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TODAY at SBIFF - Feb. 15

Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2025: Must-See Events

Saturday, February 15 – Closing Night

  • Women's Panel - 11:00AM - Arlington Theatre
    • Emily Kassie - Director (Sugarcane)
    • Diane Warren - Songwriter (The Six Triple Eight)
    • Paula DuPré Pesmen - Producer (Porcelain War)
    • Smriti Mundhra - Director (I Am Ready, Warden)
    • Victoria Warmerdam - Director/Writer (I’m Not A Robot)
  • Final screening: A Missing Part (8:00 PM, Arlington Theatre).

  • On both Saturdays of the Film Festival, we will be showing the year’s top animated films for FREE at the Marjorie Luke Theatre at 721 East Cota St. Admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis following passholder admission.

    • Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl - 10:00AM

    • The Wild Robot - 2:00PM

The 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) runs from February 4–15, 2025, bringing Hollywood’s brightest stars, exclusive premieres, and industry honors to the heart of Santa Barbara. Here’s a breakdown of the key events happening each day:

Scroll down for all Films with Q&As including some U.S. and World Premiere films.

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Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2025)
The Wild Robot (2024)
The epic adventure follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling.
A Missing Part (Une part manquante)
For nine years, as he drives his cab all around Tokyo, Jay has searched for the daughter he lost touch with when his wife divorced him. Hopeless, he’s about to move back to his French hometown, when his daughter Lily hops into his taxi.
Parrot Kindergarten
Dive into the fascinating tale of a woman raised in a cult, whose journey of healing through teaching her parrot to read reshapes our understanding of interspecies communication.
Magic Hour
After years of procrastination and self-recrimination, a middle-aged woman decides to upend her life and go to film school in an effort to realize a lifelong dream. Comic adventures and self-discovery ensue.
Coup 53
TAGHI AMIRANI’s Thrilling deep dive into the US/UK conspiracy that crushed democracy in Iran and toppled a beloved leader.
Mistura
The life of a Paris-born wife of a Peruvian politician unravels after her husband's betrayal isolates her from elite society.
Viva Verdi!
VIVA VERDI! is a glimpse into the lives of celebrated opera singers and musicians currently living out their 'third act' while mentoring music students at Milan's unique retirement home, Casa Verdi, built by Giuseppe Verdi.
Out of Plain Sight
A haunting tip prompts a Los Angeles Times reporter to discover that as many as half a million barrels of toxic waste had been dumped into the ocean, just off the coast of Southern California. MADE POSSIBLE BY A DONATION FROM ROGER AND ROBIN HIMOVITZ AND DOS PUEBLOS INSTITUTE
Desert Angel
A trailblazer of migrant search and rescue missions risks everything to find a mother’s missing son.
Spider & Jessie
A mother's fatal overdose. A strained foster care system that separates siblings. Mckenna Grace stars as Spider and Jojo Regina as Jessie as we see how far they will go to keep their secret buried.
Enchanted Matter: The Art of Robert Powell
Sacred, sensual, hyperreal, and hallucinatory, a young architect’s improbable journey of self-discovery into the Himalayas leads to love, enchantment, and a change in the way we view art.
Trifole
Dalia travels to Piedmont to care for her aging grandfather, Igor, an expert truffle forager. Armed with his field notes and loyal dog, she searches for a prizewinning truffle in this charming and bittersweet look at a vanishing way of life. MADE POSSIBLE BY A DONATION FROM TRACY AND MICHAEL BOLLAG.
Ai Weiwei's Turandot
AI WEIWEI'S TURANDOT follows Chinese artist/activist, Ai Weiwei, during his operatic directorial debut at the Rome Opera House, as he draws on Giacomo Puccini's Turandot as a backdrop for many issues that plague mankind.

Filmmaker Q&As (Search any movie for their synopsis and details)

The following films will have Filmmaker Q&A's on Saturday, February 15th:

  • PARROT KINDERGARTEN - 9am @ Film Center 4 with Director Amy Herdy & Director of Photography Thaddeus Wadleigh

  • MAGIC HOUR - 9am @ Riviera with actor Anna Suzuki

  • COUP 53 - 11.20am @ Film Center 2 with Director Taghi Amirani

  • MISTURA - 12noon @ Riviera with Director Ricardo de Montreuil

  • VIVA VERDI - 2.20pm @ Film Center 2 with Producer Christine La Monte

  • OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT - 3pm @ Film Center 4 with Director/Producer Rosanna Xia, Director/Producer Daniel Straub, Cinematographer/Producer/Editor Austin Straub

  • DESERT ANGEL - 3pm @ Riviera with Director Vincent DeLuca & Subject Rafael Larraenza

  • SPIDER & JESSIE - 3.20pm @ Film Center 5 with Director Dan Kay & Actor Brad Beyer

  • ENCHANTED MATTER: THE ART OF ROBERT POWELL - 5.20pm @ Film Center 2 with Director Tom Piozet

  • TRIFOLE at 6.20pm @ Film Center 5 with Director Gabriele Fabbro

  • AI WEIWEI'S TURANDOT - 6pm @ Riviera with Producer Christine La Monte

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