Santa Barbara To Screen ‘Before’ Trilogy With Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy & Richard Linklater

Los Angeles, CA (December 23, 2013) – The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) will present the critically acclaimed Before trilogy: Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight with an in-depth conversation with co-screenwriters Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater following the third film at the 29th edition of the Fest, which runs January 30 – February 9, 2014. The screenings and conversation will take place on Sunday, February 9, 2014 at the historic Lobero Theatre.

“This trilogy creates one of the most authentic portrayals of love on the screen,” SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling said, “and it’s an undeniable gift to be able to experience all three movies in one day as well as to host its three talented creators.”

The Before trilogy has been a critical darling since Before Sunrise was released in 1995. The film, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, portrayed a young couple meeting for the first time on a train who decide to spend the whole day together in Vienna with the chance of never seeing one another again. The sequel, Before Sunset, was released nine years later in 2004, with Hawke’s Jesse and Delpy’s Celine meeting each other again by chance in Paris. The film, which was co-written by Hawke, Delpy and director Richard Linklater, was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The beloved characters were most recently together in this year’s Before Midnight, where we find Jesse and Celine nine years later into their relationship and vacationing in Greece. The film, which was again co-written by Hawke, Delpy and Linklater, was released in May by Sony Pictures Classics, and remains one of the year’s best reviewed films, with an astounding 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and continues to be included in many critics’ best of the year and top 10 lists. Hawke, Delpy and Linklater have been nominated for the Independent Spirit and Broadcast Film Critics awards for their screenplay on behalf of Before Midnight, won Best Adapted Screenplay by the LA Film Critics and Julie Delpy is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for the 71ST annual Golden Globe Awards.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs January 30 – February 9, 2014.