Gearing up for phase two of the Oscar season even before we have even scratched the surfaces of phase one, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced that The Whale star Brendan Fraser will be the recipient of its American Riviera Award on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday February 14, 2023.
Fraser has already become the nascent awards season’s “comeback kid” , first winning raves when the A24 film from director Darren Aronofsky had its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival (including a viral post showing a tearful Fraser reacting to a long standing ovation), and then at the Toronto International Film Festival where the film also received raves along with an Actor prize at TIFF’s awards gala. The movie will not be released until December but the Oscar buzz is very loud already, something SBIFF heard as well in putting together its annual series of awards career tributes to stars and filmmakers likely to hear their names mentioned when Oscar nominations are announced in January.
“I’m so elated that we will be celebrating Brandon Fraser at SBIFF. Here’s a performer who brought us so much joy through the years, given us so many incredible cinematic memories, and now with the best performance of his career! We are thrilled to honor him!” remarked SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling.
Among Fraser’s other upcoming films for next year are Legendary Films’ Brothers with Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, and Peter DInklage (directed by Santa Barbara’s own Max Barbakow), as well as Martin Scorsese’s epic western, Killers Of The Flower Moon. In The Whale he plays a reclusive teacher living with severe obesity who tries to reconcile with his estranged daughter.
The American Riviera Award was established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American Cinema. Previous recipients include Kristen Stewart, Delroy Lindo, Renée Zellweger, Viggo Mortenson, Sam Rockwell, Jeff Bridges, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Robert Redford, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock, Mickey Rourke, Tommy Lee Jones, Forrest Whitaker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane.
The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place LIVE February 8 – February 18, 2023. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre.