The 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) ‘s International Features Panel, held on Sunday, February 9th, at the stunning Arlington Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara, offered an intimate and thought-provoking look at the world of international filmmaking.
SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling hosted the panel, which featured conversations with the Academy Award-nominated directors behind the Best International Film contenders. Through engaging discussions and exclusive film clips, the audience gained insight into the creative processes, challenges, and inspirations that shaped these remarkable films.
The panel featured an esteemed lineup of filmmakers, including directors Gints Zilbalodis (“Flow”), Walter Salles (“I’m Still Here”), Mohammad Rasoulof (“The Seed Of the Sacred Fig”) and Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Perez”).
Durling began the discussion with a clip from “Flow,” which led director Gints Zilbalodis to reflect on his shift from independent filmmaking to working with a creative team.
“When you’re working in a big team, you have to establish rules so that everyone is on the same page. But because I design my shots myself and don’t storyboard, I often discover them in a virtual environment, making the process more intuitive.”
For Zilbalodis, collaboration meant relying on others to refine his vision:
“Sometimes it’s easier to show something rather than explain it. I sketch ideas, and people who are smarter than me polish them. It was incredibly rewarding to work with specialists in their fields.”
“Flow” is a visually stunning animated fantasy about a dark grey cat forced to leave its devastated home and find refuge on a boat with various animals. The film is a deeply personal exploration of embracing change and finding one’s chosen family.
“Every character in the film overcomes their fears or learns to accept them. We often hide from things that scare us, but in doing so, we miss out on life’s joys. There are no easy answers—sometimes, we are both wrong and right.”
Director Walter Salles drew from his personal memories to shape “I’m Still Here”, which follows the Paiva family’s life under a military dictatorship in Brazil in 1971. The early scenes are bright and warm, contrasting starkly with the encroaching darkness as the film progresses.
A particularly striking moment in the film—a scene in which the military enters the family home, forcing the father to leave as the mother watches helplessly—was screened for the audience.
“The first 30 minutes are a translation of my memory of that house from my adolescence. I was enamored by the light, the warmth, and the humanity in that space.”
Salles emphasized the symbolic loss of light as an authoritarian regime takes hold:
“The film is about how that light is robbed—both literally and metaphorically. From that moment on, everything is defined by subtraction: the loss of light, sound, and dialogue, just as an authoritarian regime silences a nation.”
Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof took a different approach with “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, departing from metaphorical storytelling to embrace raw realism—an approach shaped by the repressive conditions in Iran.
“When you live in a system of repression and dictatorship, and that system is constantly controlling every private aspect of your life, then being yourself becomes a challenge. I made a conscious choice to tell stories the way stories were and to let go of metaphors and, therefore, let go of censorship. This allowed me to be come closer to myself.”
The film follows a judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court who spirals into paranoia after his gun mysteriously disappears, straining his trust in his wife and daughters. Its intense, authentic portrayal of family dynamics is rooted in Rasoulof’s own experience.
“The story began from my personal experience in prison when I met one of the prison officials who told me that he hates himself, that he is very and he is constantly thinking about suicide, and under a lot of pressure by his family and his children, who question his involvement in the regime,” recalled Rasoulof. “And that is the moment I thought telling the story about a family in which there’s deep chasm between the two generations, that there is also this historical reference to what has happened in Iran between tradition and modernity.”
French “Emilia Perez” director Jacques Audiard, known for making films in multiple languages—including French, Tamil, Arabic, and Spanish—was asked about his multilingual approach to storytelling.
“I made a film that was entirely about music, “The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” with two characters who would talk to each other without understanding each other. From that point on, I started, without realizing it myself, making films in languages that I don’t speak and don’t understand. What started to attract me, starting with the “A Prophet” in Arabic and “Dheepan” in Tamil, was the musicality of languages. I started to lose interest in the actual meaning and became drawn to the music and the song of the dialogue. Now, I try to escape from spoken dialogue and this idea that we’re going to say and understand everything through words.”
As the panel wrapped up, one theme resonated throughout the discussion: the power of film to transcend borders, politics, and language. Each director showcased a unique personal and cultural perspective, proving that international cinema is not just about representation—it’s about connection.