The 36th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by UGG, opened March 31 with the world premiere of “Invisible Valley.”
Drive-in movie-goers watched as director Aaron Mauer and producer Zachary McMillan took to the stage with the festival’s executive sirector Roger Durling and introduced the film with the ocean as a backdrop, and online attendees joining from around the world.
“Invisible Valley” weaves together the seemingly disparate stories of undocumented farmworkers, wealthy snowbirds, and music festival-goers over the course of a year in California’s Coachella Valley. The intimate, on-the-ground profiles drive home the incongruity of the lifestyles that coexist in an affluent community.
In exploring the region’s history, as well as its future, the film uncovers an undercurrent of a looming ecological crisis threatening it all.
The hybrid film festival model gave the community in-person access for free, and funds raised by the online ticketed event are used to support the organization’s year-round commitment to the city, serving 14,000 people annually, including at-risk and underserved youth, low-income families and their children, cancer patients, and transit-dependent senior citizens.
Upcoming tributes will include live presentations to Bill Murray, Sacha Baron Cohen, Zendaya, Riz Ahmed, Maria Bakalova, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Andra Day, Sidney Flanigan, Vanessa Kirby, Tahar Rahim, Amanda Seyfried and Carey Mulligan.
On April 1, all films were released simultaneously with the exception of closing day short films, which will be released on the last day of the festival, April 10. A full schedule of events, including where to buy 10-day festival passes now through April 10 can be found at www.sbiff.org.