Clint Eastwood will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's highest honour The Modern Master Award on January 29.

Eastwood has two films in contention this awards season with Changeling and the upcoming Gran Torino and has won the directing Oscar twice for Million Dollar Baby in 2005 and Unforgiven in 1003.

'Clint Eastwood is inarguably one of our greatest directors, one of our greatest producers and one of our greatest actors ever - to call him a Modern Master is simply an understatement,' Santa Barbara International Film Festival executive director Roger Durling said.

Previous Modern Masters recipients include Michael Douglas, Peter Jackson, Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Penn, Jeff Bridges, Diane Keaton, George Clooney, Will Smith, and Cate Blanchett.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is set to run from
January 22-February 1.