Santa Barbara International Film Festival Announces Renovations for Former Fiesta 5 Theatre

Starting next week, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) Film Center will embark on a major transformation, set to redefine the movie-going experience.

This past October SBIFF acquired the space of the former Fiesta Five Theatre, 916 State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. This weekend the center is closing its current operations to make way for a six-month-long renovation process.

The revamped theater promises to be a state-of-the-art facility, equipped with best-in-class technology and seated comfort for audiences. Accessibility will also take center stage with the addition of a wheelchair ramp, creating an inclusive space for all members of the community.

The Film Center is poised to be a key venue for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, beginning in February 2026, and will serve as a cultural hub for the city.

Beyond screening films, the center plans to host educational programs, art exhibitions, and special events, solidifying its reputation as more than just a theater but a vital community space.

Renderings of the redesigned Film Center have been released, they are currently under review by the Historic Landmarks Commission.

While the Film Center undergoes its transformation starting Monday, May 12, SBIFF’s Riviera Theatre will remain open.

Dear Cinephiles, Starting Friday SBIFF's Riviera Theatre is the Juneteenth Cinematic Celebration including: Daughters of the Dust Do The Right Thing Eve’s Bayou I Am Not Your Negro Killer of Sheep Love & Basketball Below is a writeup from the Santa Barbara Independent on the series and the films. See you at the movies! CLICK FOR SHOWTIMES & TICKETS Black History Meets Film History Varied, Carefully-Curated Series of Films Make Up the “Juneteenth Cinematic Celebration” at Santa Barbara’s Riviera Theatre By Josef Woodard - Santa Barbara Independent Juneteenth, like Black History Month but in a humbler and more compact fashion, serves to direct due attention to the struggles, triumphs and vital cultural lifeblood of Black life in the American saga. That complex and ongoing subject can be vast and elusive, challenging an easy grasp of its evolving dimensions. One available mode of access is through the prism of Black cinema, a growing and ever more important avenue in the history of film. From June 13 through 19, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is doing its part to honor the holiday and cause for reflection with a “Juneteenth Cinematic Celebration.” Over the course of six diverse films from the past fifty years, this carefully-curated sampling manages to be a short but instructive survey not only in Black American experience going back to the slavery era, but a choice overview of the range of films under the Black cinema umbrella. Unquestionably, the best-known title of the series is Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989), Lee’s edgy but humane study of racial tensions in Bed-Stuy and one of the director’s masterful films. If that film embodied a new, Scorsese-ish approach to the violence long brewing in blaxploitation and other cinema about modern urban Black life, the sweet young love (and basketball) tale Love & Basketball goes strongly against type — and typecasting. Lee serves as an executive producer on Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 film, which may suffer from some cine-sentimentality and sports film cliches but inspires with its refreshingly affectionate and de-sensationalized view of Black life. The oldest film of the series is also a jewel of early DIY indie film culture, Charles Burnett’s rough-hewn but powerful Killer of Sheep, made in Watts on a shoestring in 1978, during the blaxploitation heyday. The story of a slaughterhouse worker and conflicts with his environment, socio-racial issues and family is a tale told in artful terms. Cinematic poetry of a hypnotic and sometimes raw sort can also be found in Daughters of the Dust (1991), writer-director Julie Dash’s sometimes dream-like account of women in the historical and geographic nether-zone of the South Carolina Gullah Islands in 1902. The film earned a spot in the lofty, once-a-decade Sight and Sound list of greatest films of all time, in 2022. Another flavor of cinematic poetry, tinged by Southern Gothic airs and mystical elements, lends distinction to Kasi Lemmons’ 1997 film Eve’s Bayou. The film oscillates between the gritty reality of a womanizing patriarch juxtaposed with metaphysical turns into the spirit world, with women more in control than surface social values would care to admit. I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck’s stunningly fine 2017 chronicle of the life of the late, great James Baldwin, is the sole documentary in the Riviera series and a powerhouse in terms of its commanding and creative filmmaking alongside its insightful portrait of Baldwin’s life, words, and activist spirit. In an in-house connection, Peck’s unique doc was one of the strongest and most buzzed-about films of the 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and well worth a repeat visit. In all, the “Juneteenth Cinematic Celebration” promises to bring into timely focus the importance and rich tapestry of Black life and Black film in America. For showtimes and more information see sbifftheatres.com/juneteenth.

You received this email because you're subscribed to SBIFF Theatres Movie Reviews, if you'd like to change your preferences please go to: update your preferences  Copyright © 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, All rights reserved. SBIFF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization. Tax ID 77-0073674 Our mailing address is: Santa Barbara International Film Festival 1528 Chapala Street Suite 203 Santa Barbara, CA 93101 You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

________________________________________________________________________