Santa Barbara Film Fest: Will Ferrell Tapped for Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film

Will Ferrell, the actor, writer, producer and comedy legend, has been tapped by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to receive its 17th annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film, the fest announced on Wednesday morning.

Ferrell, who is currently promoting Josh Greenbaum’s Will & Harper — a Netflix documentary about a road trip taken by Ferrell and his close friend, the comedy writer Harper Steele, in the aftermath of Steele’s gender transition — will be feted on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at a black-tie dinner at Santa Barbara’s Ritz-Carlton Bacara. The event is a fundraiser that will benefit SBIFF’s year-round educational programs.

No actor in the 21st century has been associated with more hit comedy films than Ferrell. Among those in which he starred: 2003’s Old School and Elf, 2004’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, 2006’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 2008’s Step Brothers, 2010’s The Other Guys, 2014’s Get Hard and The Lego Movie and the list goes on — and he also co-wrote and co-produced many of them.

Michael Douglas, the Oscar-winning producer and actor and son of Kirk, issued a message to Ferrell via SBIFF: “Comedy is the hardest, and you make it look easy, Will. Congratulations! Dad loved you.”

First presented in 2006, SBIFF’s Kirk Douglas Award was created to honor “a lifelong contributor to cinema through their work in front of the camera, behind, or both.” It has previously honored Ryan Gosling, Michelle Yeoh, Martin Scorsese, Hugh Jackman, Judi Dench, Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange, Forest Whitaker, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino, Ed Harris, John Travolta and the aforementioned Michael Douglas.

The 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place Feb. 4-15, 2025.