Oprah Winfrey will receive the Montecito Award at next year’s Santa Barbara Film Festival. The award will be given out on Feb. 5, 2014 in honour of her performance in Lee Daniels’ The Butler as well as her overall career.
“Ms. Winfrey, the actress, inhabits Gloria Gaines with such gusto–she makes you forget Oprah the impresario,” said SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “Her performance is career-defining and reason to rejoice.”
Previous winners of the prize include Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Naomi Watts and Annette Bening.
The award promises to be especially convenient for Winfrey. She owns a home in Montecito not far from the Arlington Theater.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs January 30 – February 9, 2014.
