Lupita Nyong’o, the Academy Award-winning actress who is generating Oscar buzz anew — on top of best actress SAG and Critics’ Choice award nominations — for her performance in Jordan Peele‘s Us, will receive the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, organizers announced Saturday.
Nyong’o will be honored Jan. 20 at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre as part of the festival’s 35th edition, which is set to run Jan. 15-25.
The Montecito Award is named after one of the most beautiful parts of Santa Barbara. Past recipients of the honor include Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Bill Condon and Naomi Watts.
“Lupita is a ferocious performer, gifted with both boundless appeal and precision,” SBIFF festival director Roger Durling said in a statement. “We are a huge fan of everything she’s done and remain in awe of her double performance in Us. We’re giddily rolling out our red carpet for her.”
