SBIFF’s new education center provides centralized hub for community youth

The Barbakow Family Center for Film Studies opened its doors on State Street in Santa Barbara Thursday.

For the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, it’s a dream come true and will benefit kids in the community.

The Film Festival’s Executive Director says before the facility was transformed they were using Ad-Hoc space for their educational programs throughout the year. Roger Durling says now, the possibilities are endless.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s new education center serves as a centralized classroom for students to be mentored in filmmaking, editing and scriptwriting.

The 3,600-square-foot space features fluid, flexible areas to promote creativity and learning with murals, showcasing iconic films like the “Wizard of Oz” and “La La Land.”

Durling says it adds more fuel to their dreams.

“It’s a huge dream come true for us, we’ve been doing all this mentoring but we’ve always been borrowing spaces and now that we have a hub for all this education and for children it’s inspiring,” said Durling, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Some major star power was also on hand to celebrate the grand opening, the one and only Carol Burnett joined in the festivities.

Officials say the programs offered here free of charge reach some of the most vulnerable community members including at-risk and under-served youth.

The center will also serve as a hub and box office during the film festival itself and a training center for their 700 volunteers.

The first Thursday of every month will be open to the public and Santa Barbara filmmakers will be showcased for free.