Santa Barbara International Film Festival to host retrospective on filmmaker Denis Villeneuve

Washington [US], August 22 (ANI): Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve’s film will be screened at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, SBIFF, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Denis Villeneuve will be the subject of a career retrospective hosted by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

“All 11 of Villeneuve’s films will screen at the SBIFF Riviera Theatre — which the fest acquired in 2016 and has made its year-round home — between October 18 and October 24, with Villeneuve himself appearing in person at the venue for a Q&A on October 20,” as per The Hollywood Reporter.

The 56-year-old Canadian filmmaker has been a key figure in the worldwide cinema industry for the past 15 years. He directed his first four films in Canada, three of which were nominated for the Best Foreign Feature Oscar, including 2010’s Incendies, which helped establish his reputation. He has directed seven big films, including 2013’s Prisoners and Enemies, 2015’s Sicario, 2016’s Arrival, 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, 2021’s Dune, and the highly successful Dune: Part Two in 2024.

“Denis has become an unquestionable modern master of cinema, and all of his films demand to be seen on the big screen because they’re visceral spectacles,” SBIFF executive director Roger Durling said in a statement. “We are so enthusiastic about being able to show the films again together at the state-of-the-art Riviera and to host Denis as well,” as per The Hollywood Reporter.

Villeneuve started his career directing the Canadian dramas ‘August 32nd on Earth’ (1998), Maelstrom (2000), and Polytechnique (2009). He gained prominence with Incendies (2010) which earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He expanded to direct the acclaimed English-language thrillers Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), and Sicario (2015), as well as the science fiction films Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017).