Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion has been selected as the opening-night film at the 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, organizers announced on Sunday.

The Sony Pictures Classics release stars Diane Keaton as a woman who saves a stray dog on the side of a freeway in Denver, and also features Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest, Sam Shepard and Elisabeth Moss. In a SBIFF press release, festival executive director Roger Durling called it a fantastic film to kick off the festival.

A press release from Sony Classics when that company acquired the film called it comic, harrowing and sometimes deeply emotional.

The film will screen on January 26. The previous week, Kasdan's son Jonathan will premiere his new film , The First Time, at the Sundance Film Festival.

SBIFF will also present a retrospective of Kasdan's work, with an onstage conversation with the writer-director and special screenings of Body Heat, The Big Chill and Grand Canyon.

The festival begins on January 26 and runs through February 5.

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