The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will present its Montecito Award to Jennifer Aniston in honor of her career and her acclaimed performance in Daniel Barnz’s drama “Cake.”
The tribute will take place on Friday, Jan. 30 at the historic Arlington Theatre during the festival’s 30th edition.
The Montecito Award was created in recognition of a performer who has given a series of classic and standout performances throughout his or her career and whose style has made a major contribution to film. Previous recipients of the Montecito Award include Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Naomi Watts, and Annette Bening, who was the award’s first recipient in 2005.
Aniston’s most recent work includes her moving performance as Claire Bennett in Cinelou Films’ “Cake,” in which she plays a mother in pain over the loss of her child who struggles as she drives away her friends, husband, and even her chronic pain support group.
Aniston has already received SAG and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress.
“Once in a while a performer who we thought we knew gets outside of his or her comfort zone and shows us the unexpected,” said SBIFF executive director Roger Durling. “When that happens it is cause for celebration – and this is why the 2015 Montecito Award is bestowed upon Ms. Aniston.”
Aniston is a Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress thanks to 10 seasons playing Rachel Green on the classic TV sitcom “Friends.” One of her most critically acclaimed roles was 2002’s “The Good Girl,” for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. She also starred in “The Break-Up,” “Marley and Me,” “Horrible Bosses” and “We’re the Millers,” and will soon be seen in Peter Bogdanovich’s comedy “She’s Funny That Way.”
Aniston made her directorial debut with the short “Room 10” and she recently directed one of the Project Five short films, which explore the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives. She is also a producer on “Call Me Crazy,” a Project Five film premiering on Lifetime in April.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs Jan. 27-Feb. 7, 2015. Tickets, festival passes and packages are available now.