{"id":8365,"date":"2018-01-05T18:42:53","date_gmt":"2018-01-06T02:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=8365"},"modified":"2018-01-05T10:45:05","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T18:45:05","slug":"the-public-is-opening-night-film-at-sbiff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=8365","title":{"rendered":"“The Public” is Opening Night Film at SBIFF"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The Public will open the 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival on January 31. Courtesy photos.<\/p><\/div>\n

Opening night of the 33rd Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)<\/a>, presented by UGG, is the worldwide premiere of The Public<\/em> <\/a>at the Arlington Theatre on Wednesday, January 31.\u00a0 Written and directed by Emilio Estevez<\/a>, the film stars Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Taylor Schilling, Che “Rhymefest” Smith, Gabrielle Union, Jacob Vargas, Michael K. Williams and Jeffrey Wright<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve long admired Emilio Estevez as an artist-actor-director. \u00a0With The Public<\/em>, I feel he has done his most personal and fully realized work.\u00a0the public speaks wonderfully about our current divided country – but it also does not preach – it keeps us cinematically immersed. \u00a0I can honestly say this is the proudest choice for opening during my tenure at SBIFF. \u00a0I cherish the friendship with Emilio and admire his accomplishment with the public,\u201d says Roger Durling<\/a>, Executive Director of SBIFF.<\/p>\n

The Public<\/em> puts the spotlight on the issues of homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction as it follows a group of homeless library patrons, who, after learning that emergency shelters are at capacity during a brutal Midwestern cold front, refuse to leave Cincinnati’s downtown public library at closing time.<\/p>\n