About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 39 years, SBIFF has become one of the top 10 film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.
SBIFF continues its commitment to education and the community throughout many free educational programs and events. SBIFF’s programs support over 18,000 kids, students and families in our local community by introducing film as an art form to young children with programs like AppleBox and Mike’s FieldTrip to the Movies; teaching film analysis to highschool and college students with programs like Rosebud and the Film Studies Program; and teaching the craft of screenwriting and filmmaking with Film Camp and 10-10-10 Mentorship programs. Most importantly SBIFF’s programs are always directed towards the under-represented and under-served communities within Santa Barbara County.
More recently, SBIFF secured a long-term lease for the iconic multi-plex at 916 State Street in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. This landmark acquisition paves the way for the creation of a state-of-the-art Film Center — a vibrant, year-round destination that will serve as a central hub for cinema enthusiasts and the heart of SBIFF’s renowned Film Festival. Building on the success of the Riviera Theatre revitalization in 2016 and the opening of its own Education Center in 2019 in the downtown area, SBIFF continues to strengthen its commitment to the cultural fabric of Santa Barbara.
About ANORA
Following its sensational debut at Cannes, and subsequent record breaking theatrical release, Anora has garnered multiple nominations across various voting bodies, including: four at the Gotham Awards, six from the Film Independent Spirit Awards, seven from Critics Choice Awards, five Golden Globe nominations, and seven BAFTA nominations. The film was awarded Best Picture of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Screenplay by the New York Film Critics Association and Best Actress for Mikey Madison by the National Board of Review. The film was honored with seven Academy Award® nominations including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture.
About NEON
In only seven years, NEON has garnered 32 Academy Award® nominations (7 this year), 6 wins, including Best Picture, and has grossed over $300M at the box office. The company continues to push boundaries and take creative risks on bold cinema such as Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, which made history winning four Academy Awards® , becoming the first non-English-language film to claim Best Picture. The film also unanimously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and grossed over $54M at the domestic box office.
Recent and upcoming NEON releases include: Anora from Sean Baker, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and released in theaters on October 18 to the highest per-screen average of 2024; The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, which NEON picked up out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival and has been selected as the German entry for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards® ; and 2073 from Academy Award®-winning and BAFTA-winning director Asif Kapadia which will be released in select U.S. theaters on December 27th.
As a burgeoning leader in the production space, NEON’s recent and upcoming in-house productions include: David Robert Mitchell’s They Follow starring Maika Monroe; Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool; Bishal Dutta’s It Lives Inside; and Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End, a golden-age musical starring Academy Award® winner Tilda Swinton.
NEON launched its international sales outfit ahead of the Venice Film Festival in 2023, handling titles including: Michael Covino’s Splitsville starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona; Kogonada’s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell; Jason Buxton’s Sharp Corner starring Ben Foster and Cobie Smulders, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival; and Steven Soderbergh’s Presence, which made its world premiere in Sundance, where NEON picked up the worldwide rights.
NEON has amassed a library of over 110 films, with noteworthy releases including: Anatomy of a Fall from Justine Triet, which won the Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay and earned NEON its fourth consecutive Palme d’Or win at its world premiere in Cannes; Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days, which was the Japanese nomination for the 96th Academy Awards® ; and Robot Dreams from Pablo Berger, which received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature. It also includes the Oscar®-nominated documentaries All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Fire of Love; 2022’s highest grossing documentary, Moonage Daydream; and three-time Academy Award® nominee Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness; Flee, which made history becoming the first film to score an impressive trifecta of Oscar® nominations; The Worst Person in The World, which was nominated for Original Screenplay and International Feature Film at the Academy Awards® ; Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane; and Craig Gillespie’s I, Tonya, which garnered multiple Academy Award® nominations, one win for Allison Janney and amassed over $30M in domestic box office.
Following a successful collaboration on I, Tonya in January 2018, 30WEST (Dan Friedkin’s and Micah Green’s strategic venture) partnered with NEON’s Tom Quinn (Founder & CEO) and Tim League (Co-Founder) to become majority investors in the company.
About Kodak
Kodak (NYSE: KODK) is a leading global manufacturer focused on commercial print and advanced materials & chemicals, including film. With 79,000 worldwide patents earned over 130 years of R&D, we believe in the power of technology and science to enhance what the world sees and creates. Our award-winning products, combined with our customer-first approach, make us the partner of choice for commercial printers and filmmakers worldwide. For additional information on Kodak, visit us at Kodak.com or follow us on Instagram at @Kodak_Shootfilm.
