Helen Mirren to be Honored at 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival

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Actress Helen Mirren will receive the International Star Award at the 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).  The Festival runs January 3-14, 2013.  The International Star Award recognizes an actor or actress who has achieved both critical and commercial international recognition throughout their body of work.

“With more than four decades' worth of memorable film, television and stage performances, Helen Mirren continues to be one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “In Hitchcock, Mirren delivers another virtuoso performance as Alma Reville, wife to the great master of cinema, who was integral to creating his classic films including the masterpiece Psycho.  The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the 2013 International Star Award to Helen Mirren.”  Past International Star Award honorees include Javier Bardem and Gary Oldman.

Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) to honor Gary Oldman with the International Star Award

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The 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), which runs January 5-16, 2012, will present Gary Oldman with the International Star Award.  The International Star Award recognizes an actor or actress who has achieved both critical and commercial international recognition throughout their body of work.

Oldman is currently starring in Focus Features’ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson and based on the novel by John le Carré.

“Gary Oldman is a performer whose ability to portray the most extreme of characters is a testament to the enormity of his talent,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, as the embodiment of John le Carré's classic spymaster George Smiley, he combines cunning, pathos, and cold determination when he is brought out of retirement to ferret out a double agent during the Cold War.  To this consummate talent who consistently challenges audiences to anticipate the unexpected when he performs, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the 2012 International Star Award to Gary Oldman.”

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Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt and Cast of Young Adult to be honored at Palm Springs International Film Festival

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The film Young Adult will be honored with the Vanguard Award, for its outstanding creative ensemble, at the 23rd Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF).  Cast members from the film including Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt, director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody will attend to accept the award.  The Festival runs January 5-16.

This is the second Vanguard Award for Cody and Reitman, who first received the honor in 2008 for Juno. Reitman recently garnered the 2010 PSIFF Best Director Award for Up in the Air, and Theron previously earned the 2006 Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award for North Country.

“What is more bittersweet than realizing that your glory days, particularly those in high school, when everything was possible, may truly be a thing of the past,” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “In Young Adult, a writer of teen literature gets a major reality check when her plan to reclaim a former high school sweetheart goes awry, but leads her to forge an unlikely bond with a former classmate who is similarly time warp-challenged.  It is a particular pleasure for the Palm Springs International Film Festival to present the 2012 Vanguard Award to Young Adult, a truly unique and utterly enjoyable film.  The filmmakers and cast represent the some of the best and most exciting filmmaking work of the year and have delivered a biting black comedy as deeply poignant as it is funny. It’s a pleasure to welcome for an ‘encore’ the film’s screenwriter Diablo Cody, director Jason Reitman and accomplished star Charlize Theron, all previous winners at the Festival, who continue to demonstrate the scope of their cinematic talents.”

About Young Adult
Mavis Gary is a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart. When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate who hasn’t quite gotten over high school, either. The film stars Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser and Jill Eikenberry.

Young Adult features the team behind Juno - Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody and Academy Award®-nominated director Jason Reitman.  Paramount Pictures released the film in select theatres on December 9 and will open wide on December 16.

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2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market Announce Star-Studded Lineup

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The 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market, which will screen June 21-27, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, announced its roster of 331 films. New this year, Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its inaugural ShortFest Online Film Festival featuring ten films playing on a special section of the festival web site starting a week prior to the festival and will continue to play online for two months after the end of the festival.

This year’s star-studded shorts feature Academy Award winners and nominees, film and television stars and studio executives.  Sarah Paulson and Wes Bentley star in After-School Special (USA); Selma Blair and Jeremy Davies in Animal Love (USA); Michael Cera stars in Bad Dads (USA); Billy Burke in David and Goliath (USA); Anthony LaPaglia in In Loco Parentis (Australia); Campbell Scott in Love, Lots of It (USA); Jason Alexander, James Avery, Sid Ganis, Amy Heckerling, Sally Kirkland, Kathy Najimy, Amy Pascal, and Joe Roth in Not Your Time (USA); Seymour Cassel and Fionnula Flanagan in the North American premiere of Pass the Salt, Please (USA); Melissa Leo in the World Premiere of The Sea Is All I Know (USA); Kirsten Dunst and Brian Geraghty in the U.S. premiere of The Second Bakery Attack (Mexico/USA); Tom Hardy in Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother (UK); Julia Stiles stars in Sexting (USA) directed by Neil LaBute; Keira Knightley and Colin Firth star in Steve (UK) directed by Rupert Friend; Adam Arkin, Clifton Collins, Jr., Carla Gugino and Jesse Spencer star in Tell-Tale (UK); and Jessica Chastain stars in and serves as a producer for The Westerner (USA).

In addition to familiar faces in front of the camera, some recognizable names directing shorts this year include: Peter Cattaneo directs Bunce (UK) starring Stephen Fry; David Hayter directs the World Premiere of Chasm (USA); Heather Hemmens directs the World Premiere of Designated (USA); Jay Duplass directs Kevin (Spain/USA); Terry George directs the North American Premiere of The Shore (UK); Olivia Wilde and Maria Bello serve as executive producers for the documentary Sun City Picture House (Haiti) directed by David Darg.

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