Actor Sam Elliott was among those receiving Virtuoso awards Tuesday night from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. He was recognized for his supporting role in the new romantic drama ‘A Star is Born.’ 
Actress Thomasin McKenzie received a Virtuoso award Tuesday night from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for her performance in ‘Leave No Trace.’ 
John David Washington received a Virtuoso award Tuesday night from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his lead role in ‘BlacKkKlansman.’ 
Claire-Foy 
Elsie-Fisher 
Steven-Yeun 
Richard-Grant 
Arlington Theatre marquee. 
Virtuoso Award winners on stage at the Arlington Theatre. 
A fan takes a selfie with Thomasin McKenzie.
Eight actors, including some of this year’s Oscar hopefuls, were honored Tuesday night for achieving a breakthrough performances in film with the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Award.
“You are in for such an amazing treat,” festival Executive Director Roger Durling told more than 2,000 audience members seated inside the downtown Arlington Theatre. “This is by far one of my favorite nights of the film festival.”
This year’s honorees were:
» Yalitza Aparicio for her role in the drama film Roma.
» Sam Elliott for his supporting role in the new romantic drama A Star is Born.
» 15-year-old Eighth Grade breakout star Elsie Fisher.
» Claire Foy in First Man, an American biographical drama film about Neil Armstrong.
» Richard E. Grant who appeared in Can You Ever Forgive Me?.
» 18-year-old breakout star Thomasin McKenzie for her performance in Leave No Trace.
» John David Washington for his lead role in BlacKkKlansman, an American biographical crime comedy-drama film about the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department.
» Steven Yeun in the South Korean drama Burning.
Aparicio didn’t attend the event, and received her award on a separate evening, according to SBIFF organizers.
The award presentation, which was moderated by nine-year SBIFF veteran Dave Karger and presented by UGG, kicked off with a star-studded red carpet.
“What I love about this event is that it shows once again that you can have a breakout moment at any point in your acting career,” Karger said in his opening remarks. “You can be a performer who is well-known for a television show, who shines in a challenging film role like Steven Yeun or Claire Foy or John David Washington.
“You can be a young woman in her teens who impressed us all in her first major role — I’m talking about Thomasin McKenzie and Elsie Fisher.
“You can be a first-time actor, someone who has never done acting before in your life like Yalitza Aparicio,” he continued. “Or you can be a respected veteran actor who scores his first Oscar nomination after decades of impressive work like Sam Elliott.”
Guests briefly spoke on a wide variety of topics like all that comes along with acting, their prior work, decisions to start an acting career, experiences creating the film, and other subjects.
The actors and audience members shared a few laughs during the discussions.
“The awards are great,” Elliott told the crowd. “The awards are a wonderful thing, but it’s really about the work, and I think probably everybody that’s up here to receive this award would say the same thing. It’s the work that brings us here.”
In the theatre, many fans used their cell phones to take photographs of the talent.
Prior Virtuosos Award recipients include Daniel Kaluuya, Gal Gadot, Hong Chau, John Boyega, Kumail Nanjiani, Mary J. Blige. Timothée Chalamet,Dev Patel, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Ruth Negga, Alicia Vikander, Rosamund Pike, J.K. Simmons, Eddie Redmayne, Quvenzhane Wallis, Rooney Mara, Melissa McCarthy, Andrew Garfield, John Hawkes, Hailee Steinfeld, Jacki Weaver, Carey Mulligan, Saoirse Ronan, Gabourey Sidibe, Casey Affleck, Marion Cotillard, Viola Davis, Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Melissa Leo, Ellen Page, Amy Ryan, Michael Shannon, Brie Larson, Jared Leto and June Squibb.
Click here for more information about the 34th annual SBIFF, including this year’s event schedule through Feb. 9 in various Santa Barbara locations.
For more than 30 years, it has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States, attracting an estimated 90,000 attendees and offering 11 days of more than 200 films, panels and tributes. Its mission is to enrich, engage and inspire people through the power of film.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
