film festival tourism

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival

A worthwhile selection of new international films shown in an upscale California town.

Festival Website: http://sbiff.org/site/

Timing: Ten Days at the end of January-beginning of February

Dates for 2009: January 22-February 1

Programming

The Santa Barbara Festival competes with nearby Palm Springs for the cream of new international releases and Oscar-related events. Generally, however, there are plenty of quality films to go around. In terms of programming, the festival’s location not far from Los Angeles is both a blessing and a curse: it’s easy to attract Hollywood talent, but celebrities who live in the neighborhood are capable of pressuring the festival to screen unreleasable vanity projects.

Special Guests

Many Hollywood types highlight the program, but few foreign filmmakers attend. The festival runs a full complement of on-stage interviews and panels

Audience: Mostly locals, who turn out in force.

Screening Venues:

Several theaters are used; some converted auditoriums. All are comfortable, but none is new.

Screening Schedule

Movies begin at 10:30am and continue until late in the evening. Last screenings start at 10pm. As many as nine films may be screened concurrently, so there’s lots of choice.

Tickets

The festival mini-passes, which offer 4 tickets for $38 or 12 for $95 are a bit of a gamble; they don’t guarantee admission, and many films sell out. If you purchase these passes, be prepared to arrive very early to popular screenings to get a decent seat. For $375 you can get a pass that will assure you a good seat to any film if you arrive at least 20 minutes ahead.

Program Notes

The hefty program book contains full signed descriptions of the films, many reprinted from other sources.

Surroundings

Santa Barbara has been called the most beautiful town on the California coast, and it lives up to its reputation. Spanish colonial architecture creates a distinctively warm and intimate character in the downtown area. Expect prices to be high here, and be forewarned that January and February can be cool and rainy.

Accommodations

The Hotel Santa Barbara, which serves as the festival’s hub, is convenient but can be noisy and hectic. Better choices would be the Hotel Virginia, a moderately priced 3-star property in a restored historic building a block or so off the main street. A higher end choice, also convenient, is the four-star Inn of the Spanish Garden. If you don’t mind walking, there are a number of inexpensive hostelries along the water, including the Mason Beach Inn, where I stayed in 2007.

• Hotel Virginia (Holiday Inn Express). 17 W. Haley Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101. (805) 963.9757 http://www.hotelvirginia.com/

• The Inn of the Spanish Garden. 915 Garden Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101.  915 Garden Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.  (805) 564-4700 http://spanishgardeninn.com/index.php

• Mason Beach Inn. 324 West Mason Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.  (805) 962-3203  www.masonbeachinn.com

Getting Around

If you stay nearby in town, you’ll have no trouble walking between the various theaters. The city operates inexpensive shuttle buses that go up and down the main street and along the waterfront, but these don’t run in the evening.

Restaurants

Mostly Italian and mostly expensive. These are a few I’ve enjoyed.

• Olio e Limone. Small and family-owned. Expect to pay high prices for the excellent food. Near the Arlington Theater. 11 W. Victoria St., Ste. 17 (bet. Chapala & State Sts.) Santa Barbara, CA 93101. (805) 899-2699. www.olioelimone.com

• The Wine Cask. A superb choice if you can stand the steep tariff. As the name suggests, wine is a particular strength and not so pricy by the glass. (They would like to lure you into buying a bottle from the adjacent shop.) Housed in an old monastery, the dining room exudes colonial charm. Near all the theaters. 813 Anacapa St. Santa Barbara, CA 93101. (805) 966-9463. www.winecask.com

Excursions

• The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. A cool, serene place to walk. It’s up in the hills, so you’ll need a car. http://www.sbbg.org/

• The Santa Barbara Courthouse. Has the city’s most handsome colonial architecture highlighted with intricate, colorful tilework. (805) 962-6464  http://www.santabarbaracourthouse.org/sbch/

• The Old Santa Barbara Mission. An ancient structure from the days of Spanish domination of the region, it offers a glimpse into California as it once was. 2201 Laguna St, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 682-4713. www.sbmission.org

THE FESTIVAL YEAR BY YEAR

2005

Best Film I Saw

The Big Red One: The Reconstruction. With twenty minutes added to its original length, Samuel Fuller’s 1980 classic war picture further enhanced its high reputation.

2007

Best Film I Saw

Red Road. Andrea Arnold’s gripping thriller takes a raw look at a woman’s vengeful quest.

Most Unfairly Maligned Film: Hounddog. Deborah Kampmeier’s portrait of a poor Southern girl was a sensitive look at child abuse, not an exploitation of its star Dakota Fanning.

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