34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival kicks off week-long event

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (FOX 11) - The 34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival kicked off Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019 for its week-long run featuring 63 world premieres and 59 U.S. premieres from 48 countries.

The event has attracted many Hollywood A-listers over the years with their Q&A tribute panels. This year, Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), Glenn Close (The Wife), Melissa McCarthy (Can you Ever Forgive Me?), Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Creed II), Claire Foy (First Man), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), and Sam Elliot (A Star is Born) among many others will be honored by the festival for their body of work.

All tributes will take place at the famous Arlington Theater in downtown Santa Barbara. For tickets and more information about the festival, visit https://sbiff.org.

The film festival is not all about the glitz and glamour. It features free community education and outreach programs such as "Mike's Field Trip to the Movies," which offers 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade students a chance to watch free movies and interact with their filmmakers, or the "10-10-10" student screenwriting and filmmaking competition in which about 20 high school and college students get to work with industry professionals to produce short films that will be screened to audiences at the end of the film festival.

"SBIFF is an event that brings together a plethora of visitors - international, national and local filmmakers, Oscar contenders, vital educational programs," said SBIFF's Executive Director Roger Durling. "We have entered this year with a renewed sense of purpose and continuity with the festival and understand more than ever the important role we play in the community."

The festival runs until Feb. 9, 2019.