Michael B. Jordan to Receive the Cinema Vanguard Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Today the 34th Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced that Michael B. Jordan is set to receive the Cinema Vanguard Award for his work in two of the year's critically acclaimed, culturally significant and record-breaking box office hits, Black Panther and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures (MGM), Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema's Creed II. Jordan will be honored at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, CA on Thursday, February 7th.

"It's thrilling to honor Michael B. Jordan this year for the emboldened way he's shown us what it means to be a movie star for the 21st century - mixing sensitivity with swagger, choosing important material that remains full of integrity yet becomes world phenomenon, and forging a cinematic partnership with visionary director Ryan Coogler," says Roger Durling, Executive Director, Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Jordan first garnered industry-wide attention for his breakout role in Fruitvale Station, his first collaboration with Ryan Coogler. He reteamed with Coogler in the critically acclaimed and crowd-pleasing 2015 hit Creed from MGM, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. In 2016, Jordan launched his own production company, Outlier Society Productions, with a multiyear first-look deal with Skydance Media. In 2018, Jordan returned to the silver screen as the tormented and revenge driven Erik Kilmonger in Black Pantherwhich ignited a cultural movement and went on to become the 9th highest growing film of all time at $1.3 Billion among other accolades. Additionally, Jordan got back into the producer's seat for the highly anticipated sequel Creed II, from MGM, Warner Bros. Pictures, and New Line Cinema which set the record for highest grossing live action opener across Thanksgiving, where he also returned to his starring role as Adonis Creed. Earlier this year, Jordan was also instrumental in implementing a broad diversity and inclusion policy which has been adapted by Warner Media for all productions from HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner.

The Cinema Vanguard Award recognizes actors who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Previous honorees include William DaFoe, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin, Bernice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stanley Tucci and Ryan Gosling.

The 34th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, January 30th through Saturday, February 9th.

For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages, please visit www.sbiff.org.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of SBIFF

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