Timothée Chalamet will be presented with the Spotlight Award, Actor at the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) for his “heartwarming, but tragic” performance in Beautiful Boy. The Festival runs January 3 to 14, 2019.
Palm Springs International Film Festival
-
BEAUTIFUL BOY Timothée Chalamet to Receive Spotlight Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
Timothée Chalamet in Beautiful Boy
-
2019 Palm Springs International Film Festival to Screen 223 Films, Opens with Kenneth Branagh’s ALL IS TRUE
All is True The 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will open with All is True directed by Kenneth Branagh on Friday, January 4, and close with Ladies in Black, directed by Bruce Beresford on Sunday, January 13. The Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, with a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, FLOS: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!La, Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals and more.
In All is True, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen star in Branagh’s intimate, revelatory portrait of William Shakespeare in the last act of his life. His career over, he returns to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to encounter old ghosts, old loves, and his resentful family. Branagh is expected to attend.
Ladies in Black, set in Sydney in 1959, Oscar®-nominated writer/director Bruce Beresford takes us back to the heyday of glamorous upscale department stores, when a concierge met you at the door and clerks wore gloves. The film from Lumila Films stars Julia Ormond, Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Ryan Corr, Shane Jacobson and Alison McGirr. Beresford, Ormond, Taylor and McGirr are expected to attend.
30th Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Lineup
-
THE FAVOURITE Olivia Colman to Receive Achievement Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in The Favourite. Olivia Colman will be presented with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress for The Favourite at the annual Film Awards Gala of the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). The award will be presented by her co-star in the film Emma Stone. The Festival runs January 3-14.
-
Spike Lee to Receive Career Achievement Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
Director Spike Lee will receive the Career Achievement Award at the Film Awards Gala of the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). The Festival runs January 3-14.
“Spike Lee has been an outstanding warrior for equal rights while creating an iconic body of film and television work over his 30-year career,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In BlacKkKlansman, Lee directs one of his best and most provocative films about an African-American detective and a white detective who are determined to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs. It is our great honor to present the Career Achievement Award to Spike Lee.”
Lee joins previously announced honorees Glenn Close, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Regina King, Rami Malek, Melissa McCarthy and the film Green Book. Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include Annette Bening, Kevin Costner, Bruce Dern, Robert Duvall, Clint Eastwood, Sally Field, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter, and Samuel L. Jackson.
From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, he bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The young detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist group as it aims to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream. The Focus Features film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Spike Lee’s three-decade career includes She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game, Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook Summer, Old Boy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy Award®-winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, a follow-up to his HBO documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P Newton Story. In the television arena, Lee is currently in post-production on Season 2 of his Netflix Original Series She’s Gotta Have It, a contemporary update of the classic film.
-
Palm Springs International Film Festival to Honor Regina King for IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
[caption id="attachment_33054" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk [Credit: Annapurna Pictures][/caption]Regina King will be honored for her performance in If Beale Street Could Talk with the Chairman’s Award at the annual Film Awards Gala of the 30th Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). The Festival runs January 3-14.
She joins previously announced honorees Glenn Close, Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuarón, Rami Malek, Melissa McCarthy and the film Green Book. Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, George Clooney, Richard Gere, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.
“Whether she’s acting, producing or directing, Regina King is an amazing creative talent,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her latest film If Beale Street Could Talk, she gives an outstanding performance as Sharon Rivers, a mother supportive of her daughter whose fiancé is thrown in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. For her performance in this challenging role, which has received much critical acclaim, it is our honor to present the Chairman’s Award to Regina King.”
Based on the novel by James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk is the story of Tish, a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover’s innocence while carrying their first-born child to term. It is a celebration of love told through the story of a young couple, their families and their lives, trying to bring about justice through love, for love and the promise of the American dream. The film from Annapurna Pictures is written and directed by Barry Jenkins and stars KiKi Layne, Stephan James Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Bryan Tyree Henry and Regina King.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4m3t3G3Zqc
For her role in If Beale Street Could Talk, King received a Best Supporting Actress award from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review and a Best Supporting Female nomination for the Independent Spirit Awards. Her other film credits include Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Friday, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Jerry Maguire, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Enemy of the State, Daddy Day Care, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, Ray. Her TV credits include American Crime, which she won two Emmy Awards — for two different characterizations —and was nominated for a third, 227, Southland, The Leftovers and Seven Seconds, which she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress, TV Movie/Limited Series. Among her directorial credits are episodes of This Is Us, The Good Doctor, Shameless, Animal Kingdom, Pitch, Greenleaf, Being Mary Jane and Scandal and the BET Network telefilm Let the Church Say Amen.
-
Bradley Cooper to Receive Director of the Year Award for A STAR IS BORN at Palm Springs International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_32923" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Bradley Cooper along with Lady Gaga in A Star is Born[/caption]
Bradley Cooper will receive the Director of the Year Award for A Star is Born at the 30th Palm Springs International Film Festival’s annual Film Awards Gala. The Festival runs January 3-14.
Cooper joins previously announced honorees Glenn Close, Alfonso Cuarón, Rami Malek, Melissa McCarthy and Green Book. Past recipients of the Director of the Year Award include Stephen Daldry, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Steve McQueen, Alexander Payne, Sean Penn, Jason Reitman, David O. Russell and Robert Zemeckis. Cooper received the festival’s Desert Palm Achievement Award in 2013 for Silver Linings Playbook and the Ensemble Cast Award in 2014 for American Hustle.
In A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga fuse their considerable talents to depict the raw and passionate tale of Jack and Ally, two artistic souls coming together, on stage and in life. Theirs is a complex journey through the beauty and the heartbreak of a relationship struggling to survive. Four-time Oscar nominee Cooper (American Sniper, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook), makes his directorial debut, starring alongside multiple award-winning, Oscar-nominated music superstar Gaga in her first leading role in a major motion picture and acclaimed actor Sam Elliott. From Warner Bros. Pictures, Live Nation Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, the film also stars Andrew Dice Clay with Dave Chappelle.
Four-time Oscar nominee, Bradley Cooper recently made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed Warner Bros. film A Star is Born, which he also stars in, co-wrote and produced. Additional film credits include: Oscar-nominated films American Sniper, American Hustle, and Silver Linings Playbook; Derek Cianfrance’s acclaimed The Place Beyond the Pines; The Hangover Trilogy; Limitless; Guardians of the Galaxy; War Dogs; David O. Russell’s Joy; Burnt; Wedding Crashers and Wet Hot American Summer. Television credits include: Wet Hot American Summer: first Day of Camp, Alias, Nip/Tuck, Kitchen Confidential, Jack & Bobby and Sex and the City.
“Bradley Cooper makes a stunning directorial debut with A Star is Born,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Cooper captures authentic performances in this moving film that has emotionally resonated with audiences everywhere and is sure to be celebrated as one of the best pictures of the year. It is our honor to present the Director of the Year Award to Bradley Cooper.”
-
ROMA Director Alfonso Cuarón to Receive Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_30917" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Alfonso Cuarón directing ROMA[/caption]
Academy Award winning director Alfonso Cuarón will receive the Sonny Bono Visionary Award for Roma at the annual Film Awards Gala of the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) on Thursday, January 3. The Festival runs January 3-14.
The most personal project to date from Academy Award®-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón, Roma follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in Mexico City’s middle-class Roma neighborhood. Cuarón draws on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst Mexico’s political turmoil of the 1970s. Produced by Esperanto Filmoj and Participant Media, Roma will launch globally on Netflix as well as theatrically around the world in December.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BS27ngZtxg
“Alfonso Cuarón’s latest feature Roma is a masterful achievement in filmmaking,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Drawing upon his childhood memories, Cuarón has created an emotionally driven story about a family growing up in 1970s Mexico City. A film he not only directed, but also was a writer, producer, cinematographer and editor. For his ability to take on many roles and for his expert storytelling of this subject matter, the festival is proud to present Alfonso Cuarón with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award.”
Cuarón joins previously announced honorees Glenn Close, Melissa McCarthy, Rami Malek and Green Book. Past recipients of the Sonny Bono Visionary Award include filmmakers Danny Boyle, Michel Hazanavicius, Tom Hooper, Tom McCarthy, Richard Linklater and Quentin Tarantino. The award is named after the festival’s founder and former Palm Springs Mayor, accorded to a filmmaker that breaks boundaries in the work.
Cuarón is a two-time Academy Award® winner who has written and directed a wide range of acclaimed films. He most recently won two Oscars® for directing and editing the drama Gravity. Cuarón made his feature film directorial debut with Sólo con Tu Pareja (Love in the Time of Hysteria), and his American feature film debut with A Little Princess, a critically acclaimed adaptation of the beloved children’s book. His other credits Great Expectations, Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men. He also produced Desierto and executive produced the documentary This Changes Everything.
-
GREEN BOOK to Receive Vanguard Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_32616" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
“Green Book” directed by Peter Farrelly[/caption]
The cast and director of the film Green Book will be presented with the Vanguard Award at the annual Film Awards Gala at the upcoming 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). 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. Actors Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali as well as director Peter Farrelly are expected to attend. Green Book joins previously announced honorees Glenn Close, Rami Malek and Melissa McCarthy. The Festival runs January 3-14.
Past recipients of the Vanguard Award include The Shape of Water and La La Land.
When Frank Anthony Vallelonga, aka Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a New York City bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive and protect Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world-class black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South, they must rely on The Green Book — a travel guide to safe lodging, dining and business options for African Americans during the era of segregation and Jim Crow laws — to steer them to places where Shirley will not be refused service, humiliated, or threatened with violence. Set against the backdrop of a country grappling with the valor and volatility of the Civil Rights Movement, two men will be confronted with racism and danger and be comforted by generosity, kindness and their own unique senses of humor. Together, they will challenge long-held assumptions, push past their seemingly insurmountable differences, and embrace their shared humanity. The film, from Participant Media and DreamWorks Pictures, is directed by Peter Farrelly.
“Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali are an on-camera dream team in the crowd-pleasing film Green Book, inspired by a true friendship, about a New York City bouncer hired to drive and protect pianist Dr. Don Shirley on a concert tour in the Deep South,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Director Peter Farrelly, who also co-wrote the script, delivers a heartfelt movie-going experience that is guaranteed to receive awards attention for the actors, its director and the film itself. It is our honor to present the Vanguard Award to Green Book.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZxoko_HC0
-
Melissa McCarthy to Receive Spotlight Award at Palm Springs International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_31589" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Melissa McCarthy in the film CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Photo by Mary Cybulski. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved[/caption]
Melissa McCarthy will receive the Spotlight Award at the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) annual Film Awards Gala for Can You Ever Forgive Me? The award will be presented by her co-star in the film Richard E. Grant. The Festival runs January 3-14.
McCarthy joins previously announced honoree Glenn Close and Rami Malek. Past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Andrew Garfield, Helen Hunt, Allison Janney, Rooney Mara, Julia Roberts and J.K. Simmons. All recipients received Academy Award® nominations in the year they were honored, with Simmons winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Janney receiving an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
In Fox Searchlight’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer, and cat lover, who made her living in the 70s and 80s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and Dorothy Kilgallen. When Lee found herself unable to get published because she had fallen out of step with the marketplace, she turned her art form to deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E. Grant). The Fox Searchlight film is directed by Marielle Heller and also stars Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin, Ben Falcone, Anna Deavere Smith and Stephen Spinella.
Melissa McCarthy received an Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and SAG Award nominations for her role in Bridesmaids. Her other film credits include Life of the Party, The Boss, St. Vincent, Tammy, The Heat, Identity Thief, This is 40, The Hangover Part III, Ghostbusters, The Back-Up Plan, Life As We Know It, Pretty Ugly People, Just Add Water, The Nines, White Oleander, Pumpkin, Go and The Life of David Gale. Her TV credits include Mike & Molly, Gilmore Girls, Samantha Who? and Nobodies. Her upcoming films include The Kitchen and Superintelligence.
“Melissa McCarthy delivers a heartbreaking performance as author Lee Israel, perfectly portraying Israel’s loneliness as she struggles with her own relevance in society,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “McCarthy’s dramatic turn is truly captivating and deserving of awards recognition. It is our honor to present this year’s Spotlight Award to Melissa McCarthy.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvJIaNsf_bY
-
Bohemian Rhapsody’s Rami Malek to Receive Breakthrough Performance Award
[caption id="attachment_32668" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody[/caption]
Rami Malek will receive the Breakthrough Performance Award Bohemian Rhapsody at the at the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) Film Awards Gala on Thursday, January 3. The Festival runs January 3-14.
“In the film Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek fully brings to life and embodies musical legend Freddie Mercury, in what is truly an outstanding performance for this fine actor,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “For his portrayal that is garnering much critical acclaim, it is our honor to present the 2018 Breakthrough Performance Award to Rami Malek.”
Malek joins previously announced honoree Glenn Close, who will receive the Icon Award. Past recipients of the Breakthrough Performance Award include Mahershala Ali, Mary J. Blige, 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 Blige, Huffman, Pike and Renner received nominations.
Twentieth Century Fox and Regency Enterprises’ Bohemian Rhapsody is a celebration of rock band Queen and its incendiary lead singer Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek, in a tour-de-force performance). With an original screenplay by Anthony McCarten (The Darkest Hour, The Theory of Everything), and story by McCarten and Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Crown), the film traces the rise of the group and its frontman, who so brazenly defied stereotypes and shattered convention. Though Queen reached staggering global success through their iconic songs (including We Are The Champions, Somebody to Love, Don’t Stop Me Now and We Will Rock You) and their revolutionary sound and style, it was not without its obstacles. Mercury – amidst personal struggles – famously chose to abandon the group in pursuit of a solo career. His eventual reunion with the band at Live Aid 1985 went on to be considered one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music, though this time in Mercury’s life also was marked by his tragic battle with AIDS.
Malek is the star of the critically acclaimed and award-winning psychological drama Mr. Robot. For his role as Elliot Alderson, Malek won an Emmy and Critics Choice Award, and is also a two-time Golden Globe® and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. His film credits include Michael Noer’s Papillon, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Tom Hanks’ Larry Crowne, and Destin Daniel Cretton’s Short Tern 12.
-
Glenn Close to Receive Icon Award for her Performance in THE WIFE at Palm Springs International Film Festival
[caption id="attachment_32359" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Glenn Close in The Wife[/caption]
Glenn Close will receive the Icon Award at the 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) for her performance in The Wife. The Festival runs January 3-14.
In The Wife, Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) has spent forty years sacrificing her own identity and dreams to support her charismatic husband Joe (Jonathan Pryce) and his stellar literary career. Ignoring infidelities and excuses made in the cause of his art, she has put up with his behavior with undiminished grace and humor. The foundations of their marriage have, however, been built upon a set of uneven compromises – and Joan has reached a turning point. On the eve of Joe’s Nobel Prize for Literature, Joan confronts the biggest sacrifice of her life and some long-buried secrets. Directed by Björn Runge from a screenplay by Jane Anderson, based on the best-selling book by Meg Wolitzer, The Wife stars Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Max Irons, Harry Lloyd, Annie Starke and Elizabeth McGovern. The film is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d81IM0loH7o
“Glenn Close is a rare and enduring talent who has consistently brought challenging characters to life on film, television and stage for over four decades,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In her latest feature film, The Wife, she gives a tour-de-force performance as the perfect spouse, who relinquishes her own ambitions to propel her husband’s career. It is our honor to present the 2019 Icon Award to Glenn Close.”
Close, a six-time Academy Award nominee, made her feature debut in The World According to Garp, earning her first Oscar nomination. She was subsequently Oscar-nominated for The Big Chill, The Natural, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons and Albert Nobbs, for which she was also co-screenwriter, producer and lyricist on the Golden-Globe nominated song, “Lay Your Head Down.” She stars with Jonathan Pryce in Jane Anderson’s film adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s bestselling novel, The Wife, as well as in Jane Anderson’s play, The Mother of the Maid, currently on stage at New York’s Public Theater through December 23. Her theater credits include Love for Love, The Crucifer of Blood, Barnum (Tony nomination) and Tony Awards for her performances in The Real Thing, Death and the Maiden and Sunset Boulevard. Starting in 2007, Ms. Close headlined the legal thriller Damages for five seasons, winning two consecutive Best Actress Emmys. Her 12 Golden Globe nominations include a Best Actress Award for a television production of The Lion in Winter. Among her 12 Emmy nominations is a Best Actress Award for Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (earning her a Peabody Award as executive producer).
Past recipients of the Icon Award include Willem Dafoe, Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. In 2011, the Palm Springs International Film Festival gave Close the Career Achievement Award for her performance in Albert Nobbs.
-
Palm Springs International Film Festival Announces 2019 Dates
[caption id="attachment_30345" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
Actress Meryl Streep, PSIFF Artistic Director Michael Lerman, Actor Tom Hanks[/caption]
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced the dates of its 30th edition. Festival dates will be Thursday, January 3 through Monday, January 14, 2019.
Highlights include:
On Thursday, January 3, the annual Film Awards Gala will kick off the festival at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Last year’s star-studded event, hosted by Mary Hart, honored Mary J. Blige, Timothée Chalamet, Jessica Chastain, Willem Dafoe, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter, Allison Janney, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan and The Shape of Water. More than 2,500 guests attend the event which kicks off Awards season. Tickets go on sale August 1.
The screening portion of the festival will run Friday, January 4 through Monday, January 14. On January 4, the festival will run all day screenings with the official Opening Night screening taking place that evening at Richards Center for the Arts with a party to follow at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
The festival will close on Sunday, January 13, with Best of the Fest screenings taking place Monday, January 14.
Image via Facebook