Now in its 27th season, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues to broaden and diversify its offerings by utilizing program sidebars – groups of films that highlight various sub-categories of culture, genre, and subject matter.
This year’s festival programming includes four new categories, one of which promises to excite the appetites and intellects of food and wine lovers while focusing on sustainability and responsible consuming.
The “Screen Cuisine” category, in its first year of inclusion to the SBIFF, showcases movies produced across the globe that celebrate and examine food culture and production from the perspectives of chefs, farmers and policy experts. Differentiating from the overproduced cooking competitions and culinary freak-shows that clog the arteries of cable television, this cluster of films takes a closer look at the ecological and cultural impacts of the global food industry.
With films focused on topics ranging from a sustainable chocolate factory in Grenada to a documentary exploring the relationship between a sushi-master and his son, the “Screen Cuisine” sidebar illuminates the importance of food in maintaining both cultural heritage and environmental viability in a rapidly modernizing world.
One film from this grouping may be of particular interest to local winemakers and wine enthusiasts – Wine: The Green Revolution (La Clef Des Terroirs). Directed by Guillaume Bodin in 2011 and shot primarily in France, this film explores the practice of biodynamic farming and its growing acceptance in the wine industry. Bodin claims that winemakers have been at the forefront of this movement because the impacts of conventional modern agriculture on the character of wine were noticeable early on. Speaking like a true Frenchman and oenophile, the director describes the resulting wine as typified by the “sensation of having lost contact with the earth.”
Biodynamic farming is rooted in the early 20th century theories of Austrian intellectual Rudolf Steiner, and utilizes the naturally occurring flora and fauna present in cultivated soils to create a healthy holistic ecosystem. It is believed that the absence of chemical pesticides and fertilizers allows the mineral and organic characteristics of the indigenous land to shine through in the finished product.
Local vintners have experimented with these techniques, achieving great success – most notably Richard Sanford and Steve Beckmen at their respective wineries, Alma Rosa and Beckmen.
According to Beckmen, “Since we’ve gone biodynamic, we have produced some of our best wines ever.” As the wine industry continues to grow and diversify here in the Santa Ynez Valley, it has become more important to create wines that represent the essence or terroir of our local vineyards.
The lessons and philosophies explored in Wine: The Green Revolution apply to farming practices across the spectrum of agriculture. Biodynamic techniques have also become integral to the local production of grass-fed beef and organic vegetables.
The movie premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, and will have two additional showings, all taking place at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival begins Thursday, Jan. 26, and spans 11 days, concluding Sunday, Feb. 5. More information and the festival schedule can be found online at www.sbiff.org.
Oscar nominees at the Santa Barbara festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which begins Thursday, is proud to welcome 21+ Academy Award nominees, as the Academy Award nomination announcements brought news that many of the artists and films SBIFF has the privilege of paying homage to have earned spots on the most coveted of ballots.Said SBIFF executive director Roger Durling, “We’re thrilled to pieces to have all of these nominees coming to SBIFF. Congrats to all of them, and we’re grateful they will be joining us soon.”
Hugo emerged as the film with the most nominations, receiving 11 in all, including Best Director for American Riviera Award honoree Martin Scorsese, as well as Best Picture. Receiving an astounding 10 nominations was 0, and Santa Barbara will have the honor of celebrating first-time nominees Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo with the Cinema Vanguard Award. Director Michel Hazanavicius and producer Thomas Langmann will also attend the festival.
This year’s Modern Master, Christopher Plummer, received his second Oscar nomination for his performance in Beginners, written and directed by Santa Barbara’s own Mike Mills, who will present the festival’s highest honor.
SBIFF’s Outstanding Performer of the Year, Viola Davis also received her second Oscar nomination for her extraordinary performance in The Help. Joining her that night will be her co-star and Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress, Octavia Spencer, along with writer/director Tate Taylor.
Receiving their first Academy Award nominations are virtuosos Rooney Mara (The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) and Demián Bichir (A Better Life), as well as director Gore Verbinski (Rango), who will screen Rango for Field Trip to the Movies.