Oprah Winfrey, the legendary entertainer and a longtime Montecito resident, will, fittingly enough, present the Santa Barbara International Film Festival‘s Montecito Award to Colman Domingo — her friend and four-time collaborator, and a best actor Oscar nominee this season for Sing Sing — on Friday, Feb. 14, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Domingo, who will be feted at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre at a ceremony beginning at 8 p.m., is the first person since Denzel Washington did so in 2017 and 2018 to garner best actor Oscar nominations in back-to-back years; last year, he was nominated for Rustin.
Winfrey and Domingo have co-starred in two films, 2013’s The Butler and 2014’s Selma, as well as the Audible adaptation of Domingo’s play Wild with Happy; and he starred in and she produced 2023’s The Color Purple.
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter can report, the fest is also adding two other Oscar nominees to its lineup.
Monica Barbaro, who received a best supporting actress nom for her portrayal of Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown, is joining the list of Virtuosos award honorees who will be interviewed individually and then collectively on Sunday, Feb. 9 beginning at 8 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. The other honorees: A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin, Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson, Emilia Pérez’s Selena Gomez, Wicked’s Ariana Grande, Sing Sing’s Clarence Maclin, Anora’s Mikey Madison, September 5’s John Magaro, The Apprentice’s Sebastian Stan and I’m Still Here’s Fernanda Torres.
“I was so impressed with Monica’s astonishing performance as Joan Baez when I saw A Complete Unknown in November,” the Virtuosos Award ceremony’s longtime moderator Dave Karger tells THR. “I’m so thrilled that we’ll now get to honor her breakout turn in Santa Barbara this weekend.”
And Coralie Fargeat, the Oscar-nominated writer, director and producer of The Substance, who was already confirmed for the fest’s Directors of the Year award ceremony on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre, has now also been confirmed for the fest’s producers panel, which will take place at the Arlington earlier that same evening, at 5 p.m.
