Cinema Vanguard Award Honoring Michael B. Jordan SBIFF – 2019

Reviewed by Josh Velazquez. Viewed at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

This year at Cinema Vanguard Award they honored Michael B. Jordan and presented him with the award. Michael B. Jordan has starred in Black Panther (2018), Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), Fantastic Four (2015), Fruitvale Station (2013), The Wire (2002) and Friday Night Lights (2009-11) and many more films.

Michael B. Jordan had everyone going crazy. As he arrived at the event, hundreds of people were waiting outside to take pictures with him, and him being a gentleman, showed love to all the people outside before going in. Even inside he has everyone going nuts. As he walked out on stage, they received him with a standing ovation.

Michael then went on to talk about how he started his career on accident. His mom’s friend told her that she should take him to model and that’s where it began. He got his first bigger role in The Wire (2002) when he was about 15 years old. He learned to take acting seriously and that each take matters on a set. At first, he never took acting too serious but that changed as the more he got rejected, the more he wanted to prove to them what he was capable of. He started to always be looking for the next job, hungry for more. Red Tails (2012) was what really changed the course for him. He talked about how if he didn’t get that part, he would’ve moved back to Jersey for financial reasons. From then it took off for him and the rest is history.

Michael B. Jordan’s vibe was like no others. He stayed smiling the whole time and he gave personal stories to us and that let us connect with him more. When it was time for him to receive the award, to our surprise it was Jamie Foxx who awarded it to him. Jamie Foxx had nothing but great things to say about Michael and it was an honor to be there to witness both of these great actors laughing and having fun on this night. This event was so much fun and I’ll always remember it.