Jan 21

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There’s not a lot to look forward to at the end of January. Maybe you’ve come to the realization that your New Year’s Resolution isn’t realistic (no one can eat that much kale) or maybe you just don’t like the chilly weather. But since 1986, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) has been brightening up the classic January blues. This year, the festival is back with 11 days worth of events for anyone and everyone.

The SBIFF doesn’t only show films, it is full of events from free seminars to celebrity award presentations. With so much going on and loads of awesome events to choose from, we’ve put together some information on the events and films that we can’t wait to check out. 

Opening Night:
Kicking off the film section of the festival on January 27th at 8:00 pm is “Desert Dancer,” an inspiring, true-story about a man’s journey to becoming a professional dancer in a country where dance is illegal. After the film, for those 21+, is the “Opening Night Gala,” a celebration of the start of the festival with food and drinks, dancing, and live entertainment in downtown Santa Barbara.

Films:
This year, there are over 20 full-length films by directors from all over the world, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Israel, and Belgium! Plus, there are special events for specifically for local filmmakers to display their talent and highlight the creativity of Santa Barbara locals. See the Santa Barbara Independent’s website for official dates!

Events:
The SBIFF recognizes the brilliant work of many celebrities and creative geniuses, which is why there are 9 categories of different awards to be presented to innovators in the film industry. Past recipients (and attendees of the SBIFF) have been people such as George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lawrence, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Attending this year’s award events gives you the opportunity to hear an hour and a half of personal details about the honoree’s career. 

Are you on a budget? No worries!! The SBIFF has many free events! Check out the SBIFF official website for more details on this years festival!

 

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Jan 11

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SBIFF

My favorite time of the year is here, it’s Festival Season!!  The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is taking place from January 27th to February 6th.

This years festival promises to be a little bit different with the addition of New Media.  They plan to update festival goers via Twitter and Facebook and even have a give-away or two.  Here is what they have to say:


SOCIAL MEDIA

This year SBIFF will undertake a massive social media campaign throughout the course of the festival. SBIFF will utilize both Facebook and Twitter in order to enhance the festival experience for festival attendees, filmmakers, and press.

• Both Facebook and Twitter will serve as valuable resources, providing up to the minute information on program changes and announcements. With these tools, festival attendees will be given many new ways to actively participate in events and activities. Throughout the 11 days, there will be many exciting opportunities to win film tickets, party passes, tribute tickets, and festival memorabilia. SBIFF also encourages everyone to share their favorite moments, films, and photos as the festival progresses, many of which may be reposted or tweeted.
• For filmmakers, these tools will be utilized to both promote their film at the festival, and also to network with other filmmakers and industry insiders in attendance.
• Members of the press should also take note as these tools will be used to make valuable announcements and highlight published coverage.

Now as much as this sounds like a great idea, it has been my experience from other festivals and conferences that the promise is never delivered.  Festival goers are promised to be given cutting edge to the minute updates but it is usually the main person running the festival who is in charge of updating, and he/she obviously gets too busy and does not have time to make any updates.  Or the responsibility gets handed down to a new intern who is way too excited to be there and also does no updating but is instead throwing up in some green room.

I hope that the film festival has taken this new role seriously and will be updating frequently, although im not sure since their Facebook page does not have a custom URL (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Barbara-International-Film-Festival/141996919640), the bio is from 2010, and they haven’t even created any events for their panels and award ceremonies.

For more information on the festival where I plan to spend a lot of time check out the links bellow

SBIFF Website
Twitter
Facebook

 

 

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