Naomi to receive Desert Palm Achievement Award

NAOMI WATTS TO RECEIVE DESERT PALM ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR ACTING AT THE 24th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GALA

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Naomi Watts with the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award at its Awards Gala. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will be held on Saturday, January 5 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 3-14, 2013.

“We’re delighted to pay tribute to Naomi Watts, one of the most gifted and versatile performers to grace the screen,” said Palm Springs International Film Festival chairman Harold Matzner. “The Impossible, the true story of the tsunami that stunned the world with its fury, is the vehicle for Ms. Watts to display the talent and sensitivity that cinema lovers have come to expect and appreciate from her. It is our honor to present the 2013 Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award to Naomi Watts, for a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination.”

Past recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award include Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Michelle Williams, and Kate Winslet. Ms. Watts was previously honored at the Festival for her Academy Award-nominated performance in 21 Grams.

Watts stars in the Summit Entertainment film The Impossible, based on the true story of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Directed by J.A. Bayona, The Impossible also stars Ewan McGregor and newcomer Tom Holland, with a screenplay by Sergio G. Sánchez adapted from the story by María Belon based on her experiences.

After getting her start on Australian television, Naomi Watts has proven to be a force in Hollywood. With her breakout appearance in Mulholland Drive she went on to star in the critically acclaimed 21 Grams, for which Watts received a best actress Academy Award®- nomination. Her other work includes King Kong, The Painted Veil, J. Edgar, The Ring, I (Heart) Huckabees, Eastern Promises and Fair Game. She will next be seen in Movie 43, with Liev Schreiber; Two Mothers with Robin Wright; and Sunlight Jr. with Matt Dillon. Watts recently completed shooting the highly anticipated biopic Diana in the lead role as the iconic Princess Diana.

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 each year 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, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Kate Winslet.

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival is presented by Title Sponsor, the City of Palm Springs. Presenting Sponsors are Spencer’s, The Desert Sun, Entertainment Tonight, Wells Fargo, Regal Entertainment Group, Bank of America and Wintec. Major sponsors are Panavision, Ocean Properties Development, Raymond|Lawrence, Chihuly, Telefilm Canada. The Festival’s Awards Gala is presented by Cartier and sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org.

Contacts
Steven Wilson / Lauren Peteroy
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3920
steven.wilson@bwr-ny.com / lauren.peteroy@bwr-ny.com

David Lee
Palm Springs International Film Festival
760.322.2930
david@psfilmfest.org

- Palm Springs Film Festival Website

Hit Fix also have an interesting comment piece on this news:

‘The Impossible’ star Naomi Watts to be honored by Palm Springs fest

Will she break through in the Best Actress race?

I’ve been kind of waiting to see how J.A. Bayona’s “The Impossible” will fare with Academy and guild voters. The film hit first at Toronto. I saw it just before that and loved it. It felt, to me, like a sure-fire Oscar play. But will it find room in the bait-infested waters of December?

An award for star Naomi Watts will sure give it some higher wattage going into the holidays, and that’s just what the Palm Springs International Film Festival has done. Watts will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award at the 24th annual fest, an award that, in recent years, has gone to Michelle Williams, Natalie Portman, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Kate Winslet and Halle Berry in recent years.

“We’re delighted to pay tribute to Naomi Watts, one of the most gifted and versatile performers to grace the screen,” festival chairman Harold Matzner said via press release. “‘The Impossible,’ the true story of the tsunami that stunned the world with its fury, is the vehicle for Ms. Watts to display the talent and sensitivity that cinema lovers have come to expect and appreciate from her.”

Competing fest Santa Barbara recently announced Ben Stiller as this year’s recipient of their highest honor, the Modern Master Award. So the jockeying for position is very much off to the races (too many horse metaphors).

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala will be held on January 5, 2012 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs January 3 – 14.

- Hit Fix