Santa Barbara’s film-fest turn

Premieres, panels, educational programs and celebrities fill the 11-day event.

Come late January, drive up the Pacific Coast Highway about 90 miles north of Hollywood and there it is: the last stop on the awards season trail before the Oscars.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday night with the premiere of director Fisher Stevens’ deep-sea documentary “Mission Blue,” provides a showcase for nearly 200 movies (including 24 world premieres) and star-studded tributes expected to draw about 70,000 attendees over the festival’s 11-day run.

On Friday, “American Hustle” director David O. Russell is to receive the festival’s outstanding director award, his latest accolade after collecting a Golden Globe for best motion picture musical or comedy and receiving an Oscar nod for best director. On Saturday, Cate Blanchett, nominated for a lead actress Academy Award for her performance in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” is to be honored with an award for outstanding performer of the year.

On Feb. 6, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, the director and star of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” are scheduled to appear at the festival’s Arlington Theater venue to collect the Cinema Vanguard award.

Robert Redford, Bruce Dern, Oprah Winfrey, “Before Midnight” co-writers/ stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (with director Richard Linklater) and Oscar nominees Jared Leto and June Squibb are also scheduled to be feted at festival events.

The festival’s educational programs include one called “Field Trip to the Movies” for which 5,000 students from low-income Central Coast public schools are bused into Santa Barbara to take part in a “master class” with acclaimed filmmakers.

For more information, check www. sbiff.org.