Santa Barbara

Carey Mulligan is set to receive the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 36th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Mulligan will be honored on April 5th and will be recognized for her remarkable career and most recent performance in Focus Features’ dark comedy “Promising Young Woman” written, produced and directed by Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve, The Crown). Mulligan’s performance in “Promising Young Woman” has already garnered her significant awards recognition, including Best Actress from the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and over 20 national and regional critics groups around the country. She has also received nominations for Best Actress from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild®, and the Critics’ Choice Association. In “Promising Young Woman,” nothing in Cassie’s (Mulligan) life is what it seems. Following a mysterious event that abruptly derailed her future, she lives a secret double life, until an unexpected encounter gives her the chance to right the wrongs of the past in what will surely be a day of reckoning for everyone.
 
“I saw Mulligan on stage in 2008 in ‘The Seagull’—she was such a magnetic combination of fearlessness and vulnerability there, and she continues to instill awe in all of us.  She delivers her best work so far in ‘Promising Young Woman.’” states SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling.
 
The Cinema Vanguard Award recognizes actors who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Previous honorees include Laura Dern, Michael B. Jordan, William DeFoe, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin, Bernice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stanley Tucci and Ryan Gosling.