Santa Barbara Film Fest: Inde Navarrette, Jaafar Jackson Among Eight Tapped for Virtuoso Awards

Carrie Coon, Mariana di Girolamo, Rosalind Eleazar, Jordan Firstman, Anthony Oppolito, Jaafar Jackson, Inde Navarrette and Kate O’Flynn, eight performers who have wildly different backgrounds but who each achieved a breakthrough in 2026 and now find themselves in Oscar contention, have been tapped to receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Award in early 2027.

Coon, Eleazar and Navarrette are best actress contenders for The Liberation, Misty Green and Obsession. Firstman, Ippolito and Jackson are in the best actor conversation for Club Kid, I Play Rocky and Michael. And di Girolamo and O’Flynn are best supporting actress frontrunners for Wild Horse Nine and Tender Loving Care.

The octet will discuss their work — individually and then as a group — ahead of the awards presentation at a ceremony at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2027. For the 17th year in a row, the Virtuosos evening will be moderated by Dave Karger, a host at TCM and the author of the new book 50 Movie Nights: Contemporary Stars on Their Favorite Classic Films.

“This year’s Virtuosos are a powerhouse group from the most talked-about films of the season,” Karger said in a statement. “I think it’s especially fitting that so many of them are international performers and I can’t wait to help welcome them all to Santa Barbara.”

Past Virtuosos honorees include Teyana Taylor, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Renate Reinsve, Wagner Moura, Wunmi Mosaku, Inga Ibsdotter-Lilleaas, Kieran Culkin, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Mikey Madison, Lily Gladstone, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Andrew Scott, Austin Butler, Danielle Deadwyler, Ke Huy Quan, Jeremy Strong, Ariana DeBose, Alana Haim, Troy Kotsur, Riz Ahmed and Zendaya.