Saldaña will receive the award on Friday, February 7, 2025 at an in-person conversation about her career, leading up to her acclaimed performance this year as Rita Moro Castro in Netflix’s EMILIA PÉREZ. Zoe Saldaña's performance in EMILIA PÉREZ is one of her most transformative roles to date, and adds another unique facet to her already impressive career.

“Zoe Saldaña has a fantastic filmography worth celebrating any year, but her commanding and stouthearted performance in EMILIA PÉREZ makes our tribute to her imperative” remarked SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling.

Zoe Saldaña has steadily earned a reputation as one of the most versatile and respected powerhouses in the industry with a remarkable career spanning more than 20 years as an actor and producer. As the only actor in history to have starred in four films that have grossed over 2 billion dollars and the top three highest grossing films of all time, AVATAR, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER and Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Saldaña’s passionate commitment to seeking compelling, indelible roles has remained constant.

Most recently, Saldaña lead and executive produced the independent film THE ABSENCE OF EDEN, directed by Marco Perego in his feature film debut, and currently stars in Taylor Sheridan’s undercover CIA drama series “Lioness” for Paramount+, which she also executive produces with her production company Cinestar Pictures. Saldaña can next be seen starring in the Spanish-language musical crime comedy from Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and took home the Jury Prize. Saldaña received the festival’s prestigious Best Actress Award alongside the female ensemble and Netflix will release the film in theaters this Fall.

From renegade auteur Jacques Audiard comes EMILIA PÉREZ, an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self. Written and directed by Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet), the double Cannes-winning film also stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Édgar Ramírez.

The American Riviera Award was established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American Cinema. Previous recipients include Mark Ruffalo, Brendan Fraser, Kristen Stewart, Delroy Lindo, Renée Zellweger, Viggo Mortenson, Sam Rockwell, Jeff Bridges, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Robert Redford, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock, Mickey Rourke, Tommy Lee Jones, Forrest Whitaker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane.

The 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place LIVE February 4 - February 15, 2025. 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 for the 2025 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.

Last year, the festival had a program of 200+ films from over 48 countries with honorary awards feted on Robert Downey Jr., Bradley Cooper, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, America Ferrera, Lily Gladstone, Greta Lee, Charles Melton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Andrew Scott, Martin Scorsese, Justine Triet, Billie Eilish, and Ludwig Göransson.

A-list and industry guests will once again ascend to Santa Barbara, making it a must-stop location on the awards circuit, and delivering a record number of films with many World and U.S. premieres. The film lineup and schedule will be announced January 2025.

About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization dedicated to discovering and showcasing the best in independent and international cinema. Over the past 39 years, SBIFF has become one of the top 10 film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and symposiums, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire the Santa Barbara community through film.

SBIFF continues its commitment to education and the community throughout many free educational programs and events. SBIFF’s programs support over 18,000 kids, students and families in our local community by introducing film as an art form to young children with programs like AppleBox and Mike’s FieldTrip to the Movies; teaching film analysis to highschool and college students with programs like Rosebud and the Film Studies Program; and teaching the craft of screenwriting and filmmaking with Film Camp and 10-10-10 Mentorship programs. Most importantly SBIFF’s programs are always directed towards the under-represented and under-served communities within Santa Barbara County.

In 2016, SBIFF acquired the historic and beloved Riviera Theatre. After a capital campaign and renovation, the theatre is now SBIFF’s state-of-the-art, year-round home, showing new international and independent films every day. In 2019, SBIFF opened its own Education Center in downtown Santa Barbara on State Street to serve as a home for its many educational programs and a place for creativity and learning.

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