One of our favorite nights of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is the presentation of the Virtuosos Award, which recognizes a select group of talent who have distinguished themselves by breakthrough performances in film this past year.

On the red carpet, we chat with the eight award recipients, who include Oscar-nominees and some of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars. This year, we celebrate Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals), Dev Patel (Lion), Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures, Moonlight), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Ruth Negga (Loving), Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins), and Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences).  An amazing line up of stellar performances indeed!