News

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.

The festival runs from January 27-February 7.

Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.

World Premieres

A Better You, USA

Directed by Matt Walsh

Cast: Brian Huskey,...

A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...

Kathleen Turner Kathleen Turner, perhaps best remembered for seducing William Hurt in Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat and for romping about with Michael Douglas in Robert Zemeckis‘ Romancing the Stone, will be present on May 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Bell Lightbox to discuss her career in films and on stage. Turner will be making her Toronto stage debut in Matthew Lombardo’s High at the Royal Alexandra Theatre from May 8–13. Turner, 58 next June, has appeared in nearly 30 features. In addition to the aforementioned two titles, her credits include Ken Russell’s Crimes of Passion, as a Belle de Jour-like sex worker; John Huston’s Oscar-nominated Prizzi’s Honor, as Jack Nicholson’s partner in crime; the Lewis Teague-directed Romancing the Stone sequel The Jewel of the Nile; Francis Ford Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination; and Danny DeVito...