Nicole Kidman Tribute (Cinema Vanguard Award, 2011): Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2011

Reviewed by Charles Starr at Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2011

I had the privilege of attending a night in honor of actress Nicole Kidman at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, CA. The event was hosted by the Santa Barbara Independent Film Festival to award Kidman the festival’s “Cinema Vanguard Award”. The recipient of this award is said to have taken both artistic and career oriented risks and made a significant contribution to film, which I feel Kidman has made. She has been in many memorable films such as “Far and Away”, “Cold Mountain”, “The Hours”, and most recently “Rabbit Hole”. She has worked with several widely respected directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Baz Luhrmann, and Lars Von Trier. It seemed appropriate for her to receive such as award.

Like the other awards given out at the film festival the night started off with an interview, this time led by Roger Durling the director of the festival. I particularly liked him as an interviewer and thought he did an excellent job and seemed to vibe well with Kidman. Kidman spoke of her professional career and experiences for about an hour. She told many stories of things that happened to her an interactions with actors and directors along the way. I found it impressive that director Baz Luhrmann wanted her for his film “Moulin Rouge” so much that he sent her roses!

Throughout the festival, I was able to attend several of these interview/award evenings and I have to say that this one was my favorite. No one at the film festival was a better representation of what it means to be a star.


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