Andrew Garfield To Receive Santa Barbara Film Festival’s Maltin Modern Master Award

After receiving rave reviews for his chilling portrayal of Open AI guru Sam Altman, Andrew Garfield is headed towards a busy awards season and now that includes a prestigious new honor.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) today announced that two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Andrew Garfield will receive the Maltin Modern Master Award on Saturday, February 6, 2027, at the 42nd annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Garfield will join renowned film critic Leonard Maltin for an on-stage conversation reflecting on his acclaimed career and wide-ranging body of work. The honor comes on the heels of his latest performance in Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, the story of OpenAI and a two decade artificial intelligence arms race. The film recently premiered at the New York Film Festival to critical acclaim and will be released theatrically by Neon on Christmas Day.

“Andrew Garfield has long since proven himself to critics and audiences alike. It’s no simple matter to balance a career between mainstream Hollywood movies and challenging director-driven projects, but he has done exactly that and done it well,” said Maltin.

The Modern Master Award was established in 1995. Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin. Past recipients include last year’s Adam Sandler and Academy Award-winning actors Angelina Jolie, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Robert Downey Jr., Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, and Christopher Plummer, and acclaimed filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Sean Penn, Clint Eastwood, and Peter Jackson.

A two-time Academy Award nominee, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner, Garfield has established himself as one of the most versatile actors of his generation, moving between intimate character-driven dramas, major studio films and acclaimed stage productions. He earned his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of World War II medic Desmond Doss in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge and his second for his performance as composer Jonathan Larson in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom! for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy). He also received a Golden Globe nomination for his breakout performance in David Fincher’s The Social Network.

Garfield’s extensive filmography includes Martin Scorsese’s Silence, Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes, Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, John Crowley’s We Live In Time opposite Florence Pugh, and Luca Guadagnino’s After The Hunt opposite Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebiri. He also brought Peter Parker to the screen in The Amazing Spider-Man films and reprised the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home. His most recent film, Paul Greengrass’ The Uprising, was released last month. On television, he received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance in FX’s limited series Under The Banner Of Heaven. His celebrated stage career includes a Tony Award-winning performance as Prior Walter in the Broadway revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels In America, as well as a Tony-nominated turn in Death Of A Salesmanb. He will next appear opposite Jude Law in the Apple TV limited series Wild Things, about legendary entertainers Siegfried & Roy.

The 42nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place February 3 – February 13, 2027. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre and the recently opened SBIFF Film Center.