Angela Bassett, the beloved veteran actress who shines in Ryan Coogler’s new Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, has been tapped to receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Montecito Award, which is named after one of the most beautiful and stylish areas in Santa Barbara, the fest announced on Thursday.
Bassett will collect the honor following a career-retrospective conversation at the Arlington Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, as part of the 38th edition of the fest, which will run from Feb. 8-18.
“Ms. Bassett has had an illustrious career as an actor, director and producer, and her work in Wakanda Forever reminds us why she’s so greatly revered,” SBIFF executive director Roger Durling said in a statement. “She’s regal, fierce and commanding as Queen Ramonda. We bow down.”
Bassett was a best actress Oscar nominee 28 years ago for What’s Love Got to Do With It, and has also done standout work in Boyz N the Hood, Malcolm X, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, among many other films.
Past recipients of SBIFF’s Montecito Award include Penélope Cruz, 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 Javier Bardem.
