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Santa
Barbara NEWS-PRESS
March 13, 2000
Film Festival Comes To An End
After star-studded appearances by Richard Pryor, Anthony
Hopkins, Whoopi Goldberg, Ivan Reitman and Jimmy Smits, the Santa
Barbara International Film Festival lowered the curtain on this year's
event Sunday night.
In addition to attracting celebrities, the annual festival
has become a popular showcase for independent films over the last
15 years. Nearly 40,000 people attended movies or events at this year's
festival.
Closing night ceremonies featured a screening
of the Jimmy Smits movie, "The Price of Glory," directed by
Carlos Avila, as well as an Awards ceremony for the independent
films that were shown during the 10-day festival.
...Smits presented the Body Shop's Insight Award to
James Ronald Whitney, who wrote and directed "Just, Melvin,"
a documentary about the filmmaker's grandfather who had molested his
mother, sisters, and step-sisters and how they survived to share these
family secrets.
"Documentaries are often a labor of love for the filmmaker,"
he said. "They work for years to bring stories to their audiences."
Whitney thanked his mother for the honor, saying, "The
award means a lot. It's such a personal film."
-- Joshua
Molina |
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