The 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Jennifer Lopez with the Spotlight Award, Actress for Hustlers at its annual Film Awards Gala. The event, presented by American Express, sponsored by AT&T and Entertainment Tonight and hosted by Mary Hart, is scheduled for Thursday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs January 2-13, 2020.
Harold Matzner
“Jennifer Lopez is a star in every sense of the word, and you will experience this in her latest film Hustlers. Starting with her show-stopping entrance Jennifer brings to life the character of Ramona, an exotic dancer, who leads a group of dancer friends to steal money from their clients,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “For this full-force yet grounded performance, deserving of awards consideration, we are thrilled to present Jennifer Lopez with this year’s Spotlight Award.”
Past recipients of the Spotlight Award, Actress include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Helen Hunt, Allison Janney, Rooney Mara and Julia Roberts. All recipients received Academy Award ® nominations in the year they were honored, with Janney receiving an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Lopez joins this year’s previously announced honorees Joaquin Phoenix, Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron and Renée Zellweger.
From STXfilms, Hustlers has taken in more than $150 million worldwide at the box office to date and follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients. The film is inspired by the article published by New York Magazine entitled “The Hustlers at Scores” written by Jessica Pressler. The film stars Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, Mercedes Ruehl, Cardi B, Madeline Brewer, Trace Lysette, Mette Towley and is written and directed by Lorene Scafaria.
Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers
Jennifer Lopez is an actor, singer, film and television producer, fashion designer, New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and humanitarian. Lopez made her feature film debut in the highly acclaimed 1995 drama Mi Familia, which garnered her an Independent Spirit Award nomination. She followed that performance with her portrayal of the Latin music sensation in Selena, which earned her widespread acclaim including a Golden Globe Nomination and an ALMA Award. Her film credits include Second Act, Maid in Manhattan, Monster in Law, Anaconda, The Cell, Antz, The Boy Next Door, Shall We Dance, Enough, Out of Sight, Angel Eyes, Parker, An Unfinished Life, Money Train, Jack, Lila and Eve, Blood and Wine, and El Cantante. Her TV credits include American Idol, Shades of Blue, World of Dance and Griselda for HBO. Her Nuyorican Productions has produced The Boy Next Door, HBO’s Dance Again, and TNT’s recent special, Neighborhood Sessions with Jennifer Lopez, Shades of Blue, The Fosters” the bilingual Latin-America talent-show Q VIVA! and House of Joy and A Step Away for the NUVO network, the English-language cable channel for which Jennifer is the Chief Creative Officer.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 136,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by AT&T and Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Mary J. Blige, Sandra Bullock, Jessica Chastain, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Gal Gadot, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Regina King, Rami Malek, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron, and Reese Witherspoon. Call 760-969-7533 for Gala tickets or tables, 760-778-8979 or 800-898-7256 for the Film Festival information or visit http://www.psfilmfest.org.
The 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Willem Dafoe with the Icon Award for his performance in The Florida Project at its annual Film Awards Gala. Dafoe joins previously announced 2018 honorees Mary J. Blige, Timothée Chalamet, Jessica Chastain, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan and The Shape of Water. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2nd at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2–15, 2018.
Palm Springs Festival Chairman Harold Matzner
“Willem Dafoe is a versatile actor who has appeared in over one hundred films in his stellar career,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In The Florida Project, Dafoe delivers a career defining performance, as a hotel manager overseeing his sometimes unruly residents, which has received numerous critical accolades. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present this year’s Icon Award to Willem Dafoe.”
Past recipients of the Icon Award include Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.
Set on a stretch of highway just outside the imagined utopia of Disney World, The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince in a stunning breakout turn) and her rag-tag gang of friends. Moonee and her rebellious mother Halley (Bria Vinaite, another major discovery) live week to week at “The Magic Castle,” a budget motel managed by Bobby (a career-best Willem Dafoe), whose stern exterior hides a deep reservoir of kindness and compassion. From A24, the film is directed by Sean Baker.
For his performance in the film Dafoe received Best Supporting Actor recognition from the New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics, National Board of Review and several other critics organizations. He has received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics’ Association, and Satellite Awards.
Dafoe has been recognized with two Academy Award nominations: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Platoon as well as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Shadow Of The Vampire, for which he also receivedGolden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. Among his nominations and awards, he has received a Los Angeles Film Critics Award as well as Independent Spirit Award. His other film credits include To Live and Die in L.A., The Last Temptation of Christ, Mississippi Burning, Born on the Fourth of July, White Sands, Wild at Heart, Tom & Viv, Clear and Present Danger, The English Patient, American Psycho, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Inside Man,John Wick, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Death Note, The Boondock Saints, Murder on the Orient Express. His upcoming films include James Wan’s Aquaman and Julain Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by Cadillac and Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.
The 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Mary J. Blige with the Breakthrough Performance Award for her performance in Mudbound at its annual Film Awards Gala. Blige joins previously announced 2018 honorees Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan and The Shape of Water. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2nd at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2–15, 2018.
Mary J. Blige portrays Florence Jackson, a Missisissppi sharecropper, in Mudbound.
“Mary J. Blige is a global superstar in the world of music who continues to make her mark as an actress in both television and film,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her current film Mudbound, Blige gives a quiet yet fantastic performance as Florence Jackson, a strong woman supporting her sharecropper family in rural Mississippi. It is our honor to present the 2018 Breakthrough Performance Award to Mary J. Blige.”
Past recipients of the Breakthrough Performance Award include Mahershala Ali, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson, Felicity Huffman, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike and Jeremy Renner. In the years they were honored, Ali, Cotillard, Hudson, Larson and Nyong’o went on to receive Academy Awards®, while Huffman, Pike and Renner received nominations.
Set in the rural American South during World War II, Dee Rees’ Mudbound is an epic story of two families pitted against one another by a ruthless social hierarchy, yet bound together by the shared farmland of the Mississippi Delta. Mudbound follows the McAllan family, newly transplanted from the quiet civility of Memphis and unprepared for the harsh demands of farming. Despite the grandiose dreams of Henry (Jason Clarke), his wife Laura (Carey Mulligan) struggles to keep the faith in her husband’s losing venture. Meanwhile, Hap and Florence Jackson (Rob Morgan and Mary J. Blige), sharecroppers who have worked the land for generations, struggle bravely to build a small dream of their own despite the rigidly enforced social barriers they face. The war upends both families’ plans as their returning loved ones, Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) and Ronsel Jackson (Jason Mitchell), forge a fast but uneasy friendship that challenges the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South in which they live.
Mary J. Blige is a Grammy® Award-winning singer, songwriter, actress and philanthropist, with a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards (plus a staggering 32 nominations), a 2012 Golden Globe® nomination, and five American Music Awards. She has appeared in Tyler Perry’s dramatic comedy I Can Do Bad All By Myself and starred in Rock of Ages. Her other credits include the TV movie Betty & Coretta, the holiday musical drama Black Nativity and guest spots on Black-ish, Empire, The Wiz Live! and How To Get Away With Murder.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.
The 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Jessica Chastain with the Chairman’s Award for STXfilms and The Mark Gordon Company’s Molly’s Game at its annual Film Awards Gala. She will join previously announced 2018 honorees Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan and The Shape of Water. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-15, 2018.
“Jessica Chastain is an incredible actress who has continuously challenged herself with complex roles throughout her career,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her latest film, Molly’s Game, Chastain brings to life Molly Bloom’s story of a determined woman who goes from being an Olympic skier to making millions running an exclusive high-stakes poker game. It is our honor to present the Chairman’s Award to Jessica Chastain.”
Chastain received the PSIFF Spotlight Award in 2012, going on to receive an Academy Award® nomination for The Help. Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Richard Gere, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.
Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game is based on the true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), an Olympic-class skier who ran one of the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba), who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. The film also stars Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Bill Camp, Chris O’Dowd and Brian d’Arcy James. Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal and Matt Jackson produced. STXfilms and the Mark Gordon Company’s Molly’s Game will open in select theaters nationwide December 25, 2017, and everywhere January 5, 2018.
Two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastainhas received numerous nominations and accolades for her work from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, LA Film Critics, British Academy of Film and TV, Broadcast Film Critics, HFPA, National Board of Review, Screen Actors Guild and Film Independent, to name a few. Her film credits include Crimson’s Peak, The Debt, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Help, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Interstellar, Mama, The Martian, Miss Julie, Miss Sloane, A Most Violent Year, Tree of Life, Zero Dark 30 and The Zookeeper’s Wife. She recently finished production for Susanna White’s period drama Woman Walks Ahead opposite Sam Rockwell and Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan with Natalie Portman, Kit Harington and Nicholas Hoult.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon.
The 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Saoirse Ronan with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress for her performance in Lady Bird at its annual Film Awards Gala. Ronan joins previously announced 2018 honorees Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell and The Shape of Water. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2nd at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2–15, 2018.
Harold Matzner, PSIFF Festival Chairman
“Saoirse Ronan delivers one of the most outstanding performances of this year as an outspoken high school student growing up in Sacramento in the critically acclaimed film Lady Bird,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Following her exceptional performances in Atonement and Brooklyn, Ronan is sure to receive her third Academy Award nomination. It is our honor to present the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress to Saoirse Ronan.”
Ronan received the PSIFF International Star Award in 2016 for her performance in Brooklyn, going on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the same role. Additional past recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress include Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Sandra Bullock, Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, and Naomi Watts.
In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig proves herself a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated, strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird’s father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amid a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home.
For her role in the film, Ronan has already received Best Actress from the Gotham Independent Film Awards and is nominated for Best Female Lead from the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Ronanbegan her career at just 13 years old with her critically acclaimed performance as Briony Tallis in Atonement, opposite Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The role garnered her Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actress. She starred as Eilis in Fox Searchlight’s Academy Award-nominated film Brooklyn, written by Nick Hornby and directed by John Crowley. Her portrayal earned her Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Her other film credits include The Grand Budapest Hotel, Hanna, The Lovely Bones,and The Way Back. She recently wrapped production on Dominic Cooke’s On Chesil Beach and is currently in production on Focus Features’ Mary Queen of Scots, playing the title character.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by Cadillac and Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.
The 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Holly Hunter with the Career Achievement Award at its annual Film Awards Gala. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Tuesday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-15, 2018.
“Holly Hunter’s career is filled with many memorable performances including her Academy Award-winning role in The Piano as well as other films including Broadcast News, The Firm, The Incredibles and more,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her recent film The Big Sick, she brings comedy and poignancy as a mother coping with her daughter’s coma, while bonding with her daughter’s ex-boyfriend. It is our great honor to present the Career Achievement Award to Holly Hunter.”
Holly Hunter, right, will receive the Palm Springs Film Award Gala’s Career Achievement Award, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, on January 2, 2018.
Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include Annette Bening, Glenn Close, Kevin Costner, Bruce Dern, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Sally Field, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson and Lynn Redgrave. Hunter will join previously announced 2018 honorees Timothée Chalamet, Gal Gadot, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell.
Based on the real-life courtship between writers Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, and directed by Michael Showalter, The Big Sick spotlights Pakistan-born aspiring comedian Kumail (Nanjiani), who connects with grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan) after one of his standup sets. However, what they thought would be just a one-night stand blossoms into the real thing, which complicates the life that is expected of Kumail by his traditional Muslim parents. When Emily is beset with a mystery illness, it forces Kumail to navigate the medical crisis with her parents, Beth and Terry (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) whom he’s never met, while dealing with the emotional tug-of-war between his family and his heart.
A prominent actor on both stage and screen, Holly Hunter is an Academy and Emmy Award winner who has portrayed a vast array of complex and powerful characters throughout her career. Hunter was nominated for an Academy Award for her performances in Broadcast News, The Firm, Thirteen and The Piano, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1993. She won Primetime Emmy Awards for her performances in Roe vs. Wade and The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, and she was nominated for her work in Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her, When Billie Beat Bobby, Saving Grace, and Top of the Lake. In addition to The Big Sick, Hunter was most recently seen in Strange Weather, the story of a mother trying to grieve over the death of her son. Upcoming, Hunter will star in the Alan Ball HBO series Here, Now. Additional film credits include Raising Arizona, Miss Firecracker, Home for the Holidays, Crash, A Life Less Ordinary, Living Out Loud,O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Incredibles, and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon.
In the vein of his sumptuous celebrations of flamenco, tango and fado, legendary filmmaker Carlos Saura’s latest music doc is a colorful and exhilarating exploration of the roots and variations of the jota, a rich and varied Spanish waltz and cultural touchstone.
Belated festive fare (sort of)… Set on Christmas Eve, 1994, Smith’s knotty-but-nice indie drama gives a welcome spotlight to veteran thesps John Larroquette and John Rhys Davies as two embittered camera-store clerks, railing against the dying of the light and venting entertainingly against their prison-like lot in life.
This screening of the landmark Polish masterpiece is dedicated to Andrzej Wajda, who died last October. Set on “Victory Day,” May 8, 1945, the film follows the efforts of a resistance fighter, Cybulski, “the Polish James Dean,” to assassinate a Soviet-government appointee as the future of the nation rapidly takes shape.
Summer in a provincial Polish town in the late 1970s. With his father away, it’s just 12-year-old Piotr and his beautiful blonde mother, cycling, swimming, playing cards together. But as the days go by, she starts going out at night… A subtle, nuanced and evocative coming-of-age tale.
An intimate, metaphysical art-house drama, Blindness posits a 1962 meeting between a now repentant Julia Prajs Brystygier, aka “Bloody Luna,” the former head of Department V in the Stalinist-era Ministry of Information, and Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a man whose 1953 arrest she had facilitated.
Sun, Jan 8 – 7:30 PM – Camelot
Mon, Jan 9 – 7:30 PM – Camelot
Wed, Jan 11 – 5:00 PM – Camelot
Director, Ryszard Bugajski; Actor, Maria Mamona to attend.
VACATION PALM SPRINGS “DREAM VACATION” WINNER WILL RECEIVE:
* A Four (4) night stay for up to 4 people in a luxury 3-bedroom Palm Springs vacation rental home during the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Winner will also receive the following:
* Opening -or- Closing Night Screening and Gala Reception – 4 Tickets
* Festival Screening Passes – 4 non-transferable passes, good for all regular screenings
Palm Springs, CA (November 28, 2016) – The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award® winning actress Nicole Kidman with the International Star Award for her performance in Lion at its annual Film Awards Gala. The Film Awards Gala, hosted by Mary Hart, will be held Monday, January 2 at the PalmSprings Convention Center. The Festival runs January 2-16.
“One of the world’s most luminous and versatile actresses, Nicole Kidman has filled so many unforgettable roles including her performances in The Hours, Moulin Rouge!, Cold Mountain, Rabbit Hole and dozens more,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her latest film, Lion, she gives yet another award-worthy performance as Sue Brierley, an Australian woman who adopts two young boys from India. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the International Star Award to Nicole Kidman.”
Kidman received the Festival’s Chairman’s Award in 2005. Past International Star Award honorees include BAFTA and Academy Award winning actors Javier Bardem, Helen Mirren and BAFTA and Academy Award nominated actress Saoirse Ronan.
In The Weinstein Company film, Lion, five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train traveling away from his home and family. Frightened and bewildered, he ends up thousands of miles away, in chaotic Kolkata. Somehow he survives living on the streets, escaping all sorts of terrors and close calls in the process, before ending up in an orphanage that is itself not exactly a safe haven. Eventually Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), and finds love and security as he grows up in Hobart. As an adult, not wanting to hurt his adoptive parents’ feelings, Saroo (Dev Patel) suppresses his past, his emotional need for reunification and his hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother. But a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. Armed with only a handful of memories, his unwavering determination, and a revolutionary technology known as Google Earth, Saroo sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home. Based on the true story, A Long Way Home, Lion is directed by Garth Davis and written by Luke Davies with performances from Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, David Wenham, and Sunny Pawar.
Nicole Kidman is an internationally-recognized, award-winning actress and producer known for her range and versatility. Her extensive film work includes To Die For (Golden Globe for Best Actress), Moulin Rouge! (Academy Award® nomination, Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical), The Others (Golden Globe nomination, Saturn Award),The Hours (Academy Award®, BAFTA, Golden Globe for Best Actress and Berlin Silver Bear), Rabbit Hole (Golden Globe for Best Actress, Academy Award® nomination) and The Paperboy (Golden Globe nomination, SAG Award nomination).
Previously announced honorees attending the 2017 Film Awards Gala are Casey Affleck, Tom Hanks, Ruth Negga, the cast of La La Land, including Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and director Damien Chazelle.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, an upscale black-tie event attended by 2,500, honoring the best achievements of the film year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.
For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org.
