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The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced plans Wednesday for 52 world premieres and 78 U.S. premieres spanning a total of 43 countries throughout the 11-day event.

“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”

The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.

Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...

The 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which will run Feb. 8-18, will open with Miranda’s Victim, one of 52 world premieres in this year’s lineup, and will close with the U.S. premiere of I Like Movies, one of 78 U.S. premieres, the fest announced Wednesday.

These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.

The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...

The Santa Barbara Film Festival has today unveiled the lineup for its 38th edition, taking place in-person from February 8-18.

The festival will open with the world premiere of the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner. Pic tells the true story of Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Mireille Enos, Andy Garcia and more also star.

Closing out Sbiff 2023 is the Chandler Levack-directed I Like Movies, which makes its U.S. premiere. The film starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges and Percy Hynes White follows the socially inept, 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence (Lehtinen) as he gets a job at a video store, there forming a complicated...

Not Like Others

Stars: Jenny Lampa, Ruth Vega Fernandez, David Dencik | Written and Directed by Peter Pontikis

Bram Stoker is responsible for a great many things. On the one hand, without Dracula we wouldn’t have Bela Lugosi, Buffy The Vampire Slayer or Let The Right One In. On the other, we would be rid of Francis Ford Coppola’s sex-drenched Dracula, Lesbian Vampire Killers and Not Like Others.

Released in Sweden – under the title Vampyrer – in 2008 but only just arriving on DVD in the UK now, the premise is simple: Vampire sisters Vera (Jenny Lampa) and Vanja (Ruth Vega Fernandez) wander the streets of Stockholm by night, combing bars and parties for horny men to seduce and kill, sleeping rough during the day and moaning about how bothersome it is to be a vampire. So far, so aimless…

That’s really as far as the plot goes, apart from...

Year: 2008

Directors: Peter Pontikis

Writers: Peter Pontikis

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: agentorange

Rating: 5 out of 10

Vampyrer is a gritty and realistic urban drama that follows the nocturnal exploits of two vampire sisters, Vanja and Vera, as they troll the streets of Stockholm. Similar in execution to Tomas Alfredson's already classic, Let the Right One In, the film is heavy on realism and big on ideas but, unfortunately, just can't seem to pull it together in the story department. Also, for a film that wants to be a thriller it doesn't really have many thrills. Despite its meandering (and sort of boring) plot however, Vampyrer still manages to exploit vampire mythology to explore philosophical ideas about modern dislocation and living on the fringes in a unique way.

Vampyre takes place all in one night. It starts in a dingy underground club where we're introduced to Vera and Vanja,...

Wev'e been following Peter Pontikis' vampire-sister horror since January, and while we don't have any clips with subtitles I do know it has been screened with English subs and I'm very excited to get my hands on a screener. Here's a rundown: "One night two vampire sisters, Vera and Vanja, make a fatal mistake that forces them to run and fight for their lives while being chased by a biker-gang.On this particular night Vanja has also promised herself to share a life-changing secret with her sister Vera; Vanja is ready to try to give up the outcast vampire life, adjust to the real world and live amongst the humans. Vera, her sister, is frightened by a vampire-life in solitude and is willing to do almost anything to stop her sister from leaving her behind. At the same time the biker gang is closing in..." Vampyrer will be dropping...