Inde Navarrette, Jaafar Jackson, Jordan Firstman and More Among SBIFF Virtuosos Honorees

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced the recipients of the 2027 Virtuosos Award. The award acknowledges talent whose work in films has placed them at the center of the conversation around the year’s most noteworthy cinematic performances. Carrie Coon, Mariana di Girolamo, Rosalind Eleazar, Jordan Firstman, Anthony Ippolito, Jaafar Jackson, Inde Navarrette and Kate O’Flynn are this year’s honorees. The group will attend the 42nd annual event to receive the award and discuss their work on Feb. 7.

“This year’s Virtuosos are a powerhouse group from the most talked-about films of the season. I think it’s especially fitting that so many of them are international performers, and I can’t wait to help welcome them all to Santa Barbara,” Turner Classic Movies host and SBIFF moderator Dave Karger said.

Coon will be honored for her role in “The Liberation”; Mariana di Girolamo for “Wild Horse Nine”; Rosalind Eleazar for “Misty Green”; Jordan Firstman for “Club Kid”; Anthony Ippolito for “I Play Rocky”; Jaafar Jackson for “Michael”; Inde Navarrette for “Obsession”; Kate O’Flynn for “Tender Loving Care.”

Honorees over the last six years include Jacob Elordi, Chase Infiniti, Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Andrew Scott, Austin Butler, Renate Reinsve, Kieran Culkin, Harris Dickinson and many more.

The festival will take place from Feb. 3 to 13. Official events, including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the Arlington Theatre and the recently opened SBIFF Film Center. Recently announced tributes include John Malkovich for the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award and Andrew Garfield for the Maltin Modern Master Award.