Santa Barbara Film Fest: Inde Navarrette, Jaafar Jackson Among Eight Tapped for Virtuoso Awards
Carrie Coon, Mariana di Girolamo, Rosalind Eleazar, Jordan Firstman, Anthony Oppolito, Jaafar Jackson, Inde Navarrette and Kate O’Flynn, eight performers who have wildly different backgrounds but who each achieved a breakthrough in 2026 and now find themselves in Oscar contention, have been tapped to receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Award in early 2027.
Coon, Eleazar and Navarrette are best actress contenders for The Liberation, Misty Green and Obsession. Firstman, Ippolito and Jackson are in the best actor conversation for Club Kid, I Play Rocky and Michael. And di Girolamo and O’Flynn are best supporting actress frontrunners for Wild Horse Nine and Tender Loving Care.
The octet will discuss their work — individually and then as a group — ahead of the awards presentation at a ceremony at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2027. For the 17th year in a row, the Virtuosos evening will be moderated by Dave Karger,