The Santa Barbara International Film Festival awarded the Montecito Award to the Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, positioned today among the strongest candidates for the Oscars, who participated in the ceremony held in the United States.
The protagonist of the Parallel Mothers, by acclaimed director Pedro Almodóvar, expressed her gratitude for the award and made public details of the film that has “deep, multi-layered characters who struggle to be honest in the face of a life full of challenges.”
Recently, Cruz won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actress Award from the Los Angeles Critics Association for her role in the same production.
The contest dedicated to independent cinema reserves other important tributes to the actors Kirsten Stewart, who will receive the American Riviera Award; Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis, selected Outstanding Artists of the Year and the British Benedict Cumberbatch, winner of the Cinema Vanguard Award.
Javier Bardem, another praised actor and Cruz’s husband, took home the Maltin Modern Master Award alongside Australian Nicole Kidman for their performance in the drama Being The Ricardos, which earned him a nomination for the Hollywood Academy Awards.
The Spanish interpreter joins the list of actresses who have deserved the award in other editions, including Isabelle Huppert, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet and Naomi Watts.
Until March 12, the Festival reserves more than 90 premieres in the northern nation after the return to face-to-face and incorporates free exhibitions of productions such as The Power of the Dog, which will be followed by a question and answer session with its director, Jane Champion.
