ROBERT DUVALL AND ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU TO BE HONORED AT THE 26th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GALA

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ROBERT DUVALL AND ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU TO BE HONORED AT THE 26^th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GALA

The 26^th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall with the Icon Award and Academy Award-nominated director Alejandro G. Iñárritu with theDirector of the Year Award for Birdman at its annual Awards Gala.  The Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Richard Linklater, Julianne Moore, David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Eddie Redmayne, J.K. Simmons, Reese Witherspoon and the cast of The Imitation Game.  Presented by Cartier, and hosted by Mary Hart, the Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 3 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.  The Festival runs January 2-12.

 “Robert Duvall gives an outstanding and amazingly realistic performance as Judge Joseph Palmer in The Judge,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.  “This is sure to be remembered in his long list of iconic character roles, including Tom Hagen in The Godfather films, Gus McCrae in Lonesome Dove, Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, The Apostle and so many others.  The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present this year’s Icon Award to Robert Duvall.”  Duvall received the festival’s Career Achievement Award in 2011.  Past recipients of the Icon Award include Michael Douglas and Meryl Streep.

 The Judge pairs acting heavyweights Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. in this poignant drama from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures.   Big city lawyer Hank Palmer (Downey) returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town’s judge (Duvall), is suspected of murder.  Hank sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.  A Big Kid Pictures/Team Downey production, the film is directed by David Dobkin and produced by Susan Downey, Dobkin and David Gambino.  The screenplay is by Nick Schenk and Bill Dubuque, story by Dobkin & Schenk.

Over the last 50 years, Duvall’s singular performances have made him one of the most respected actors working today.  His numerous awards and nominations include an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in Tender Mercies and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in Apocalypse Now.

 Duvall’s other film credits include To Kill a Mockingbird, True Grit, Joe Kidd, M*A*S*H, The Conversation, Network, The Natural, Colors, Days Of Thunder, Rambling Rose, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, A Civil Action, Get Low, Crazy Heart and Jack Reacher, among many others.  As a filmmaker, he directed, produced wrote and starred in The Apostle and Assassination Tango.

 Commenting on Alejandro G. Iñárritu receiving PSIFF’s Director of the Year Award, his second win in the category, Matzner said, “By creating the illusion that the film was shot in one take and directing award-worthy performances by Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone and a star-studded cast, Iñárritu has created a brilliant and original dark comedy in Birdman. The Festival is delighted to once again present Alejandro G. Iñárritu with the Director of the Year Award.”

 Iñárritu received the festival’s Director of the Year Award in 2007 for Babel and received the FIPRESCI prize in 2001 for Amores Perros.  Past recipients of the award include Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Robert Zemeckis (Flight), Stephen Daldry (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), David O. Russell (The Fighter), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Sean Penn (Into the Wild) and Alexander Payne (Sideways).

 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play.  In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.  The Fox Searchlight Pictures and Regency Enterprises film is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu and stars Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Lindsay Duncan, Merritt Wever, Jeremy Shamos, Bill Camp and Damian Young.

 Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s feature films, including Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful, have garnered critical acclaim worldwide, receiving a total of 12 Oscar nominations in different categories, including Best Picture and Best Director; a Best Picture Golden Globe; and a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Film.  Iñárritu’s next film will be The Revenant, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Will Poulter.