Emilia Pérez’s director Jacques Audiard and cast – Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Edgar Ramírez will receive the Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards. The Vanguard Award is a group honor distinguishing a film’s cast and director in recognition of their collective work on an exceptional film project. The Film Awards will take place on January 3, 2025, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running January 2-13, 2025.

“Emilia Pérez is one of the greatest achievements in cinema this year,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. ‘This powerful film from visionary director Jacques Audiard, is led by outstanding performances from Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez. The film started its awards run at the Cannes film festival, where it won the Jury Prize and its main actresses shared the Best Actress prize. It’s our honor to celebrate the director and cast of Emilia Perez with the Vanguard Award for this achievement in filmmaking.”

Past recipients of the Vanguard Award include Academy Award Best Picture winners Green Book and The Shape of Water as well as Best Picture nominees Belfast, Killers of the Flower Moon, La La Land, Little Miss Sunshine, The Fablemans , and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

From renegade auteur Jacques Audiard comes Emilia Pérez, an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self. The Netflix film is written and directed by Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet), the double Cannes-winning film also stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Edgar Ramírez.