Eight Names Set for the 2027 Santa Barbara Virtuosos Award
Eight film and television names will receive the 2027 Virtuosos Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which Variety reported on 30 October 2026.
The honourees are Carrie Coon, Mariana di Girolamo, Rosalind Eleazar, Jordan Firstman, Anthony Ippolito, Jaafar Jackson, Inde Navarrette and Kate O'Flynn. Each is being recognised for a particular film or project. Coon is honoured for The Liberation, di Girolamo for Wild Horse Nine, and Eleazar for Misty Green. Firstman is honoured for Club Kid, Ippolito for I Play Rocky, and Jackson for Michael. Navarrette is recognised for Obsession, and O'Flynn for Tender Loving Care.
The award will be presented at the 42nd annual festival, which runs from 3 to 13 February in Santa Barbara, California. The honourees are due to attend on 7 February. There, they will accept the award and talk about their work.
The list covers eight different titles, so the honour reaches well beyond a single project. The names come from different parts of the industry, and each one is tied to a specific piece of work rather than a career total. That makes the list easy to follow film by film.
For festival-goers, the 7 February date is the fixed point to note. It falls in the middle of the festival's 11-day run, and it is the day the honourees will be on stage in person.
The festival's announcement sets the calendar for the coming winter. Anyone planning to attend the Santa Barbara event can now mark the dates and see which honourees will appear.
