Tuesday night’s Virtuosos awards at the Arlington Theatre celebrated seven of the breakout roles in this past year of films.
Fans of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos evening, which honors several actors for one particular role instead of one actor for a career, have noticed the increasing number of honorees. In 2011 there were five actors, in 2013 six, and now seven.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Tuesday announced “Exploration” as the main theme for this year’s 11-day celebration of stars and films.
For stargazers, the 29th annual event runs Jan. 30 through Feb. 9 and promises many of Hollywood’s biggest actors.
Cate Blanchett will arrive Feb. 1 for her tribute evening. After that the Virtuosos (Feb. 4) features up-and-coming actors Daniel Brühl, Adele Exarchopoulos, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, Jared Leto, and June Squibb.
Although it had been postponed several weeks, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival held its annual fundraiser Sunday night at the Bacara Resort & Spa, presenting the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film to actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker. The sit-down dinner and black-tie affair was planned for Dec. 15, but scheduling conflicts pushed the event to the first week of 2014, less than a month away from the Festival itself, which begins Jan. 30.
This event, in its eighth year, is a more subdued affair than the similar celebrity awards evenings that draw thousands to the Festival. In place of a sit-down interview in front of theater audiences, the evening gives the podium over to fellow actors and directors to speak about the honoree, with some words from the star himself. And the Bacara, with tables named after select Whitaker films – from “Good Morning, Vietnam” to “Ghost Dog,” was the place to do it, far away from downtown.