The Virtuosos Award made a perfect Saturday night offering for the first weekend of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, bringing together eight of the brightest stars of the current film season for a lively set of conversations punctuated by powerful montages from their films.
The participants appeared for their moment in the hot seat with host Dave Karger in alphabetical order by last name, which means that first up was Mahershala Ali, who was honored for his role as Juan in Moonlight, a film that garnered not one but three of the eight honoree spots on the program. Asked about the impassioned speech describing his conversion to Islam he made at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Academy Award-nominated Ali emphasized the fact that his experience has only brought him into contact with Muslims who love peace. Later in the evening, when it came time for the SAG Award winner to make yet another acceptance speech, he waxed eloquent on film’s ability to change people by increasing their capacity for empathy, especially toward those who are different.
Another member of the Moonlight cast, Naomie Harris, was up next. In the first of several charming British accents we were to hear over the course of the program, Harris recalled having to shoot her incredibly demanding role as a character in three widely separated time frames in just three days. The reason for this tight schedule? “Visa issues,” said the actress, who is nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category. Simon Helberg cracked everyone up with his witty observations about working with the “not overrated” Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins. Veteran stage actor Stephen Henderson McKinley followed Harris, expressing his gratitude to Fences co-star Denzel Washington for bringing August Wilson’s theater masterpiece to the big screen.