Greetings everyone. Welcome to the reboot of my celebrity blog “The Outsiders Guide to the Inside of Hollywood”. Todays blog is my yearly coverage of the 40th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. SBIFF is always one of my favorite film festivals to cover. The festival is always the final festival before the Oscars. SBIFF, has had multiple tributes to actors and filmmakers who are nominated for Oscars. 2025, was no exception. For their 40th birthday celebration the festival added an extra day this year. SBIFF featured 33 world premieres and 74 United States premieres from 60 nations. 52% of the film directed by women were showcased.
Unfortunately like last year I was not given a pass so my coverage is very limited. I only attended 2 events that I had to pay for out of my own pocket. The upsetting things was almost all the tributes, I wanted to attend had many open seats. Passes were given out to people who didn’t use them or were using them to just take photos in the end. This blog is all about my personal experience with the event. Besides a photographer I also am an aspiring filmmaker. I also spent over a decade as an assistant in the entertainment industry. The worst thing you can have at a festival is open seats. My first year attending in 2010 the public relations company handed out free tickets to the fans who were waiting for the stars to sign autographs.
Maltin Modern Master Award Angelina Jolie
I started doing photography in 2009, when I was living in the Hollywood Hills. I first started out using a Cannon point and shoot camera. After a few premieres I finally got DSLR camera and signed up with a wire service. Since then I’ve done hundreds of celebrity Red Carpet events. There was a very short list of celebrities that I had not photographed. One of the festivals first announcements for the 2025 festival tibutes was one of my actresses I’ve been wanting to photography since I started in the business.
The 2025 recipient of the Maltin Modern Master Award, which is one of the festival’s most prestigious honor went to Angelina Jolie for her work in “Maria”. The film biopic Jolie played opera singer Maria Callas, and follows the seven days before her 1977 death in Paris, as she reflects on her life and career. For the role Angelina had to learn to sing Opera.
The Modern Master Award was created to honor filmmakers who have changed the movie industry through significant contributions and impact. The award was renamed the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 to honor long-time SBIFF moderator and film critic Leonard Maltin. I was a huge fan of Entertainment Tonight. Watching Leonard I always felt between him and Siskel and “Ebert At The Movies” reviews were the best in the business Leonard was the first one on the carpet. Leonard as he did brought his daughter and granddaughter. The toddler who seems to be getting more use to photographers stole the show.
Jolie arrived wearing Wearing a sleek ivory silk dress from Brunello Cucinelli’s Evening wear Capsule Collection. She then signed some autographs for fans, and posed for photographers and did a few interviews before the the tribute award ceremony.
Inside the theater Leonard, showed clips of some of Angelina past films. She spoke about her eldest child Maddox, who is not comfortable doing carpets and likes being behind the scenes. Last year People Magazine asked her about the kids. Angelina Jolie says she’d rather her kids be “out there trying and failing” or in the case of her 23-year-old son Maddox, piloting a plane than not taking “risks” at all. After the interview director and friend Ava Duvernay presented Jolie with the award. Angelina headed to the podium and thanked everyone. The most personal part of the evening was when Angelina broke d down in tears as she payed tribute to her late mother while accepting the Maltin Modern Master Award.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
Outstanding Performer of The Year Award Ralph Fiennes
My second carpet of the festival was honoring Ralph Fiennes for his amazing performance in the film “Conclave.”Ralph played Cardinal Lawrence. The films fictional but I have to admit for a short time I thought it was based on a true story. The film did a great job showing the selecting process of selecting a new Pope process. Cardinal Lawrence is faced with overseeing the conclave. As the world’s most powerful Catholic leaders gather, Lawrence uncovers secrets that could shake the foundations of the Church.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 U.S. Premiere
My next Red Carpet was the second Installment of Kevin Costner’s Epic westernHorizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2. The film was having its U.S. Premiere at the festival after the first film underperformed at the box office. I feel like that was a shame. The film was beautifully written and directed by Kevin Costner. The second chapter was even better than the first. I’m so glad I got the chance to see the film where it should be, on the big screen. Costner himself put $38 million of his own money into making the first two parts, which are estimated to cost a combined $100 million. Unfortunately the studio made the decision. to cancel the theatrical release.
Chapter 1 did become a hit on VOD and Netflix, this could lead to chapters 3&4 get made and released. Kevin Brought with him a large number of actors, producers and crew members from the film including Luke Wilson, Wase Chief, Maggie Grace, Jon Beavers, Shawn Patterson and Maria Bakalova. The acting was great. I did make a new discovery. One of the youngest actors in the film was teenager Georgia MacPhail. I definitely feel she is a star on the rise. I’m sure we will be seeing more of the model, actress and singer in the near future.
The carpet for the film was a as packed as a car on the 405 in LA at rush hour. It literally was body to body. Luckily I was able to some shots of Kevin, others but I was not so lucky. As the final guest left the carpet, I started to leave then just as I left I saw in the middle of the carpet traffic was director and friend of Costner, Quentin Tarantino. Quentin tried to make it through the carpet to where Kevin was. When he finally got there the two had a conversation laughing and posing for a few photos together. After that huge surprise it was time to head inside for the screening. As I stated before Costner’s western epic needs to be seen if possible on a big screen. After the film Kevin led a Q&A with the filmmakers. Kevin made sure he made the point that he loved seeing the theatre packed. If you get the chance you can stream the first film on Netflix.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
The next event was one of the tributes that I was looking forward to the most. The Virtuosos award is given to multiple “up-and-coming” actors for achieving a breakthrough performance. The 2025 Recipients were:
Kieran Culkin [A REAL PAIN] (he cancelled), Harris Dickinson [BABYGIRL],, Selena Gomez [EMILIA PÉREZ], Ariana Grande [WICKED], Clarence Maclin [SING SING], Mikey Madison [ANORA], John Magaro [SEPTEMBER 5] Monica Barbaro [A COMPLETE UNKOWN].
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
40th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Outstanding
Up next was directors night at the festival. For only the second time at SBIFF that all 5 Oscar nominated directors were being honored live in person. The directors waked the Red Carpet and were honored with a tribute to each director.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
40th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Arlington Artist Of The Year Award Honoring Timothée Chalamet
Last year the festival debut a new award. Unfortunately the actress who was suppose to get the award Annette Bening, was sick and couldn’t attend. This year the award was give to ‘A Complete Unknown’ star Timothée Chalamet for his role as Bob Dylan. Not only did the actor do an amazing job acting like Dylan, he also did all of the singing.
When Tim (what his friends call him) finally arrived late he started by signing autographs and posing for photos with fans. As it got later and later Tim finally stoped for photos. Unfortunately he only gave Getty and some of the other wire services his attention. I was at one of the last spots at the end of the carpet. He literally walked past me and all I got was a shoot too close with him giving me the peace sign. That wasn’t the worst of it. Tim was receiving the award from his ‘Dune 2’ co star Josh Brolin. Josh tried to walk past me but I asked him to stop so I could get a clear Red Carpet shot. He then stuck out his tongue to me (appeared to have a mint). He didn’t only do it for 1 shot he did it for three. I use to love him as an actor but now I’ll be Boycotting all of his films.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
40th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival: American Riviera Award Honoring Zoe Saldaña
After the pervious nights disaster carpet I needed a good night. Luckily I had recent experiences and a past good one with Zoe at the Mill Valley Film Festival. She always looks amazing and is a great role model for girls today. She knows how to give a great interview. Zoe received the American Riviera Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for one of her most ambitious performances yet — “Emilia Pérez.”
The American Riviera Award is given for “outstanding achievement in American film.” In “Emilia Pérez,” Saldaña plays a Mexican lawyer named Rita who is enlisted by a brutal cartel boss to help her transition to a woman. Zoe had to sing and act in two different languages. She just picked up her first Oscar win for her work in the film last weekend. The film is streaming on Netflix.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
40th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival: 2025 Cinema Vanguard Award Honoring Adrien Brody And Guy Pearce
My final Red Carpet of the festival was 2025 Cinema Vanguard Award honoring Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce. The actors were honored for their work on ‘The Brutalist.’ This tribute was created to honor actors with the tenacity to forge new ground in their craft. The award was re-named in 2025 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderators Madelyn and Pete Hammond.
© Jonathan Scott Shensa Photography
The festival closed after 12 days with the U.S. premiere of Missing Part’s. The Belgian-French drama was directed by Guillaume Senez. The film is in both French and Japanese, with English subtitles. After the festival the SBIFF announced their award winners https://variety.com/2025/film/news/film-news-in-brief-feb-10-2025-1236302545/.
For more information on the festival and all the year events they do can be found at SBIFF site at https://sbiff.org. You can also find my festival photos and a article written by Patch Media’s Beau Behan:
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