Festivals - SBIFF 2022 : Kristen Stewart ‘s American Riviera Award

By Mulder, Santa Barbara, Théâtre Arlington, 04 march 2022

Day 3 of the 37th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival presented by UGG concluded with a live tribute to Kristen Stewart, who received the American Riviera Award. Stewart was honored at an in-person conversation about her career leading up to this year’s performance as Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín’s Spencer from Neon.

Kristen Stewart sat down with Indiewire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson for an in depth discussion about her career. She had a high fashion moment on the red carpet in Chanel S22 Couture. On what she loves about acting” I’m kind of a masochist... I love how scary it is.”. On a potential feature directorial debut: “I’m trying to put a movie together right now… I have a couple balls in the air… I’ll tease you with that, but I’m very excited. The worst thing is when you can’t tell everything to everyone all at once.”

During Stewart’s conversation with Thompson, guests enjoyed clips from her acting career, including Panic Room, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Into the Wild, Adventureland, Still Alice, The Runaways, Twilight, Happiest Season, Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper, and Spencer.

Kristen remembers the first time she realized she was famous: “Two days before ‘Twilight’ came out, I remember I was sitting on my porch with my dog and I got papped for the first time… sitting there smoking a bowl… I look back on that moment with fondness.” 

On working with Joan Jett on The Runaways: “I had always revered her and thought she was hot as fuck!” 

On playing a gay woman in Happiest Season: “It felt good for me… this was during a time when we were all falling in love with ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ and there were really cool movies that were really satisfying. This was satisfying in a different way.” 

Looking back on the first Twilight film: “All of it’s faults are its strength because we just wanted it to be the best it could be… we were all so young.” 

Her reaction to earning an Oscar nomination this year for Spencer? . “I was shocked, I was stunned… I never saw myself in this realm!”

Following the conversation, Charlize Theron presented her with the American Rivera Award. Theron remarked: “You have a real commitment and it shows in everything you do. It's been so fun to watch the trajectory of your career…. Your most recent film, ‘Spencer’, I have to say is my favorite work of yours to date. It’s not an easy task to take on the most iconic figure in modern history, but you let us into this character. You gave us a glimpse into her soul in the most tactful and heart wrenching way.” 

 
Upon accepting her award, Stewart said: “Thank you for acknowledging me at this time in my life. I’m in such a good place to receive it.” She also thanked Spencer director Pablo Larrain saying “I wish he was here right now. Thank you forever for this.”
 
The American Riviera Award was established to recognize actors who have made a significant contribution to American Cinema. Previous recipients include Delroy Lindo, Renée Zellweger, Viggo Mortenson, Sam Rockwell, Jeff Bridges, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Robert Redford, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock, Mickey Rourke, Tommy Lee Jones, Forrest Whitaker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane.

You can discover the official photos of this event in our Flickr page https://www.flickr.com/photos/157331860@N03/albums/72177720297139075 and the photos of our photographer Floriane Andersen here https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzEKG3

Photos : Floriane Andersen

(Source : press release)