Santa Barbara, CA- The Santa Barbara International Film Festival, presented by lynda.com, honored director, producer and actor Ben Affleck with the Modern Master Award at the 28th edition of the Festival.

“Affleck has come into his own as a multi-dimensional artist with ARGO,” commented SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “He embodies what the Modern Master Award is all about, and we're thrilled to honor him this year."

The Modern Master Award is the highest honor presented by SBIFF. Established in 1995, it was created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through his/her multi-faceted accomplishments in the motion picture industry. Affleck joins an illustrious group of past recipients including Michael Douglas, Jodie Foster, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Diane Keaton, Sean Penn, Jeff Bridges, Peter Jackson, George Clooney, Will Smith, Cate Blanchett, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, and Christopher Plummer.

Affleck was honored for his work this year as the director, star and producer of the critically acclaimed film Argo. He has proven to be a master of his craft with Argo, receiving acclaim from both critics and audiences. Skillfully capturing the tension brought upon by the subject matter, Affleck uses the film’s pacing and tone to enhance it to its greatest potential. Based on true events, the film chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film stars Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler and Chris Messina. Based on a screenplay by Chris Terrio, the film is produced by Grant Heslov, Affleck and George Clooney.

Driven to act from a young age, Ben Affleck began by taking on small roles and independent films including Dazed and Confused (1993), Mallrats (1995), and Chasing Amy (1997). It was later in 1997 that he broke through to critical acclaim with Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote and starred in alongside Matt Damon. His work won him the Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay. Following this success, Affleck proceeded to take on a variety of roles in such hit films Armageddon (1998), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and Dogma (1999). In addition to flexing his comedy and romance muscles, Affleck also showed his grittier side in such films as Reindeer Games (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Daredevil (2003) and Hollywoodland (2006). In 2007, Affleck stepped behind the camera to make his feature film directorial debut with the film Gone Baby Gone, which he also wrote. After acting in several films such as State of Play (2009) and The Company Men (2010), Affleck returned to directing with the critically acclaimed The Town (2010).

The festivities took place at the historic Arlington Theatre on Saturday, January 26, 2013.

'Argo' | Trailer