The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award® winning actress Julia Roberts with the Spotlight Award for August: Osage County at its annual Awards Gala. The Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey and Steve McQueen. Presented by Cartier and hosted by Mary Hart, the Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 4 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 3-13, 2014. “Julia Roberts is a consummate actress with a range as vast as her talent,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Her ability to consistently give standout performances over the past 25 years is remarkable. In her latest, August: Osage County, she is a key catalyst in a darkly comic tale of a family coming back together after tragedy strikes. To Julia Roberts, one of the best actresses of our age and any other, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present the Spotlight Award.” Past recipients of the Spotlight Award include Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams and Helen Hunt. The Weinstein Company presents August: Osage County which tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre. It continued with a successful international run and won five 2008 Tony Awards including Best Play. August: Osage County is directed by John Wells and features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham. An Academy Award winner for Erin Brockovich, Julia Roberts has appeared in many of Hollywood’s most successful films and worked with its most esteemed directors. Her films have grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. Roberts is currently working on The Normal Heart, based on the play of the same name by Larry Kramer. The movie is being directed by Ryan Murphy and will premiere on HBO in May of 2014. Past film credits include: Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, The Pelican Brief, Everyone Says I Love You, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Stepmom, Conspiracy Theory, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Ocean’s Eleven, Mona Lisa Smile, Closer, Charlie Wilson’s War, Duplicity, Eat Pray Love, Larry Crowne and Mirror Mirror. 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 annually for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Danny Boyle, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Helen Mirren, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Kate Winslet. The Awards Gala of the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival is presented by Cartier and sponsored by Mercedes Benz and Entertainment Tonight. The City of Palm Springs is the Title Sponsor of the Film Festival. Presenting Sponsors are Wells Fargo, The Desert Sun and Spencer’s. Major sponsors are AARP, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Wessman Development, Bank of America, Wintec, Regal Entertainment Group, Windermere Real Estate, Eisenhower Medical Center, Guthy-Renker, Integrated Wealth Management, PalmSpringsOasis, Ocean Properties, Panavision, Chihuly and Telefilm Canada. For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit psfilmfest.org.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:42:50 +0000