Stuart Hazeldine: 2010 BAFTA nominee           “Begin.” So starts the emotional roller-coaster that is Stuart Hazeldine’s first full-length feature, Exam. Released this year, the film has earmarked the British writer/director as one to watch. Exam’s claustrophobic setting is a sublime blend of psychology and mystery-thriller. Despite its original premise, its influences come from a variety of sources throughout writer Stuart’s ca...

by Marla Lewin   Jeff Bridges CRAZY HEART Photo by Lorey Sebastian (c) Fox Searchlight 2009 The final day of the 25th festival was proclaimed Jeff Bridges day. It is a full day of films starring Jeff Bridges concluding with a screening of Crazy Heart for which he is nominated for a Best Actor nomination by the Academy. A tribute to the Santa Barbara native will cap the evening. At a Sunday morning brunch at the famed Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort the winners of the 201...

Winding Down By Kimberly Deisler Could it possibly be day ten already? While the week was excruciatingly long in that everyone’s exhausted and choking with some kind of cough or cold, we’re finally here … on the last day of the festival. Although most of the world considers this to be Valentine’s Day, those in Santa Barbara are celebrating the local sweetheart with Jeff Bridges Day by screening all of his Oscar nominated films, The Last Picture Show, Thunderbolt...

The 25th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the winners of the 2010 festival competition at a Press Conference and Sunday morning brunch at the famed Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort, hosted by KTYD Radio's Julie Ramos. The festival, which celebrated its Silver Anniversary February 4-14, was a huge success. By the look of the theaters you'd never know the economy was in the fight of its life as audiences packed the theaters for the last 11 days, proving once again how p...