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Interviews and stories from the 53rd group of Teen Press Reporters – Winter, 2025.
Stories from Team 53
Stories from Team 53
Reporters from Team 53 covered the 40th SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, running from February 4th - 15th, 2025, with interviews from the red carpet at awards events, film reviews, filmmaker interviews, and a few "Behind The Scenes" stories.
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Montecito Award
It was a cold & windy night, and by the time there were actual interviews on the red carpet, Team 53 reporters MAYA & ETHAN were trying to keep their teeth from chattering. As the penultimate night of the festival, most of the filmmakers had already done their stint in the carpet, so when they got a chance to meet one, they were grateful (and cold, of course). The guest of honor, COLEMAN DOMINGO, was being presented with the Montecito Award, which "...recognizes an individual who gave the performance of their career in film this past year" for his work in the film "Sing Sing".
Photo courtesy of SBIFF
SBMS Teen Press Team 53 reporters ETHAN & MAYA introduce the evening.
COLEMAN DOMINGO
COLEMAN DOMINGO
The night's guest of honor, COLEMAN DOMINGO, arrived with much enthusiasm from the crowd gathered outside the Arlington, and made his way up the red carpet answering one question for each group. When asked what he thought made his award-winning performance in "Sing Sing" different, one of his observations was that the other actors, many of whom had gone through the prison arts program as inmates, "...were playing versions of themselves, so I took the task of playing a version of myself...which is a very difficult task." The tribute that followed, with ROGER DURLING moderating, and OPRAH WINFREY presenting the award, was quite a love fest. Experience the evening on the SBIFF's YouTube channel.
TADASHI NAKAMURA
TADASHI NAKAMURA
Documentary filmmaker TADASHI NAKAMURA talked with Teen Press reporters ETHAN & MAYA about the process of making the film "Third Act" about his father, a filmmaker himself, after his father's diagnosis with Parkinson's, and how it was difficult to find himself as a character in his own film. "Tell the stories that you know, that you've experienced, and that only you can tell..." was the advice he gave to our reporters as aspiring filmmakers
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