# 34th Palm Springs International Film Festival

The 34th Palm Springs International Film Festival took place from January 5 to 16, 2023, in Palm Springs, California, United States. The festival opened with the world premiere of Kyle Marvin's comedy film 80 for Brady and closed with Stephen Frears' biographical film The Lost King.

## Background and special awards

Throughout December 2022, several special awards were announced, which were presented at the Opening Gala on January 5, 2023, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Actors Austin Butler and Danielle Deadwyler were honored with the Breakthrough Performance Award, for their performances in Elvis and for Till, respectively. Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans received the Vanguard Award, Brendan Fraser received the Spotlight Award, Sarah Polley received the Director of the Year award for Women Talking and Viola Davis received the chairman's Award. Desert Palm Achievement Awards were presented to Cate Blanchett for Tár and Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, while Michelle Yeoh and Bill Nighy received the International Star Actress and International Star Actor awards respectively.
The following day, on January 6, the Variety's 10 Directors to Watch brunch took place at the Parker Palm Springs, where four Creative Impact awards were presented: Creative Impact in Acting Award to Angela Bassett; Creative Impact in Screenwriting Award to Rian Johnson; Creative Impact in Directing Award to Baz Luhrmann; and Creative Impact in Breakthrough Performance Award to Brian Tyree Henry for Causeway.

## Juries

The juries consists of the following members:

### FIPRESCI International Film Jury

* Robert Horton, historian and programmer at Scarecrow Video Project and member of the National Society of Film Critics.
* Andrew Kendall, Head of the Department of Language and Cultural Studies at the University of Guyana.
* Anders Larsson, Swedish critic, poet and festival director of Lund Fantastic Film Festival

### Ibero-American Jury

* Manuel Betancourt, Colombian culture writer.
* Trey Shields, programmer of the Philadelphia Film Society and Philadelphia Film Festival.
* Rebecca Sun, senior editor of diversity and inclusion at The Hollywood Reporter.

### Documentary Jury

* Diana Cadavid, Colombian-Canadian film curator and International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival.
* Amir George, American filmmaker.
* Robin Robinson, Senior Programmer at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

### New Voices New Visions

* Violet Lucca, web editor and digital director at Harper's Magazine.
* Monica Trasandes, Uruguayan-American director of Spanish-Language & Latinx Media & Representation at GLAAD.
* Lauren Wissot, film critic, journalist, filmmaker and programmer.

### Bridging the Borders

* Keely Badger, Executive Director of MOZAIK.
* Bambadjan Bamba, actor, filmmaker and immigrant rights advocate.
* Marcy Garriott, independent documentary filmmaker.
* Vladek Juszkiewicz, founder of the Polish Film Festival Los Angeles.
* Granaz Moussavi, Iranian writer and literary critic
* Bijan Tehrani, founder and director of I, Immigrant and founder of Cinema Without Borders (CWB) and CineEqual.

## Sections

The films selected for each section are as follows:

### Awards Buzz – Best International Feature Film Submissions

The following section consists of submissions for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Ajoomma | 花路阿朱妈 | He Shuming | Singapore |
| Alcarràs | Alcarràs | Carla Simón | Spain |
| All Quiet on the Western Front | Im Westen nichts Neues | Edward Berger | Germany |
| Argentina, 1985 | Argentina, 1985 | Santiago Mitre | Argentina |
| Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths | Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Mexico |
| Beautiful Beings | Berdreymi | Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson | Iceland |
| Blanquita | Blanquita | Fernando Guzzoni | Chile |
| Boy from Heaven | صبي من الجنة | Tarik Saleh | Sweden |
| Cinema Sabaya | סינמה סבאיא | Orit Fouks Rotem | Israel |
| Close | Close | Lukas Dhont | Belgium |
| Corsage | Corsage | Marie Kreutzer | Austria |
| Darkling | Мрак | Dušan Milić | Serbia |
| Decision to Leave | 헤어질 결심 | Park Chan-wook | South Korea |
| EO | IO | Jerzy Skolimowski | Poland |
| Eternal Spring | 长春 | Jason Loftus | Canada |
| Holy Spider | عنکبوت مقدس | Ali Abbasi | Denmark |
| Il Boemo | Il Boemo | Petr Václav | Czech Republic |
| Joyland | جوائے لینڈ | Saim Sadiq | Pakistan |
| Kalev | Kalev | Ove Musting | Estonia |
| Klondike | Клондайк | Maryna Er Gorbach | Ukraine |
| Last Film Show | Last Film Show | Pan Nalin | India |
| Mars One | Marte Um | Gabriel Martins | Brazil |
| Mediterranean Fever | Mediterranean Fever | Maha Haj | Palestine |
| Nostalgia | Nostalgia | Mario Martone | Italy |
| Return to Seoul | Retour à Séoul | Davy Chou | Cambodia |
| Saint Omer | Saint Omer | Alice Diop | France |
| The Blue Caftan | أزرق القفطان | Maryam Touzani | Morocco |
| The Happiest Man in the World | Najsreḱniot Čovek na Svetot | Teona Strugar Mitevska | North Macedonia |
| The Quiet Girl | An Cailín Ciúin | Colm Bairéad | Ireland |
| Under the Fig Trees | تحت الشجرة | Erige Sehiri | Tunisia |
| Utama | Utama | Alejandro Loayza Grisi | Bolivia |
| Victim | Oběť | Michal Blaško | Slovakia |
| War Sailor | Krigsseileren | Gunnar Vikene | Norway |
| World War III | جنگ جهانی سوم | Houman Seyyedi | Iran |
| You Won't Be Alone | You Won't Be Alone | Goran Stolevski | Australia |
    Highlighted title indicates the section winner.

### Talking Pictures

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Talking Pictures section, each with discussion panels with their directors, writers and actors:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Alice, Darling | Alice, Darling | Mary Nighy | United States, Canada |
| Chevalier | Chevalier | Stephen Williams | United States |
| The Banshees of Inisherin | The Banshees of Inisherin | Martin McDonagh | Ireland, United Kingdom, United States |
| Moving On | Moving On | Paul Weitz | United States |

### Modern Masters

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Modern Masters section, consisting of new films by well-established directors:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| All the Beauty and the Bloodshed | All the Beauty and the Bloodshed | Laura Poitras | United States |
| Broker | 브로커 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | South Korea |
| A Compassionate Spy | A Compassionate Spy | Steve James | United States, United Kingdom |
| Hilma | Hilma | Lasse Hallström | Sweden |
| No Bears | خرس نیست | Jafar Panahi | Iran |
| One Fine Morning | Un beau matin | Mia Hansen-Løve | France, United Kingdom, Germany |
| R.M.N. | R.M.N. | Cristian Mungiu | Romania, France, Belgium, Sweden |
| Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams | Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams | Luca Guadagnino | Italy |
| Tori and Lokita | Tori et Lokita | Dardenne brothers | Belgium. France |

### New Voices New Visions

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the New Voices New Visions section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe | Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe | Aitch Alberto | United States |
| Butterfly Vision | Бачення метелика | Maksim Nakonechnyi | Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Ukraine |
| The Damned Don't Cry | Les damnés ne pleurent pas | Fyzal Boulifa | France, Belgium, Morocco |
| How to Blow Up a Pipeline | How to Blow Up a Pipeline | Daniel Goldhaber | United States |
| Love According to Dalva | Dalva | Emmanuelle Nicot | Belgium, France |
| Our Father, the Devil | Our Father, the Devil | Ellie Foumbi | United States |
| Riceboy Sleeps | Riceboy Sleeps | Anthony Shim | Canada |
| Snow and the Bear | Kar ve Ayı | Selcen Ergun | Turkey, Germany, Serbia |
| Susie Searches | Susie Searches | Sophie Kargman | United States, United Kingdom |
    Highlighted title indicates the section winner.

### True Stories

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the True Stories section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 1341 Frames of Love and War | 1341 Framim Mehamatzlema Shel Micha Bar-Am | Ran Tal | Israel |
| All That Breathes | All That Breathes | Shaunak Sen | India, United Kingdom |
| Anxious Nation | Anxious Nation | Vanessa Roth, Laura Morton | United States |
| The Art of Eating: The Life of M.F.K. Fisher | The Art of Eating: The Life of M.F.K. Fisher | Gregory M. Bezat | United States |
| Bella | Bella | Bridget Murnane | United States |
| Body Parts | Body Parts | Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, Helen Hood Scheer | United States |
| Born in Chicago | Born in Chicago | Bob Sarles, John Anderson | United States |
| Butterfly in the Sky | Butterfly in the Sky | Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb | United States |
| The Caviar Connection | La Caviar Connection | Benoît Bringer | France |
| Crows Are White | Crows Are White | Ahsen Nadeem | Japan, Ireland, United States |
| Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy | Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy | Nancy Buirski | United States |
| The Grab | The Grab | Gabriela Cowperthwaite | United States |
| I Like It Here | I Like It Here | Ralph Arlyck | United States |
| Lakota Nation vs. United States | Lakota Nation vs. United States | Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli | United States |
| Lift | Lift | David Petersen | United States |
| Liquor Store Dreams | Liquor Store Dreams | So Yun Um | United States |
| Of Medicine and Miracles | Of Medicine and Miracles | Ross Kauffman | United States |
| Roberta | Roberta | Antonino D'Ambrosio | United States |
| Shot in the Arm | Shot in the Arm | Scott Hamilton Kennedy | United States |
| Split at the Root | Split at the Root | Linda Goldstein Knowlton | United States |
| Subject | Subject | Camilla Hall, Jennifer Tiexiera | United States |
| The Thief Collector | The Thief Collector | Allison Otto | United States |
| To Kill a Tiger | To Kill a Tiger | Nisha Pahuja | Canada |
| Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb | Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb | Lizzie Gottlieb | United States |
    Highlighted title indicates the section winner.

### Cine Latino

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Cine Latino section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 1976 | 1976 | Manuela Martelli | Chile, United States |
| Huesera: The Bone Woman | Huesera | Michelle Garza Cervera | Mexico, Peru |
| I Have Electric Dreams | Tengo sueños eléctricos | Valentina Maurel | Costa Rica, Belgium, France |
| Sublime | Sublime | Mariano Biasin | Argentina |
| The Substitute | El suplente | Diego Lerman | Argentina, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico |
    Highlighted title indicates the section winner.

### Queer Cinema Today & The Gayla

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Queer Cinema Today section and The Gayla:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture | 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture | Sharon "Rocky" Roggio | United States, Canada |
| Casa Susanna | Casa Susanna | Sebastien Lifshitz | United States |
| Eismayer | Eismayer | David Wagner | Austria |
| Esther Newton Made Me Gay | Esther Newton Made Me Gay | Jean Carlomusto | United States |
| God Save the Queens | God Save the Queens | Jordan Danger | United States |
| Mama Bears | Mama Bears | Daresha Kyi | United States |
| My Emptiness and I | Mi vacío y yo | Adrián Silvestre | Spain |
| Nelly & Nadine | Nelly & Nadine | Magnus Gertten | Sweden, Belgium, Norway |
| Punch | Punch | Welby Ings | New Zealand, United States |
| Winter Boy | Le Lycéen | Christophe Honoré | France |
| You Can Live Forever | You Can Live Forever | Mark Slutsky, Sarah Watts | Canada |

### World Cinema Now

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the World Cinema Now section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Back Then | Zupa nic | Kinga Dębska | Poland |
| Before, Now & Then | Nana | Kamila Andini | Indonesia |
| Burning Days | Kurak Günler | Emin Alper | Turkey, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Croatia |
| Concerned Citizen | Concerned Citizen | Idan Haguel | Israel, United States |
| Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous | Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous | Wissam Charaf | France, Italy, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar |
| Driving Madeleine | Une belle course | Christian Carion | France |
| Emily | Frances O'Connor | United States |
| Freaks Out | Freaks Out | Gabriele Mainetti | Italy, Belgium |
| Golden Years | Die goldenen Jahre | Barbara Kulcsar | Switzerland |
| Greener Pastures | Greener Pastures | Matan Guggenheim, Assaf Abiri | Israel |
| Gyeong-ah's Daughter | 경아의 딸 | Kim Jung-eun | South Korea |
| Haute Couture | Haute Couture | Sylvia Ohayon | France |
| Juniper | Juniper | Matthew J. Saville | New Zealand |
| Linoleum | Linoleum | Colin West | United States |
| Lullaby | Cinco lobitos | Alauda Ruiz de Azúa | Spain |
| Max, Min & Meowzaki | Max, Min & Meowzaki | N Padmakumar | United States |
| Melchior the Apothecary | Apteeker Melchior | Elmo Nüganen | Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany |
| My Neighbor Adolf | My Neighbor Adolf | Leonid Prudovsky | Israel, Colombia, Poland |
| My Sailor, My Love | Rakkaani merikapteeni | Klaus Härö | Finland, Ireland |
| Next Sohee | 다음 소희 | July Jung | South Korea |
| Paris Memories | Revoir Paris | Alice Winocour | France |
| Simone Veil, A Woman of the Century | Simone, le voyage du siècle | Olivier Dahan | France |
| Somewhere in Queens | Somewhere in Queens | Ray Romano | United States |
| Stonewalling | 石门 | Huang Ji, Ryuji Otsuka | Japan |
| Talia's Journey | Talia's Journey | Christophe Rolin | Belgium, Senegal, Luxembourg |
| The Beasts | As bestas | Rodrigo Sorogoyen | Spain, France |
| The Judgement | De veroordeling | Sander Burger | Netherlands, Germany |
| The Origin of Evil | L'Origine du mal | Sébastien Marnier | France, Canada |
| The Storyteller | The Storyteller | Anant Narayan Mahadevan | India |
| The Word | Slovo | Beata Parkanová | Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland |
| Viking | Viking | Stéphane Lafleur | Canada |
| Where Life Begins | Alla vita | Stéphane Freiss | Italy |
| Without Her | بی رویا | Arian Vazirdaftari | Iran, Germany |

### Local Spotlight

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Local Spotlight section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Don't Worry Darling | Don't Worry Darling | Olivia Wilde | United States |
| Racist Trees | Racist Trees | Sara Newens, Mina T. Son | United States |