Austin Butler, Danielle Deadwyler, Nina Hoss, Ke Huy Quan among Virtuosos Award recipients from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is one of the hottest stops on the Oscar campaign trail every year, and this season will be no different as the recipients of the annual Virtuosos Award have been announced: Austin Butler (Elvis), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Nina Hoss (TÁR), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Jeremy Pope (The Inspection), Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Jeremy Strong (Armageddon Time).

The Virtuosos Award, an honor created to recognize a select group of talent whose noteworthy performances in film have elevated them into the national cinematic dialogue, will be in a program of the festival in which the honorees will discuss their work and receive their awards in-person on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 during the 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The evening will be moderated for the 13th year by Dave Karger, Turner Classic Movies host and Entertainment Weekly awards correspondent. 

“This year’s group of Virtuosos is unique in that they’ve all been performing for years and in some cases decades. It’s an impressive bunch that proves you can have a breakout moment at any point in your career. I’m sure they’ll all have memorable and inspiring stories to tell,” remarked Dave Karger.

The last three year’s Virtuosos honorees were Caitriona Balfe, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Jamie Dornan, Alana Haim, Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds, Emilia Jones, Oscar winner Troy Kotsur, Simon Rex, Saniyya Sidney, Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, Maria Bakalova, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Oscar nominee Andra Day, Sidney Flanigan, Oscar nominee Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Zendaya, Awkwafina, Taron Egerton, Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo, Beanie Feldstein, Aldis Hodge, George MacKay, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh, and Taylor Russell.

The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place LIVE February 8 – February 18, 2023. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. Passes and tickets for the 2023 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org. 

Last year, SBIFF returned to in-person screenings, panels, and events. The festival had 48 world premiere, 95 U.S. premieres, with honorary awards feted on Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Kristen Stewart, Penélope Cruz, Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Caitriona Balfe, Ariana DeBose, Alana Haim, Ciarán Hinds, Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur, Simon Rex, Saniyya Sidney, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kenneth Branagh, Jane Campion, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Steven Spielberg. Historically, A-list guests ascend to Santa Barbara, making it a must-stop location on the awards circuit, and the festival delivers an unprecedented number of films with many World and U.S. premieres. The film lineup and schedule will be announced January, 2023.