Three icons of cinema, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro, will receive the Hammond Cinema Vanguard Award at the 41st annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Spotlighting their performances in this year’s acclaimed “One Battle After Another,” written, directed and produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, the actors will receive the award, which was recently renamed after longtime friends and collaborators of SBIFF — Pete and Madelyn Hammond — on Feb. 9.
The award recognizes the trio of actors for their extraordinary contributions to one of the most talked-about films of the year in which they star alongside Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti.
Their roles as Bob (DiCaprio), Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Penn) and Sensei Sergio St. Carlos (Del Toro) helped catapult the film to the forefront of the awards conversation this season, according to SBIFF.
“One Battle After Another” is the most nominated Golden Globes contender, earning a nine nominations, including individual nominations for DiCaprio, Penn and Del Toro, and 14 Critics Choice Awards nominations.
It has been named Best Picture of the Year by The Gotham Awards, The National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle.
“This is by far the most exciting tribute in SBIFF history,” said Roger Durling, SBIFF executive director. “These three artists individually have regaled us with exemplary and unforgettable performances, and together, they have made one of the best films, ‘One Battle After Another.’ Let’s rejoice.”
From Warner Bros. Pictures, ‘One Battle After Another’ follows a washed-up revolutionary, Bob (DiCaprio), who exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off the grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Infiniti).
When his evil nemesis (Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as father and daughter battle the consequences of his past.
DiCaprio is an Academy Award-winning actor, producer, and activist, whose career spans more than three decades. He has received seven Academy Award nominations, six BAFTA nominations, 13 Screen Actors Guild nominations, and 15 Golden Globe nominations.
He won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Actor for his performance in Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu’s “The Revenant.”
DiCaprio has earned critical acclaim for roles in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Inception,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “Django Unchained,” as well as through his long-standing collaboration with director Martin Scorsese on films including “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Gangs of New York,” Shutter Island,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
He began his film career in the early 1990s with standout performances in “This Boy’s Life” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” earning his first Academy Award nomination.
In addition to acting, DiCaprio co-founded Appian Way with Jennifer Davisson, producing acclaimed features and impactful documentaries focused on environmental issues, including “Path of the Panther,” “Yanuni,” and “Virunga.”
In 2021, his foundation unified with Global Wildlife Conservation, combining to launch Re:wild, which works with over 600 partners in more than 80 countries to help protect more than 35,000 species of wildlife and half a billion acres of the wild.
Penn is an Academy Award-winning actor, filmmaker and author whose career spans more than four decades. As an actor, he has received five Academy Award nominations, winning Best Actor for “Mystic River” and “Milk.”
Over his career, he has been honored by the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals, as well as the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and major critics’ groups.
His extensive filmography includes “Dead Man Walking,” “Sweet and Lowdown,” “I Am Sam,” “21 Grams,” “The Thin Red Line,” “The Tree of Life,” “Carlito’s Way,” “The Game,” and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
As a filmmaker, Penn has directed acclaimed features including “Into the Wild,” “The Indian Runner,” “The Crossing Guard,” “The Pledge,” and “Flag Day,” and co-directed the Emmy-nominated documentary “Superpower.”
Through his company Projected Picture Works, he recently produced “September 5,” which earned PGA and Golden Globe Best Picture nominations and an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay.
He received the Modern Master Award during the 17th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. A longtime humanitarian and civil rights advocate, Penn founded CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) in 2010, which continues to provide disaster relief worldwide.
Del Toro is an Academy Award–winning actor celebrated for a body of work defined by range, intensity, and critical acclaim.
He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic,” and received an Academy Award nomination for Iñárritu’s “21 Grams.”
Del Toro’s portrayal of Che Guevara in Soderbergh’s “Che” won him the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival and Spain’s Goya Award.
Del Toro’s filmography includes “The Usual Suspects,” “Basquiat,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Sicario and Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Inherent Vice,” Snatch,” “Sin City,” Things We Lost in the Fire,” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” as well as television work such as “Escape at Dannemora,” which earned him an Emmy nomination.
Recent projects include Netflix’s “Reptile,” which he also executive produced, Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move,” and Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme.”
The Cinema Vanguard Award recognizes actors who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film, the Film Festival said.
Previous honorees include Adrian Brody & Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Carey Mulligan, Laura Dern, Michael B. Jordan, Willem DaFoe, Casey Affleck & Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne & Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese & Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin & Berenice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stanley Tucci and Ryan Gosling.
The 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place Feb. 4-14, 2026. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the Arlington Theatre and at the soon-to-be-completed SBIFF Film Center. Passes for the 2026 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
Recently announced tributes include Michael B. Jordan for the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award, Adam Sandler for the Maltin Modern Master Award, Stellan Skarsgård for the Montecito Award and the Virtuosos Award which will honor Jacob Elordi, Chase Infiniti, Amy Madigan, Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve, Sydney Sweeney, Teyana Taylor and Jeremy Allen White.