The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Academy Award®-winning director, screenwriter, producer and film historian Martin Scorsese with the American Riviera Award, marking the first time the award has been bestowed on a director. Scorsese, whose latest films, Hugo and the HBO documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World were released to critical acclaim this fall, will be honored on Monday, January 30 at the Arlington Theatre for the Fest’s 27th edition, which runs January 26- February 5, 2012.

“Honoring Scorsese has been a dream of SBIFF’s for many years,” commented Fest Executive Director Roger Durling, “We’re thrilled that it’s happening during a year when this contemporary master of cinema is breaking new ground with Hugo.”