How the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Scored 2026’s Top Oscar Nominees and a New $20 Million Film Hub

Cătălin Roșioru

Growing up in Panama in the 1970s, Roger Durling was obsessed with the Academy Awards. “I had charts. I would track down who was up that year, who deserved the Oscar, etc.,” recalls the Santa Barbara International Film Festival executive director. “I was compulsive.”  The first Oscars that sticks out in his mind is the 1977 telecast, where Durling family favorite “Network” was up for 10 awards and won four, including best actress for Faye Dunaway (“She was overdue, and I called that one,” he