# 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival

The 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival is scheduled to take place from January 2 to 13, 2025, in Palm Springs, California, United States. The festival will open with Michael Gracey's biographic drama film Better Man and will close with Peter Cattaneo's comedy drama film The Penguin Lessons.

## Background and special awards

The full lineup was revealed on November 26, 2024. Among the sections, a Spanish Focus section will take place, dedicated to highlight Spanish cinema, while Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar will receive a spotlight section screening some films from his filmography.
As usual, throughout late 2024, several special awards were announced, which will be presented at the Opening Gala on January 3, 2024, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Jacques Audiard's musical crime comedy Emilia Pérez received the Vanguard Award. The Desert Palm Achievement for Best Actor and Best Actress went to Adrien Brody and Angelina Jolie for their performances in The Brutalist and Maria, respectively. Mikey Madison and Kieran Culkin both won the Breakthrough Performance Award, for Anora and A Real Pain respectively. Australian actress Nicole Kidman won the International Star Award for Babygirl. The Spotlight Award went to Colman Domingo for Sing Sing. Mystery thriller Conclave received the Ensemble Performance Award. Its cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Lucian Msamati. American actor Timothée Chalamet will receive the Chairman's Award for A Complete Unknown while American singer and actress Ariana Grande will be honored with the Rising Star Award for her performance in Wicked. Finally, the Visionary Award will be presented to Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve for Dune: Part Two.
The following day, on January 4, the Variety's 10 Directors to Watch & Creative Impact Awards brunch will take place at the Parker Palm Springs. The recipients for the Creative Impact awards are Cynthia Erivo, who will receive the Acting Award, and Jacques Audiard, who will be honored with the Directing Award. Additionally, American singer and actress Jennifer López will be presented with the Legend & Groundbreaker Award.

## 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 97th Academy Awards:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Submission countrie(s) |
| Armand | Armand | Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel | Norway |
| Come Closer | קרוב אלי | Tom Nesher | Israel |
| Dahomey | Dahomey | Mati Diop | Senegal |
| Drowning Dry | Sesės | Laurynas Bareiša | Lithuania |
| Emilia Pérez | Emilia Pérez | Jacques Audiard | France |
| Everybody Loves Touda | الجميع يحب تودة | Nabil Ayouch | Morocco |
| Flow | Straume | Gints Zilbalodis | Latvia |
| From Ground Zero | قصص غير محكية من غزة من المسافة صفر | Multiple directors | Palestine |
| The Girl with the Needle | Pigen med nålen | Magnus von Horn | Denmark |
| Grand Tour | Grand Tour | Miguel Gomes | Portugal |
| How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies | หลานม่า | Pat Boonnitipat | Thailand |
| The Hungarian Dressmaker | Ema a smrtihlav | Iveta Grófová | Slovakia |
| I'm Still Here | Ainda Estou Aqui | Walter Salles | Brazil |
| Julie Keeps Quiet | Julie zwijgt | Leonardo Van Dijl | Belgium |
| Kill the Jockey | El jockey | Luis Ortega | Argentina |
| Kneecap | Kneecap | Rich Peppiatt | Ireland |
| La Suprema | La Suprema | Felipe Holguin | Colombia |
| The Last Journey | Den sista resan | Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson | Sweden |
| Life | Hayat | Zeki Demirkubuz | Turkey |
| Lost Ladies | लापता लेडीज़ | Kiran Rao | India |
| Meeting with Pol Pot | Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot | Rithy Panh | Cambodia |
| Memories of a Burning Body | Memorias de un cuerpo que arde | Antonella Sudasassi | Costa Rica |
| My Late Summer | Nakon ljeta | Danis Tanović | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Old Fox | 老狐狸 | Hsiao Ya-chuan | Taiwan |
| Santosh | Santosh | Sandhya Suri | United Kingdom |
| Saturn Return | Segundo premio | Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez | Spain |
| The Seed of the Sacred Fig | دانه‌ی انجیر معابد | Mohammad Rasoulof | Germany |
| Shambhala | शम्भाला | Min Bahadur Bham | Nepal |
| Sujo | Sujo | Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez | Mexico |
| Three Kilometres to the End of the World | Trei kilometri pâna la capatul lumii | Emanuel Pârvu | Romania |
| Touch | Snerting | Baltasar Kormákur | Iceland |
| Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In | 九龍城寨之圍城 | Soi Cheang | Hong Kong |
| Universal Language | Une langue universelle | Matthew Rankin | Canada |
| Vermiglio | Vermiglio | Maura Delpero | Italy |
| Waves | Vlny | Jiří Mádl | Czech Republic |
    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) |
| Adrianne and the Castle | Adrianne and the Castle | Shannon Walsh | Canada |
| Agent of Happiness | Agent of Happiness | Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó | Bhutan, Hungary |
| Apocalypse in the Tropics | Apocalipse nos Trópicos | Petra Costa | Brazil |
| Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It | Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It | Paris Barclay | United States |
| Blue Road – The Edna O'Brien Story | Blue Road – The Edna O'Brien Story | Sinéad O'Shea | Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Bring Them Home | Bring Them Home | Ivan Macdonald, Ivy Macdonald, Daniel Glick | United States |
| Checkpoint Zoo | Checkpoint Zoo | Joshua Zeman | United States, Ukraine |
| Counted Out | Counted Out | Vicki Abeles | United States |
| Desert Angel | Desert Angel | Vincent Deluca | United States |
| The Diamond King | The Diamond King | Marq Evans | United States |
| Diane Warren: Relentless | Diane Warren: Relentless | Bess Kargman | United States |
| Driver | Driver | Nesa Azimi | United States |
| Every Little Thing | Every Little Thing | Sally Aitken | Australia |
| Good Men | Good Men | Bobby Roth | United States |
| Group Therapy | Group Therapy | Neil Berkeley | United States |
| Headhunting to Beatboxing | Headhunting to Beatboxing | Rohit Gupta | India |
| His Own Way – The Cinema of Avi Nesher | His Own Way – The Cinema of Avi Nesher | Yair Raveh | Israel |
| Homegrown | Homegrown | Michael Premo | United States |
| Igualada | Igualada | Juan Mejía | Colombia, Mexico, United States |
| Janis Ian: Breaking Silence | Janis Ian: Breaking Silence | Varda Bar-Kar | United States |
| Jean Cocteau | Jean Cocteau | Lisa Immordino Vreeland | United States |
| Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story | Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story | Bruce David Klein | United States |
| Mistress Dispeller | Mistress Dispeller | Elizabeth Lo | China, United States |
| My Sweet Land | My Sweet Land | Sareen Hairabedian | Jordan, United States, France, Ireland |
| Nasty | Nasty | Tudor Giurgiu, Tudor D. Popescu, Cristian Pascariu | Romania |
| No Other Land | No Other Land | Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor | Palestine |
| Paul Anka: His Way | Paul Anka: His Way | John Maggio | United States |
| Sabbath Queen | Sabbath Queen | Sandi Simcha DuBowski | United States |
| Schindler Space Architect | Schindler Space Architect | Valentina Ganeva | United States |
| Shelf Life | Shelf Life | Ian Cheney | United States, Japan, Switzerland, Georgia, Egypt, Spain, United Kingdom |
| Space Cowboy | Space Cowboy | Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt | United States |
| The Stamp Thief | The Stamp Thief | Dan Sturman | United States, Poland, Germany |
| A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things | A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things | Mark Cousins | United Kingdom |
| Tokito: The 540-Day Journey of A Culinary Maverick | 革新の料理人たち 540日の記録 | Aki Mizutani | Japan |
| Transfers | Traslados | Nicolás Gil Lavedra | Argentina, Uruguay |
| Walk with Me | Walk with Me | Heidi Levitt | United States |
| Whatever It Takes | Whatever It Takes | Jenny Carchman | United Kingdom, United States |
| You're No Indian | You're No Indian | Ryan Flynn | United States |
| Zurawski v. Texas | Zurawski v. Texas | Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault | 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) |
| Hard Truths | Hard Truths | Mike Leigh | United Kingdom, Spain |
| Never Alone | Ei koskaan yksin | Klaus Härö | Estonia, Finland |
| Parthenope | Parthenope | Paolo Sorrentino | Italy |
| Presence | Presence | Steven Soderbergh | United States |
| A Traveler's Needs | 여행자의 필요 | Hong Sang-soo | South Korea |
| When Fall Is Coming | Quand vient l'automne | François Ozon | France |

### New Voices New Visions

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the New Voices New Visions competition:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Bob Trevino Likes It | Bob Trevino Likes It | Tracie Laymon | United States |
| Bonjour Tristesse | Bonjour Tristesse | Durga Chew-Bose | Canada, Germany |
| Color Book | Color Book | David Fortune | United States |
| Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight | Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight | Embeth Davidtz | South Africa |
| Hanami | Hanami | Denise Fernandes | Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde |
| The New Year That Never Came | Anul Nou care n-a fost | Bogdan Mureșanu | Romania |
| To a Land Unknown | To a Land Unknown | Mahdi Fleifel | United Kingdom, Palestine, France, Greece, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia |
    Highlighted title indicates the section winner.

### American Indies

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the American Indies section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Bad Shabbos | Bad Shabbos | Daniel Robbins | United States |
| The Friend | The Friend | Scott McGehee and David Siegel | United States |
| I Don't Understand You | I Don't Understand You | David Joseph Craig, Brian Crano | United States, Italy |
| Lilly | Lilly | Rachel Feldman | United States |
| Love Me | Love Me | Sam Zuchero and Andy Zuchero | United States |
| Millers in Marriage | Millers in Marriage | Edward Burns | United States |
| Paper Flowers | Paper Flowers | Mahesh Pailoor | United States |
| Sacramento | Sacramento | Michael Angarano | United States |

### 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) |
| Babygirl | Babygirl | Halina Reijn | United States |
| Emilia Pérez | Emilia Pérez | Jacques Audiard | France |
| Maria | Maria | Pablo Larraín | Italy, Germany, United States |
| A Real Pain | A Real Pain | Jesse Eisenberg | Poland, United States |
| Sing Sing | Sing Sing | Greg Kwedar | United States |
| Wicked | Wicked | Jon M. Chu | United States |

### Spanish Focus

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Spanish Focus section, dedicated to celebrate Spanish cinema:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Afternoons of Solitude | Tardes de soledad | Albert Serra | Spain, France, Portugal |
| The Exiles | Los Tortuga | Belén Funes | Spain, Chile |
| Holy Mother | La abadesa | Antonio Chavarrías | Spain, Belgium |
| I'm Nevenka | Soy Nevenka | Icíar Bollaín | Spain, Italy |
| Marco, the Invented Truth | Marco, la verdad inventada | Aitor Arregi and Jon Garaño | Spain |
| Rioja, The Land of a Thousand Wines | Rioja, la tierra de los mil vinos | José Luis López-Linares | Spain |
| The Wailing | El llanto | Pedro Martín-Calero | Spain, France, Argentina |

### 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) |
| Bun Tikki | Bun Tikki | Faraz Arif Ansari | India |
| Desired Lines | Desired Lines | Jules Rosskam | United States |
| Drive Back Home | Drive Back Home | Michael Clowater | Canada |
| Four Mothers | Four Mothers | Darren Thornton | Ireland, United Kingdom |
| A House Is Not a Disco | A House Is Not a Disco | Brian J. Smith | United States |
| I'm Your Venus | I'm Your Venus | Kimberly Reed | United States |
| Misericordia | Miséricorde | Alain Guiraudie | France, Spain, Portugal |
| A Nice Indian Boy | A Nice Indian Boy | Roshan Sethi | United States, Canada |
| Sally! | Sally! | Deborah Craig, Jörg Fockele, Ondine Rarey | United States |

### Spotlight: Pedro Almodóvar

The following films were selected to be screened as part of a section destined to highlight Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's filmography:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| All About My Mother (1999) | Todo sobre mi madre | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain, France |
| Matador (1986) | Matador (1986) | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
| Spain ||
| Talk to Her (2002) | Hable con ella | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |

### Family Day

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Family Day section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie | The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie | Pete Browngardt | United States |
| Flow | Straume | Gints Zilbalodis | Latvia, France, Belgium |
| The Mountain | The Mountain | Rachel House | New Zealand |

### 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) |
| Arcadia | Arcadia | Yorgos Zois | Greece, Bulgaria, United States |
| Auction | Le tableau volé | Pascal Bonitzer | France |
| Audrey | Audrey | Natalie Bailey | Australia |
| Back Dog | 狗阵 | Guan Hu | China |
| Bushido | Bushido | Kazuya Shiraishi | Japan |
| The Correspondent | The Correspondent | Kriv Stenders | Australia |
| From Hilde, with Love | In Liebe, Eure Hilde | Andreas Dresen | Germany |
| Ghost Trail | Les Fantômes | Jonathan Millet | France, Germany, Belgium |
| Happy Holidays | ينعاد عليكو | Scandar Copti | Palestine, Germany, France, Italy, Qatar |
| John Cranko | John Cranko | Joachim Lang | Germany |
| Maldoror | Maldoror | Fabrice du Welz | Belgium, France |
| Manas | Manas | Marianna Brennand | Brazil, Portugal |
| My Favourite Cake | کیک محبوب من | Maryam Moghaddam, Behtash Sanaeeha | Iran, France, Sweden, Germany |
| Odd Fish | Ljósvíkingar | Snævar Sölvi Sölvason | Iceland, Finland, Czech Republic |
| On Becoming a Guinea Fowl | On Becoming a Guinea Fowl | Rungano Nyoni | Zambia, United Kingdom, Ireland |
| Pink Lady | Pink Lady | Nir Bergman | Israel, Italy |
| The Quiet Ones | De lydløse | Frederik Louis Hviid | Denmark, United States |
| Quisling: The Final Days | Quislings siste dager | Erik Poppe | Norway |
| Sex | Sex | Dag Johan Haugerud | Norway, United States |
| The Shameless | The Shameless | Konstantin Bojanov | Switzerland, France, Bulgaria, Taiwan, India |
| Sons | Vogter | Gustav Möller | Denmark, Sweden |
| Souleymane's Story | L'Histoire de Souleymane | Boris Lojkine | France |
| Sunshine | Sunshine | Antoinette Jadaone | Philippines |
| Superboys of Malegaon | Superboys of Malegaon | Reema Kagti | India, United States |
| Tatami | Tatami | Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv | Georgia, Israel, Iran |
| There's Still Tomorrow | C'è ancora domani | Paola Cortellesi | Italy, United States |
| Through Rocks and Clouds | Raíz | Franco García Becerra | Peru, Chile |
| Tinā (Mother) | Tinā (Mother) | Miki Magasiva | New Zealand |
| To Kill a Mongolian Horse | 一匹白马的热梦 | Jiang Xiaoxuan | Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, United States |
| Trifole | Trifole | Gabriele Fabbro | Italy, South Africa, United States |
| Waltzing with Brando | Waltzing with Brando | Bill Fishman | United States, French Polynesia |
| The Way, My Way | The Way, My Way | Bill Bennett | Australia |
| William Tell | William Tell | Nick Hamm | United Kingdom |

### Talking Pictures: Book to Screen

The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Talking Pictures: Book to Screen:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production countrie(s) |
| Conclave | Conclave | Edward Berger | United Kingdom, United States |
| Nickel Boys | Nickel Boys | RaMell Ross | United States |
| Queer | Queer | Luca Guadagnino | Italy, United States |
| Reading Lolita in Tehran | Reading Lolita in Tehran | Eran Riklis | Italy, Israel |
| The Room Next Door | The Room Next Door | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |

## Awards

The following awards were presented at the 36th Edition:

### International Film competition

* Best International Feature Film: I'm Still Here by Walter Salles
* Best Actor in an International Feature Film: Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Provái for Kneecap
* Best Actress in an International Feature Film: Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez
* Best International Screenplay: Maura Delpero for Vermiglio

### Ibero-American Competition

* Ibero-American Award: Sujo by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez
* Ibero-American Special Mention: Manas by Marianna Brennand

### Documentary competition

* Best Documentary: No Other Land by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
* Special Mention: Blue Road – The Edna O'Brien Story by Sinéad O'Shea

### New Voices New Visions

* New Voices New Visions Award: The New Year That Never Came by Bogdan Mureșanu
* New Voices New Visions Special Mention: Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Embeth Davidtz

### Other awards

* Desert Views Award: Checkpoint Zoo by Joshua Zeman
** Desert Views Special Mention: Desert Angel by Vincent DeLuca
* Young Cineastes Award: Tatami by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahimi
** Young Cineastes Special Mention: Superboys of Malegaon by Reema Kagti
* Bridging the Borders Award: Souleymane's Story by Boris Lojkine
** Bridging the Borders Special Mention: Happy Holidays by Scandar Copti

### Opening Gala Awards

The following awards were presented during the opening gala:
* Vanguard Award: Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard, Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gómez, Edgar Ramírez)
* Desert Palm Achievement for Best Actor: Adrien Brody for The Brutalist
* Desert Palm Achievement for Best Actress: Angelina Jolie for Maria
* Spotlight Award: Colman Domingo for Sing Sing
* Breakthrough Performance Award: Mikey Madison for Anora
* Breakthrough Performance Award: Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain
* International Star Award: Nicole Kidman for Babygirl
* Ensemble Performance Award: Conclave (Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati)
* Chairman's Award: Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown
* Rising Star Award: Ariana Grande for Wicked
* Visionary Award: Denis Villeneuve for Dune: Part Two

### Creative Impact Awards

The following creative impact awards were presented:
* Creative Impact in Acting Award to Cynthia Erivo
* Creative Impact in Directing Award to Jacques Audiard
* Legend & Groundbreaker Award for Jennifer López

## Variety's 10 Directors to Watch

The list consisted of the following directors:
* Durga Chew-Bose for Bonjour Tristesse
* Coralie Fargeat for The Substance
* David Fortune for Color Book
* Drew Hancock for Companion
* Zoe Kravitz for Blink Twice
* Tom Nesher for Come Closer
* Halina Reijn for Babygirl
* James Sweeney for Twinless
* Magnus von Horn for The Girl with the Needle
* Malcolm Washington for The Piano Lesson