Palm Springs Film Awards: Martin McDonagh To Receive Director Honor

The Palm Springs International Film Awards, the event that annually kicks off the Palm Springs Film Festival in the heart of awards season, is revealing its list of 2027 honorees.

We are updating as the list rolls out ahead of the opening-night gala ceremony, set for January 7, 2027 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, in an event that has become a must-stop on the movie-awards circuit. The Palm Springs Film Festival runs January 7-18.

Here are the honorees so far:

Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award

Wild Horse Nine writer-director Martin McDonagh will be the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award for his latest Searchlight Pictures pic.

The pic, which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, centers on CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, as they set out to Easter Island where they wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) threatens to send everyone’s trip sideways. Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey also star.

McDonagh, also an award-winning playwright, has a list of feature credits that includes In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Banshees of Inisherin. That last film scored nine Oscar nominations in 2022.

Past director honorees include Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman), Greta Gerwig (Barbie), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), David O. Russell (The Fighter), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland).

Rising Star Award

Breakout Obsession star Inde Navarrette has been named the recipient of the Rising Star Award for her performance in the hit horror pic from Curry Barker.

Obsession follows the story of Bear (Michael Johnston), a hopeless romantic who, after breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, finds himself getting exactly what he asked for in his girlfriend Nikki, but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price. Megan Lawless, Cooper Tomlinson and Andy Richter also star.

The pic has broken box office records on its way to a $525.4 million global gross, and has catapulted Navarrette, who recently hosted Saturday Night Live. Next up, she will play Rogue in Marvel’s next X-Men movie and star in and executive produce Apple Original Films and Plan B Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller The Waffle House Index.

Vanguard Award

A24’s The Invite has been tapped to receive the Vanguard Award, with the film’s director-star Olivia Wilde and her co-stars Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton slated to attend. The Vanguard Award is given in recognition of a director and cast’s collective work on an exceptional film project, with past recipients including Hamnet last year as well Green Book and The Shape of Water before they went on to with the Best Picture Oscar.

The Invite centers on dinner party between two neighboring couples spirals into an unpredictable evening of revelations and desire, revealing the hilarity and humanity in the complexities of marriage, intimacy and relationships.

The pic premiered this year at Sundance and hit theaters in late June, becoming one of the year’s top-grossing limited debuts. It has grossed $61.2 million to become an indie summer hit both domestically and overseas.