The Palm Springs Convention Center was atwitter Monday evening as movie stars, Hollywood moguls and cinema aficionados filed inside for the start of the 28th annual Palm Springs Film Festival opening night gala, which kicks off the buzzy 12-day desert fest, a key stop on the Oscar season trail.
Glitz and glamour filled the decked-out, floral-filled room, with stars honored for their performances in 2016 films favored for serious Academy Awards contention.
While accepting the Career Achievement Award, \u201c20th Century Women\u201d star Annette Bening declared, \u201cacting is the work of intimacy.\u201d Given that collective closeness, it was only fitting that Ryan Gosling , who accepted the Vanguard Award for \u201cLa La Land\u201d alongside director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz , took a moment to acknowledge the recent passing of Debbie Reynolds , crediting her performance in \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain\u201d as a major artistic influence in the creation of Chazelle\u2019s 2017 nod to old Hollywood musicals.
\u201cI wish I could have said this in person but I\u2019d like to thank Debbie Reynolds,\u201d said Gosling. \u201cHer work is an inspiration.\u201d
\u201cEntertainment Tonight\u201d alum Mary Hart hosted the event, with PSIFF chairman of the board Harold Matzner on hand to welcome the guests, who dined on short ribs and a dessert aptly named \u201cAt the Movies\u201d on the menu: vanilla panna cotta, topped with crunchy Milk Dud chocolate mousse, caramel corn and movie candies.
\u201cLoving\u201d director Jeff Nichols and actor Joel Edgerton presented Ruth Negga with the Rising Star award for her lead role in Nichols\u2019 historical drama, chronicling the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that made interracial marriage legal in the United States. Edgerton praised Negga\u2019s \u201cperfect\u201d performance, describing her as \u201ctruth where the \u2018t\u2019 is silent.\u201d In turn, Negga called Edgerton \u201cthe most excellent partner in this endeavor.\u201d
Janelle Monae expressed similar love and admiration for Breakthrough Performance award recipient Mahershala Ali , Monae\u2019s fellow cast member in both \u201cMoonlight\u201d and \u201cHidden Figures.\u201d
\u201cMahershala humanized his character in a way that we have not seen before onscreen,\u201d said Monae of Ali\u2019s role in \u201cMoonlight.\u201d Ali, who toiled for over two decades as a relative unknown in films such as \u201cThe Place Beyond the Pines\u201d and television\u2019s \u201cTreme\u201d and \u201cHouse of Cards,\u201d thanked his father, himself an actor, for teaching him the value of \u201chunger, patience, persistence \u2026 and introducing me to the arts and the inherent struggle.\u201d
It was an \u201cemotional\u201d night for \u201cLion\u201d actress and International Star Award recipient Nicole Kidman , who last attended the gala 12 years ago, and waxed nostalgic about having taken as her date her \u201cpapa who was alive then.\u201d She shared words of wisdom from her \u201cEyes Wide Shut\u201d director, the late Stanley Kubrick, who told Kidman, \u201cYou are a character actress. You must find characters to play.\u201d
\u201cI took his advice,\u201d said Kidman, \u201cand I want to find characters \u2014 that is my drive, to find the great character roles.\u201d
Exclusive Portraits From Palm Springs Film Festival Awards Gala
Other highlights of the night included the acceptance speech of \u201cJackie\u201d star and Desert Palm Achievement Award (Actress) recipient Natalie Portman , who relayed a moving, poignant story about her near penniless grandmother emigrating from Eastern Europe to Palestine before Israel gained statehood in 1948 and she was forced to share one dress with her roommate; Sir Ben Kingsley feting Casey Affleck with the Desert Palm Achievement Award (Actor) for his devastating turn as an alcoholic janitor in \u201cManchester by the Sea,\u201d a movie, said Affleck, \u201cabout showing up for the people we love\u201d; and Spotlight Award honoree Andrew Garfield (\u201cHacksaw Ridge\u201d), who thanked Icon Award honoree Tom Hanks for being his primary inspiration in becoming an actor.
\u201cThere\u2019s a man in the room responsible for me becoming an actor and he doesn\u2019t know it,\u201d said Garfield. \u201cI can\u2019t express in words what your work in \u2018Big\u2019 and \u2018Joe Versus the Volcano\u2019 did for me. I bow very deeply to you.\u201d
Later in the evening, \u201cHidden Figures\u201d producer Pharrell Williams cued the audience to \u201cmake some noise for the female achievements\u201d and \u201cArrival\u201d star Amy Adams , honored with the Chairman\u2019s Award, called director Denis Villeneuve \u201ca visionary, a compassionate and generous director who elevates everyone around him.\u201d
Accepting the Icon Award, Hanks was quick to quip about the gala\u2019s lengthy running time.
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long night for any 501c,\u201d joked the \u201cSully\u201d star, who went on to thank the producers, directors, costume designers, and screenwriters with whom he\u2019s worked over the span of his Oscar-winning career, before personally thanking Garfield, \u201cwho finally saw to it that Palm Springs International Film Fest shows some love for \u2018Joe Versus the Volcano.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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