December 25, 2013 - 13:55 AMT
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke's "Before" trilogy to close Santa Barbara Fest

One of the greatest on-screen romances, which doubles as one of the best movie trilogies of all time, will close the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February, Variety said.

The 29th annual fest, which runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 9, will screen films “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset” and the series’ latest installment, “Before Midnight”. An in-depth conversation with screenwriters Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke will follow the final film.

SBIFF’s showcase, coupled with the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s upcoming screening of the trilogy in a program called “Celine and Jesse Forever,” serves as a powerful push for “Before Midnight” leading up to the Oscars (final voting ends on Feb. 25).

Delpy is nominated for a lead actress Golden Globe in the comedy or musical category for the latest film. While “Midnight” was shut out of the Globes’ screenplay race, Delpy, Hawke and Linklater won the Hollywood Film Award for screenwriter of the year and nabbed Independent Spirit noms for best screenplay and Gotham noms for best film.