SBIFF honorees get Oscar nod

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A list of Oscar nominations released by Academy officials yesterday morning revealed a slate littered with candidates who are already set to be honored at the rapidly approaching Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF).
At least 20 festival honorees and participants, from Cate Blanchett and Julie Christie to Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem, have been nominated for an Academy Award — an outcome that festival director Roger Durling characterized as indicative of the film festival’s growth and development in recent years.

“It crystallizes what I wanted to do when I came in five years ago,” Durling said. “I wanted to solidify the identity of the festival as the Oscar festival.”
Blanchett, who will be honored with the SBIFF’s Modern Master Award this Saturday, received Academy Award nominations for best actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and for best supporting actress for her role in “I’m Not There.”
Joining Blanchett in the best actress category are Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page — all of whom are being honored at the festival — as well as Laura Linney.
“The likelihood of one of them winning is pretty good at this point,” Durling said of the festival honorees.
In the best actor category, Jones will vie for top honors with George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp and Viggo Mortensen. He is receiving the SBIFF’s American Riviera Award.
“I was happy for Tommy Lee Jones because in “In the Valley of Elah” he had an amazing performance, one of the best of the year,” Durling said, explaining that many critics and pundits had left him off their Oscar lists. “For him to achieve that, that’s one of the reasons I’m the happiest today. We believed in his performance and he came through.”
Considered the frontrunner by many in the best supporting actor category for his performance in “No Country for Old Men,” Bardem will also be honored with the SBIFF’s Montecito Award. Casey Affleck, nominated alongside Bardem for his role in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” is slated to receive a Virtuoso 2008 Award.
Other festival honorees and attendees who have received Oscar nominations include Amy Ryan, Brad Bird, Tilda Swinton, Diablo Cody, Nancy Oliver, Jennifer Fox, Lianne Halfon, Julian Schnabel and Jason Reitman, among others.
Conspicuously missing from the nomination list, however, is Angelina Jolie, who will receive the Outstanding Performance of the Year Award at the film festival on Feb. 2 for her role in “A Mighty Heart.” Calling it a snub by the Academy, Durling said Jolie’s notable absence in the Oscar race made yesterday’s announcement a bittersweet occasion.
In any event, Durling said he doesn’t measure success by the number of film festival honorees who also received Academy Award nominations.
“The film festival is about doing a good slate of films,” he said. “…But it definitely sugarcoats it.”