We started in 1985 as a small, grassroots event, and have grown to be one of the most respected film festivals in the world. Outside of the festival, our year-round educational programming focuses on providing access to cinema and film education for everyone in our community, particularly youth, the underserved, at-risk, ill and immobile, and this slate of programs is a major organizational focus. In 2019, SBIFF’s Education Center opened its doors to become our dedicated space for community gatherings and educational programming. Our Riviera Theater, which we opened in September 2017, runs as an art-house movie theatre 365 days annually. 2020 marked the 35th Santa Barbara International Film Festival; we celebrate independent and international films, and annually we attract 90,000 attendees, more than 250 filmmakers from more than 50 countries, 30 national students from 30 different colleges, scores of Oscar®-nominated and award-winning filmmakers and nearly 70 world and U.S. premieres.