Thirty years ago, Phyllis de Picciotto went before the Santa Barbara City Council and asked for a grant to start the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where she served as artistic director for many years. Needless to say, I’ve always admired and respected this classy dame — and if it wasn’t for her chutzpah and vision, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Not that she is resting on those laurels. Right now, Phyllis produces short journalistic films with her husband, Stan Roden, that can be seen at her website baba2films.com as well as on independent.com . She finds this stage of her career consistently challenging and fascinating. The films require lots of hard work, but the pay-off is tremendously inspiring because of the people she features.
She put down her camera to answer the Proust Questionnaire.