey because it seems a negative idea. On the contrary, I think it’s a very positive idea and she has to go through a sort of desperate humiliation in order to see quite how far away she has got.
There is a very strong line in the film that Bill Nighy says to her, “Have you any idea of what a terrible person you have become?” It’s a pretty shocking sentiment there, and whenever I hear it I always turn it back on myself to try and think of what I have lost touch with, what I’m not thinking about. You need a partner to tell you that generally speaking. I think she is particularly an extraordinary actress because she takes a character that is gratingly negative but somehow makes you understand what’s going on in her soul, and it’s not a pretty sight. She realizes that finally and has a redemptive moment where she realizes that she’s got to push him away and release him somehow, because he will never release her because he is too decent and forgiving, like she says, and that actually made her into a monster. It’s kind of an odd idea to put at the center of the thing because normally you would let it develop over time. But, it is one of the things I’m most happy with, because that’s a lesson to learn as well. It’s not over until it’s over. That’s very important to me. I think she is an extraordinary actress and she balances comedy and tragedy in the same moment.

Durling: Was it a coincidence that we have the two DOWNTON ABBEY ladies, Maggie Smith and Penelope together in the movie?

Madden: It wasn’t intentional because that series was just beginning when we shot the film. I missed the first season because we were in India. We were getting word that it was become something of a phenomenon. Everybody in this film saving this girl on my left here (Desae) has worked with everybody else more than once. I’ve heard Bill saying that he has been married to Penelope Wilton twice before and has also been her doctor. It’s something about a group of actors that come up through the same system. They have all done theater, they’ve done radio, they’ve done television and they’ve done films. They weave in and out of each other’s lives so there’s a tremendous level of trust and understanding there.

Durling: Tena, how did you feel about this foreigner sitting next to you portraying your India on the screen?

Desae: When I read the script, I haven’t read the book, when I read the script I thought who ever has written it has definitely spent a significant amount of time in India because everything’s really as is. Nothing’s dramatized. So, you know the oncoming lorry when they’re all going in the bus, is so true. I was like, “How do they know that we don’t react to that, while they’re freaking out.” The Indian girl is modern, she is independent, but she’s still Indian and respects her elders. Everything is exactly as is. I was finally happy that whenever it does come out in India the people will not resist it because nothing is stereotypical.

Durling: John, going back to the ensemble, how did you assemble all of them? Of course you worked with Judi Dench in MRS. BROWN, and she won the Academy Award with you directing her in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. How did you go about getting all of them together?

Madden: Well, the simple answer is that I sent them the script. I would guess that it’s a very attractive thing to do. All of the characters have a very unusual journey and the film is incredibly present tense. That’s something I was very concerned that it should be. Again, it is all slightly unusual, counterintuitive to use that word again, to have a film about old people that isn’t about their past. It’s actually about now and what’s happening to them now. This is one of the reasons you can shed the assumptions of what being old is. I mean older. Older is a much more reasonable term, isn’t it? Although elderly is the term I really like. I think the idea of actors being in a film where they weren’t the center of it and they were sharing it was an attractive thing. I have relationships with a lot of them working with some on other films and some on stage, and I think that the other huge thing right in the center of it is India. It’s just a very interesting and enticing prospect. I don’t think they knew quite what they were getting into with that because they were all there for the run of the picture all the way through the film.

Durling: How long was the run of the film?

Madden: It was about eight weeks in India and about nearly ten days and two weeks in London.

Durling: So, the ensemble stayed the entire time?

Madden: Yeah they were there the whole time, living in a hotel. I think we are very blessed in the UK. I know a lot of American actors because I worked here a large part of my life in theater. In the UK we have a kind of body of actors, that I suppose are really amazing character actors, who were sort of swirling around this project in a kind of constellation because I was involved at the very beginning, but I was making another film. So I said to Gram the producer “You must go and make this because you can’t wait for me to make it”. So he went off and did try to make it with another, possibly even two directors, and during that time various other actors moved into the atmosphere of the piece, circled it for awhile and then moved out, or the configurations didn’t come together.
When I finished this other film I came back into it. That’s when the whole cast kind of came together. I think it’s an attractive project, for the same reasons we are talking about. It’s about the experience of somebody that age. Though I guess if you asked them, I’m sure they would say that is the reason. They probably, like all of us, don’t think of themselves as being that age.

Durling: Speaking of the hotel, how difficult was it to find? It becomes almost another character in the film. Also that incredible bazaar that’s right out there on the street, how did you find this location?

Madden: Well the bazaar, I hate to be a spoiler here, that’s us. It wasn’t there. I’ll tell you what it actually looks like. When you see the sequence at the beginning and they are all looking at the web site, the hotel you see there is what the hotel actually looks like. It’s in the middle of the dessert. It’s not in the outskirts of Jaipur at all. It’s a former tribal chieftain’s palace and it’s really in a little village called Khempur, which is about an hour and a half outside of Udaipur. We would have to make that lethal journey every day, and also at night when most of the vehicles don’t have lights that work.
We looked for a long time, and I was planning on putting together two different places because it was a difficult brief to meet. Then I found this one and the producers were just horrified that I was even considering it because it was three hours travel in the day, which is a lot. But in the end there couldn’t really be any argument about it, because it had exactly the qualities you need. It’s very down at hill, monsoon stains and rain stains all over the walls. It’s completely balmy really. It’s a very odd slightly mad place. The reason it is like that is because of what it was. It’s a defensive building to keep marauding tribes away. It’s ridiculously kind of grandiose in the middle of the desert. I don’t know who they were impressing. But of course it was designed to reflect the man’s status and how important he thought he was. So, all these things feed into the self image of the building, or at least Sonny’s image of the building. It was sort of like an amphitheater, much like the one SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.

Durling: So, the bazaar wasn’t there?

Madden: No, we built that. There was a sort of track outside and we tarmaced that and then made the rest of it.

Durling: John and Tena, Congratulations on the film and thank you both for being here.

Madden: Thank you!

Desae: Thanks!

Directed by John Madden
Written by Ol Parker
Starring: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith

British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.

Screening at Cinema Society in May

Followed by a Q&A with director John Madden and actress Tena Desae

SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
SETS DATES FOR 28TH EDITION
January 24 – February 3, 2013
* * *
Passes and Packages Go on Sale May 1 at 25% Discount

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival presented by lynda.com has set Thursday, January 24 through Sunday, February 3, 2013 as the dates for the 28th edition of the festival, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director, Roger Durling.

Comments SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling, “The 27th edition was an exciting one for us – full of changes and growth with our first ever acquisitions program. Now in the midst of preparations for the 28th edition – we guarantee you that the best is yet to come.”

Festival Passes and Packages go on sale May 1 and are discounted at 25% until June 25 and can be purchased exclusively at www.sbfilmfestival.org or by calling 805-963-0023.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is dedicated to the art of filmmaking, which seeks out and consequently offers a broad array of international and independent films, with a commitment to diversity. SBIFF, which attracts more than 70,000 visitors each year, endeavors to enrich the community both culturally and economically by presenting eleven days of films, tributes and symposiums, raising consciousness of film as an art form. SBIFF presents quality American and world independent films, Latin American and Asian sidebars as well as documentary cinema within the beautiful setting of downtown Santa Barbara, a premier tourist destination. SBIFF continues its commitment to education through its 10-10-10 Student Filmmaking and Screenwriting Competitions, Field Trip to the Movies and educational seminars.

Directed by Drew Goddard
Written by Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard
Starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

Screening at Cinema Society in April

Followed by a Q&A with actor Jesse Williams

Directed by Lee Hirsch
Written by Cynthia Lowen

A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.

Screening at Cinema Society in March

From all of the Staff and Board of Directors at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, we would like to extend a large thank you to our excellent Volunteers, VAC, Theatre Team, Production Team, and Interns for the 2012 Festival. The festival would not be possible without you.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Saleh Abdulaziz
Meghan Abe
Elysia Aguero
Lisa Ahlgren
Vicki Ahlgren
Deniz Akdolu
Barbara Alderson
Diane Alexander
Susan Alexander
Heather Allen
Christine Anderson
Susan Anderson
Tara Armbruster
Audrey Arn
Barbara Askew
R. Anthony Askew
Sirwan Assad
Nina Aujla
Christina Baglas
Caroline  Bailet
Bill Ballhorn
Roselynne Ballhorn
Carmen Barone
Bob Basche
Karey Basche
Zachary Basler
Dave Basso
Shaun Beardsmore
Gabby Becerra
Charisse Becker
Anne Benard Franceschi
Dale Bengtson
Sheila Bengtson
Angela Bevilacqua
Brooke Biederman
Jacob   Biever
Rae Bittle
Patricia Bivens
Camilla Black
Bob Blackburn
Doris Blethrow
Cathy Boggs
Janet Bojorquez
Peshtiwar Botani
Marielle Bourgeois
Bill Boyd
Dennis Bozanich
Aninha Brill
Linda Brown
Spencer Bruttig
Isabel Bubel
Sabrina Buchcik
Candace Buck
Abby Bunker
Jody Burg
Patricia Burkard
Sylvia Butler
Rosemary Cabe
Zoila Cabrera
Nancy-Kay Cameron
Cherisse Carandang
Erin Carpenter
Kimberly Yvonne Carreno
Heidi Carter
Marta Castro
Solveig Chandler
Peter Chen
Barbara Chornyak
Gerred Clarke
Patricia Clements
Cathy Closson
Rick Closson
Phyliss Cohen
Katy Corbin
Helen Cornell
Curt Coughlin
Dana Crampton
Audrey Crettex
Nancy Curtis
Anneliese Curtis Place
Shelby Curtis Place
Michelle Cutler
Jane Dailey
John Dailey
Marika Davidek
Jeanne Davis
Giulia De Paoli
Katie De Witt
Margot Dear
Beverlyn Dela Cruz
Patrick Delbray
Vicky Delmas
Danielle Deltorchio
Charlotte Dibon
Becky Dirk
Lore Dobler
Adriana Dominguez
Alysia Dominguez
Ken Dunkley
Rosie Dyste
Pamela Emerson
Jeffrey Englert
Kelly Erland
Norma Escarcega
Elma Ettman
Caroline Laura Fahrni
Karen Fear
Grace Ferry
Andrea Fishback
Lauren Fisher
Suzy Fitch
Jay Fitzgibbons
Jenna Fitzpatrick
Linda Flake
Christy Flis
Desiree Flores
Zari Foosherian
Lisa Foote
Joy Foraker
Christine Fredericks
Haroldo Freitas
Hannah French
Christine Fry
Maritza Fuljencio
Della Furukawa
Pasquale Galante
Julia Gast
Mary Genis
Jean Gentry
Susan Gentry
Linda Gersten
Heather Gibb
Erica Gilmore
Cam Gittler
Jeff Gittler
Benjamin Goalabre
Lynn Goebel
Ben Goedert
Rudy Gomez
Wendi Gomez
Juliana Gontijo
Trevor Gonzales
Christopher Gonzalez
Greg Goodman
Riley Goodman
Ellen Goodstein
Bonnie Gordon
Terry Gostow
Sharon Granoff
Ann M. Grassi
Sandy Grasso-Boyd
Jennifer Gray
Louise Gray
Danielle Greene
Buffy Jo Grenier
Antonia Guerrero
Raul Guerrero
Claudia  Guerrero
Gabriella Guillen
Lisa Guravitz
Justine Haantjens
Darrell Hall
Nicole Halverson
Dana Hansen
Hoyt Harper
Sandy Hartley
Rachel Harvey
Frazer Hazlett
Jerry Headley
Judy Headley
Lawrence Heald
AnaMaria Herrera
Cecia Hess
Milt Hess
Brad Hill
Susan Hodges
Connard Hogan
Jenna Horiuchi
Laura Horstmann
Christopher Houle
Jennifer House
Sam  Houston
Mark Hubert
Nancy Hubert
Rhonda Huesgen
Charles Huff
Lisa Hugo
Chris Hunter
Toshio Ikeda
Beverly Iles
Anne Illgen
Eva Maria Indermuehe
Eileen Irvine-Winkler
Aimee Iverson
Aria Jacobsen
Daphne  Janelle
Von Jansma
Brooks Jett
Sierra Jett
Leanna Jimenez
Lydia Johnson
Tianna Jones
Stephen Jordan
Tina Jordan
Barbara Kaplan
Len Kaplan
Madeline Kardos
Maya Keane
Amanda  Keehmer
Caitlin Kelley
Judy Kemp
Mike Kemp
Kishan Khemani
Madhu Khemani
Cherif Khoury
Christopher Kilpatrick
Eun Gee Kim
Fred Kim
Jongok Kim
Su Hyun Kim
Ivy P. King
Will King
Josh Kirkwood
Genevieve Kirsch
Michelle Kitson
Colleen Klinefelter
Jeff Knepp
Karl Koerbling
Carolyn Kope
Judith Kopf
Michelle Kosinsky
Deborah Kramer
Allison Lama
Martin Landsfeld
Lizzie Larson
Christine Le Bon
Ana Lerdo
Shannon Leskowitz
Kayee Leung
Lesley Levy
Julie Ann Lewis
Brandon Li
Te Li
Catherine Li
Robert Limkeman
Trey Lindsley
Raveewan Livesley
Sophie Loire
Sophia Loomis
Tania  Lopez
Janet Loughlin
Barbara Love
Cathryn Low
Norman Lower
Christopher Lynch
Eleanor Lyon
Eve Lyons
Catherine Macaulay
Charlotte MacMillan
Jim MacMillan
Jordan Maldonado
Joan Malendez
Barbara Malvinni
Karin Marhefka
Jacob Martin
Victoria Masjuan
Francine Matas
Larry Matthews
Cheryl Maxwell
Michele Maybee
Lyn McCabe
Emily Mccardle
Kevin McCauley
Kat McCauley
Molly Mcdonough
Charlotte Mcguire
Margaret Mcmurtrey
Katharina Meinhardt
Joan Melendez
Misty Mellett
Terry Merritt
Erica Mesker
Ivan  Michultka-Calel
Dottie Milici
Colleen Miller
Dusty Miller
Felipe Miranda
Tom Mitchell
Jeanne Mohle
Elisa Monelli
Jeana Morelli
Kana Morita
Gerry Morozowsky
Margaret Morrison
Coralie Mouries
Jeff Mueller
Stephanie Munguia
Susan Murray
Alana Naber
John Napier
Susan Napier
Janet Napier
Tara Naughter
Alyssa Beth  Nelsen
Jody Nelson
Tom Nesbit
Ariel Ngov
Claudia Nizich
Judy McElearney Nobriga
Caitlin Ohara
Denise Ohara
Sandra Ohman
Alyssa Oldham
Jocelyn Olivares
Luiz Gustavo Othero
Mark Pagdanganan
Presley Pahl
Jeanne Palumbo
Parkie Parker
Carol Parnell
John Patelzick
Samantha Pattegay
Diane Pearson
Steve Pearson
Linda Perez
Tony Perez Jr
Dylan Perry
Eliesa Peters-Bollinger
LP Phelps
Ruby  Phillips
Julia Pockrandt
Arielle Porat
Michael Prodanovich
Robin Prodanovich
Sabrina Propper
Mikayla Quinlyn
Vicke Quinlyn
Sylvia Quinn
Deborah Rankin
Debbie Reber
Barry Remis
Arturo Reyes
Rachel Richman
Jennifer Ringer
Jack Rivas
Cynthia Rivera
Jem Robinson
Ricardo Robles
Luan Rodrigues
Lucia Rodriguez
Kim Rodriguez-Skipwith
Gretchen Rogers
Mary Rogers
Lorena Rosales
Sharon Rosenberg
Nicole Roth
Kenneth Ruz
Marilyn Ryan
Anne Rydfors
Michele Sakakibara
Lindsay Salzman
Anita Samaha
Wendy  San
Nancy Sandstrom
Alvaro Santos
Anna Sophie Sather Mahfouf
Rachel Scarlett
Mara Scherzinger
Robin Schievink
Cara Schipper
Mathilde Schmatz
Melody Schmidt
Graham Scott
Jean Sedar
Ned Seder
Steve Seim
Veronica Sequeira
Yifan Shao
Martin Shapiro
Fred Shaw
Ken Sherman
Janet Shotwell
Juli Shulem
Antonia Sieb
Jerry Siegel
Casey Simon
Jason Simpson
Darcie Simson
Ken Sipes
Sidonia Slaff
Tom Sloan
Daphne Smets
Casey Smith
Nancee Smith
Neb Smith
Suzanne Smith
Edmond Smith
Connie Sommer
Cara Sottak
Elloura Stalie
Evan-Marie Steele
Joan Stewart
Peter Stone
Shannon Storey
Alexa  Stringer
Camille Suetos
Rosana Swing
Jake  Taylor
Meredith Taylor
Crystal Thompson
Dianne Travis-Teague
Angela Trenwith
Kathy Trinh
Elisa Trowbridge
Jessica Truyol
Crista Tucker
Katie Tullsen
Cat Tunger
Lewis Turman
Dorian Ulmer
Andrew Unetic
Erica Valdez
Pamela Vander Heide
MaryAnn Vanover
Lazara Kamila Varjao De Moraes
Esther Velarde
Jessica Vennum
Carey Villasenor
Samantha Von Burg
Lindsay Vong
Caroline Walker
Tia Walker
Tracy Warren
Wendy Watcher
Patricia Watkins
Suzanne Wedow
Sam Wei
Betty Weiner
Robin Weiss
Jeannette Weisskopf
Gerry Westerfield
Candace White
Ashley Whitman
Julia Wiggin
Jill Wilk
Madelyn Willis
Beverly Winsor
Michael Winsor
Shawnee Witt
Kasey  Woodlin
Cory  Yoshida
Lauren Zabel
Elgie Zeni
Livia Zirkel

3rd weekend is a community event where we show some of the highlights from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for free at the Riviera Theatre (2044 Alameda Padre Serra, Santa Barbara, CA). The schedule for this year is as follows:

Friday February 10
7:00 pm Up There w/ The Missing Key
9:30 pm Vinyl

Saturday February 11
11:00 am Dirty Energy
1:00 pm Barrymore
4:00 pm Pretty Old
7:00 pm Starbuck w/ Picture Paris
9:30 pm The Rumble of the Stones

Sunday February 12
11:00 am Otter 501
1:00 pm Heat Wave w/ L Train
4:00 pm Nothing Like Chocolate
7:00 pm Free Men

ADMISSION POLICY

• All screenings are free to the public and in fairness to the entire community,seating is on a first come first served basis
• As the policy for all free Festival programming, there will be no Q’s handed out
• Saving seats will not be allowed inside the theatre

FILM SYNOPSES

Barrymore

Awarded Jury Prize for Artistic Distinction
It’s often said that Christopher Plummer is the greatest actor Canada has ever produced and one of the finest classical actors of his generation. Having mastered the stage, as well as the big and small screens, he took on a role in 1996 that would come to define him: John Barrymore, another actor of towering stature. Barrymore opened at the Stratford Festival in 1996 before moving to Broadway, where Plummer won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. The production has since been revived to even more widespread acclaim, with Plummer maturing into the role and imbuing it with ever-deeper pathos and wit. The play has now been transformed into a film directed by Erik Canuel. With its elegant close-ups contrasted against a deliberately theatrical setting, BARRYMORE is a ribald and affecting exploration of the pleasures and perils of show business, as well as a tribute to the tremendous artistry of its star.

Dirty Energy

Winner of The Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award Sponsored by The Fund for Santa Barbara
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded off the Gulf of Mexico taking the lives of eleven workers as millions of barrels of oil poured into the ocean, creating one of the worst environmental disasters in history. DIRTY ENERGY tells the personal stories of those directly affected by the spill who are now struggling to rebuild their lives amidst the economic devastation and long-term health risks. The failure of BP and the federal government to confront this environmental calamity with honesty and integrity has had powerful consequences, but sadly the human cost has been greatly underestimated and hidden from the public. Today, the people of the Gulf are fighting for their livelihoods and for the preservation of a way of life that is now endangered. This is their story.

Free Men

Winner of The Best International Film Award
Paris, 1942. Younes (Tahar Rahim), a young Algerian immigrant, survives by hawking goods on the black market. When German occupation forces crack down on recent immigrants, Younes is picked up and agrees to become an informant. As he delves deeper into the hidden dealings of the Great Mosque of Paris, meeting its charismatic rector (Michael Lonsdale) and befriending an Algerian singer (Mahmoud Shalaby), Younes discovers a world of devout men and women committed to resistance. Director and co-writer Ismael Ferroukhi finds inspiration in the little-known histories of the Muslim men and women who joined the French Resistance. He constructs their world with precision and subtlety, playing with light and small interior spaces. FREE MEN tells the story of a barely literate immigrant worker’s transformation into a passionate freedom fighter and is a powerful reminder of the unifying potential of a long and arduous struggle to be free.

Heat Wave

Winner of The Cinema Nouveau Award
One sweltering afternoon in the south of France, four lives intersect: those of Stéphane and Luigi, two cousins barely out of adolescence; Georges, a retired worker; Amélie, Luigi’s girlfriend; and Anne, Amélie’s mother. Four mundane lives full of hurts, humiliations, fears and fatigue converge on a tragedy. Based on a true story, HEAT WAVE offers up a story from intersecting points of view where different destinies cross paths and are reunited by a tragic event. Staying close to the action, Jean-Jacques Jauffret places each story in a kind of uncomfortable daily reality thanks to his very refined and minimalistic mise en scène, a real director who delivers an intense and captivating film.

L Train

Winner of the Bruce Corwin Award for Best Live Action Short Film Under 30 Minutes
Executive produced by Alexander Payne, L TRAIN is the story of Sunny, a teenaged African American girl commuting through an inner city winter – an existence that injects a negativity into her long days.

The Missing Key

Winner of the Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animation Short Film
In a richly re-imagined Venice of the early 1920s, young composer Hero Wasabi must compete against the unscrupulous Count Telefino in the prestigious Abacus Scroll musical competition.

Nothing Like Chocolate
Finding hope in an industry entrenched in enslaved child labor, irresponsible corporate greed, and tasteless, synthetic products, NOTHING LIKE CHOCOLATE reveals the compelling story of Mott Green, founder of the Grenada Chocolate Company. Relocating from Oregon to Grenada in 1998, Mott Green set out to make chocolate using recycled antique equipment. The neophyte entrepreneur leased 100 acres of land from a neighboring estate and established an organic chocolate-making cooperative. NOTHING LIKE CHOCOLATE looks at this revolutionary experiment, focusing on how solar power, appropriate technology and activism merge to create a business whose values are fairness, community, sustainability and high quality. “We’re doing this for idealistic reasons: we are activists and our goal is to create a true worker-owned cooperative.” From currency to candy, chocolate reflects a rich history saturated with sacred ritual, endorphin highs, hip anti-oxidants, exotic sensuality and high quality luxury. NOTHING LIKE CHOCOLATE adds new depth to the stories of chocolate.

Otter 501
A storm grows, a sea otter pup is separated from her mother, and a young woman bound for adventure blows in to town. On a wild and windswept beach these lives collide and an entire species’ survival gets personal. Through Katie’s eyes you will see our playful pup, otter number 501, get an amazing second chance at life in the wild. Framed against the strikingly beautiful Monterey Bay coastline, Katie discovers just how serious this threat remains. Their adventure, unexpected as it was, illustrates what we can do to contribute to the growing movement to protect the southern sea otter and ourselves.

Picture Paris
PICTURE PARIS is about an ordinary woman (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) with an extraordinary obsession with Paris and a surprising past.

Pretty Old

Winner of the Best Documentary Film Award
When 30 women aged 67–84 from across America and around the world descend on Fall River, Massachusetts to compete in the 30th anniversary of the Ms. Senior Sweetheart Pageant, hilarity and heartbreak ensue. Under the doting attention of pageant founder and personality, Lenny “Low Price” Kaplan, these women share intimate experiences, discover new-found passions and stir lifelong insecurities that challenge common misconceptions of aging. Following four diverse competitors as they prepare for, travel to and compete in the pageant, PRETTY OLD is a profound and intimate look into what it truly means to age beautifully.

The Rumble of the Stones

Honorable Mention for The Nueva Vision Award
Delia, a young woman living in a slum in Caracas, Venezuela, struggles to rebuild a life for herself, her mother and her two teenage sons. They are survivors of a flood that killed tens of thousands of people, including Delia’s daughter, in the Vargas state of Venezuela in 1999. The sound of rumbling stones that preceded the tragedy is one of their most vivid and terrifying memories. Delia faces a new crisis as her sons get involved in gangs and crime. A heartfelt and compelling portrait of the enduring power of a mother’s love against the backdrop of the social problems of modern-day Venezuela, THE RUMBLE OF THE STONES features powerful performances by Rossana Fernandez as Delia, and Cristian Gonzalez and Juan Carlos Nunez as her two sons. It has won numerous awards, including Best Picture at the 2011 Festival del Cine Venezolano. THE RUMBLE OF THE STONES is Venezuela’s official submission for the 2011 Academy Awards®.

Starbuck

Winner of The Audience Choice Award
David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) is a train wreck of a middle-aged man. When he’s not disappointing his brothers at his family-owned butcher shop or flaking out on his too-good-for-him girlfriend Valerie (Julie Le Breton), he’s getting his head dunked into a bathtub full of water by thugs to whom he owes an obscene amount of money. However, David’s life is soon upended when a lawyer informs him that he’s fathered no fewer than 533 children via his one and only talent: donating sperm. What initially serves as a slapstick set-up makes a surprising transition into dramatic territory when David begins to interact with his extremely diverse children. The film benefits greatly from Ken Scott’s keen eye for detail and loving treatment of Montreal is represented through a vibrant color palette that accurately depicts the city’s distinct beauty and culture. With a plot as outlandish as this, STARBUCK could easily be remade as a broader Hollywood comedy, but duplicating its rich and unique appeal won’t come easy.

Up There

Winner of The Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema
If you thought life was bad, get a load of death. Martin (deceased) is stuck in a dead-end job, welcoming the newly departed into the afterlife. All he dreams of is going “up there,” and he attempts to cope with his death by keeping his nose clean and minding his own business. But all this is thrown into disarray when, in order to track down an errant lost soul, he is forced to team up with a relentlessly chirpy ball of energy, Rash. Setting off out of the city and into the bleak hinterlands, Martin meets the mysterious Liz who is similarly struggling to come to terms with her demise. It is through their tentative romance and his love-hate relationship with Rash that Martin finally begins to face up to the realities of his (non)existence and to work out what is of value to him.

Vinyl
Based on true events, Sara Sugarman’s VINYL tells the remarkable story of an ’80s punk band teetering on the edge of obscurity when it reunites to write a hit song and make an unforgettable comeback. In 2004, aging UK rocker Johnny Jones of the famed Welsh ’80s band The Weapons of Happiness (WOH) hoodwinked top record labels, radio DJs, and the entire rock music world by releasing his punk-pop single under a fictitious band name. After being rejected by his former record label for being too old, Johnny passes off the single to a radio DJ claiming it’s a young, unknown Welsh rock band he is managing. Much to everyone’s surprise, it receives immediate airplay. Johnny and his old band mates assemble a rowdy bunch of teenagers to pretend to be the face of the song and teach them how to have true punk rock spirit.

The 27th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2012 festival competition at a Press Conference and Brunch, Sunday morning at the famed Fess Parker’s Resort Santa Barbara. To the delight of patrons and industry professionals, the festival’s 27th season continued the tradition of presenting purely exceptional films, spanning genres and topics that surpass anything before. Throughout the 11 days, cinephiles from around the globe packed the theaters of State Street, creating one of the most vivacious periods the area has ever seen.

Commented SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling, “Each year, SBIFF strives to feature film from all ranges of the ‘cine-spectrum’. Successfully building upon this tradition of excellence, the lineup for the 27th edition of the festival showcased a particularly captivating yet challenging collection of works. With even more broadly accessible crowd pleasers and premiere films distinguished by their master of storytelling, theaters filled to the brim screening after screening.”

The esteemed Jury for the 2012 SBIFF included:  actor/comedian Dave Koechner; actor/director Brad Hall; actor/writer W. Earl Brown; actor Anthony Zerbe and his wife Arnette Zerbe; SBIFF originator Phyllis de Picciotto; director Glenn Jordan; actor Tim Matheson; online awards columnist Kris Tapley and writer/ director Perry Lang.

The winning films are as follows:

The Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema, given to a unique independent feature that has been made outside mainstream Hollywood, went to UP THERE, directed by Zam Salim, about Martin, who is stuck in a dead-end job, welcoming the newly departed into the afterlife. All he dreams of is going “up there,” and he attempts to cope with his death by keeping his nose clean and minding his own business. But all this is thrown into disarray when, in order to track down an errant lost soul.   Winner received a Panavision camera package worth $60,000.

A special Jury Prize for Artistic Distinction was awarded to BARRYMORE, directed by Erik Canuel and starring Christopher Plummer, to acknowledge Mr. Plummer’s superb performance, Mr. Luce’s remarkable play and Mr. Canuel’s adaptation and uncanny ability to capture the play (originally directed by Gene Saks) in a completely original piece of cinematic art.

The Best International Film Award went to FREE MEN, directed by Ismael Ferroukhi about an Algerian Muslim immigrant who joins the French Resistance to save Algerian Jews.

The Nueva Vision Award for the best Spanish/Latin American film was awarded to FOUND MEMORIES, directed by Julia Murat.  A young photographer finds a forgotten ghost town where only a handful of old people live, and changes their lives forever.

The jury awarded an Honorable Mention to THE RUMBLE OF THE STONES (El Rumor de las Piedras), directed by Alejandro Bellame Palacios.   Venezuela’s official submission for the Academy Awards, Rumble of the Stones is a heartfelt and compelling portrait of the enduring power of a mother’s love against the backdrop of the social problems of modern-day Venezuela

Best Documentary Film Award went to PRETTY OLD, directed by Walter Matteson.  Pretty Old follows four diverse women, ages 67 to 94, competing in the 30th year Anniversary of the Ms. Senior Sweetheart Beauty Pageant in Fall River, Massachusetts, exploring what it truly means to “age beautifully.”

The Cinema Nouveau Award went to HEAT WAVE (Apres Le Sud), directed by Jean-Jacques Jauffret.  Based on a true story, HEAT WAVE offers up a story from intersecting points of view where different destinies cross paths and are reunited by a tragic event.

Bruce Corwin Award for Best Live Action Short Film Under 30 Minutes went to L TRAIN, directed by Anna Musso.  Executive produced by Alexander Payne, L TRAIN is the story of Sunny, a teenaged African American girl commuting through an inner city winter – an existence that injects a negativity into her long days.

Bruce Corwin Award for Best Animation Short Film went to THE MISSING KEY, directed by Jonathan Nix.  In a richly re-imagined Venice of the early 1920s, young composer Hero Wasabi must compete against the unscrupulous Count Telefino in the prestigious Abacus Scroll musical competition.

The Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award Sponsored by The Fund for Santa Barbara for a documentary film that addresses social justice issues also went to DIRTY ENERGY, directed by Bryan Hopkins, which tells the personal story of those directly affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill and who are now struggling to rebuild their lives amidst the economic devastation and long-term health risks.  Winner receives $2500.

The Audience Choice Award, sponsored by the SB Independent, went to STARBUCK, directed by Ken Scott, about a former sperm donor who discovers he’s the father of 533 children, 142 of whom have filed a class action lawsuit to determine the identity of their biological father, known only by the pseudonym Starbuck.

10-10-10 Winning Screenplays and Films

Screenwriting Winners:
Jillian Fisher – San Marcos HS – Dying With Laughter
Sarah Sloat – UC Santa Barbara – Your Place or Mime

Filmmaking Winners:
Aaron Dalton – San Marcos HS – Family, Weekend
Tekin Girgin – Brooks Institute – Your Place or Mime

The creative minds behind some of this year’s finest films will share their experiences and anecdotes with audiences during the panel series at the 27th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which begins Thursday, January 26 and runs through Sunday, February 5, 2012.

SBIFF’s Directors on Directing panel will take place Saturday, February 4, at 11:00 a.m. at the Lobero Theatre. Moderated by Variety’s Peter Bart, this ever-popular panel will feature: Gore Verbinski (Rango), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Paul Feig (Bridesmaids), Terry George (The Shore), Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2), and Chris Miller (Puss in Boots).

Following at 2:00 pm, also at the Lobero Theatre, is the Movers & Shakers panel which brings together some of today’s most established producers to share their insights in sparkling conversation. Moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein, this year’s panelists include; Letty Aronson (Midnight in Paris), Jim Burke (The Descendants), Bill Pohlad (The Tree of Life), Mike De Luca (Moneyball), Thomas Langmann (The Artist), and Graham King (Hugo).