Penélope Cruz, the star of Pedro Almodóvar’s 2021 film Parallel Mothers, for which she is nominated for the best actress Oscar, will receive the Montecito Award at the 37th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, SBIFF announced Thursday.
The honor will be presented on Tuesday, March 8, following an in-person, career-retrospective conversation moderated by SBIFF executive director Roger Durling.
“In the most complex role written by the master Almodovar, Penelope Cruz delivers the best performance of her career and a master class in calibration and detailed acting,” Durling said in a statement. “In my book, she’s one of the great performers of our time.”
The Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish areas in Santa Barbara. Past recipients include Amanda Seyfried, Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts and Cruz’s husband and fellow Spaniard, Javier Bardem.
The 37th edition of SBIFF will take place March 2-12.
