The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced Saoirse Ronan will receive its prestigious Santa Barbara Award, presented by UGG, for her critically acclaimed role in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, an A24 release.

Given to a person in the entertainment industry who has made a great contribution to film, the award will be presented to Ronan at a ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 4, at the Arlington Theatre.

The 33rd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place Wednesday, Jan. 31, through Saturday, Feb. 10.

“In Lady Bird, Saoirse Ronan has once again proven that she is a force of nature and one of her generation’s most exciting young talents,” said Roger Durling, SBIFF executive director.

“She embodies her characters with a poignant accuracy and ease every time she appears on screen,” he said.

Ronan’s numerous film credits include The Grand Budapest Hotel, Hanna, The Lovely Bones, and The Way Back.

She has received Academy Award nominations for her performances in Atonement and Brooklyn, and recently was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance in Lady Bird.

Past recipients of the Santa Barbara Award include: Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Bill Condon and Naomi Watts.

The film festival previously honored Judi Dench with its Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film.

The festival has also announced it will honor Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) with its Maltin Modern Master Award and Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) with its Cinema Vanguard Award.

Virtuosos Awards will go to Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Hong Chau (Downsizing), John Boyega (Detroit), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name).

The SBIFF said it thanks the city of Santa Barbara’s first responders and emergency authorities who have assisted with the relief from the fires and flooding that have recently devastated the area.

Their bravery and sacrifice cannot be overstated in providing relief during what has been an increasingly difficult time for Santa Barbara, SBIFF said.

To support those affected in the immediate aftermath of the disaster visit www.redcross.org, http://cafirefoundation.org/ and https://www.directrelief.org/.
 
For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, visit www.sbiff.org.

— Jackson Gibbon for Santa Barbara International Film Festival.