Palm Springs International Film Festival: A Retrospective of Past Award Winners

With the Palm Springs Film Festival now underway, the city is buzzing from all the excitement from the Awards Gala on Tuesday. The evening was a huge success, in large part because of the turnout of celebrities in attendance. Here are a few more photos from the Red Carpet (freshly borrowed from the Desert Sun) for your viewing pleasure! Above left is Rosemarie DeWitt, who is surprisingly shy and demure.


above: Taraji Henson

above left: Zoe Karzan with Paul Dano, above right: Tom Bosley and his wife Patricia. I also saw Kay Ballard and Wiliam Dafoe, who live here in the desert.
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A Retrospective of Award Winners From Now Through The Past 20 Years:
As you will see below, the list of celebrities who attend each year has grown over the past 20 years. Today the Palm Springs Film Festival is seen as a "preview" to the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. Regardless, we think it is a lot of fun.
2009
Breakthrough Performance Award: Freida Pinto
Career Achievement Award: Clint Eastwood
Chairman's Award: Dustin Hoffman
Desert Palm Achievement Award - Actress: Anne Hathaway
Desert Palm Achievement Award – Actor: Sean Penn
Ensemble Performance Award: The cast of Revolutionary Road
Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing: Alexandre Desplat
Life Achievement Award in Directing: Ron Howard
Rising Star Award: Dakota Fanning
Sonny Bono Visionary Award: Gus Van Sant
Spotlight Award: Amy Adams
emcee: Mary Hart

2008
Sonny Bono Visionary Award: Joe Wright

Desert Palm Achievement: Halle Berry and Daniel Day-Lewis
Breakthrough Performance: Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”

Rising Star: Nikki Blonsky and Emile Hirsch

Chairman's Vanguard: “Juno”

Ensemble Cast: “Hairspray” (Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, Allison Janney, Elijah Kelley, Queen Latifah, James Marsden, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brittany Snow, John Travolta, Christopher Walken)

Director of the Year: Sean Penn, “Into the Wild”

Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing: James Newton Howard

Screen Actors Guild Foundation Patron of the Arts Jerry Weintraub

emcee: Mary Hart

Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “Then She Found Me,” Helen Hunt (U.S.); Audience Award Best Documentary Feature: “Autism: The Musical,” Tricia Regan (U.S.).
2007:
Sonny Bono Visionary: Todd Field
Career Achievement: Cate Blanchett
Desert Palm Achievement: Kate Winslet
Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls,”
Rising Star: Adam Beach, Jessica Biel
Chairman's Vanguard: “Little Miss Sunshine”
Ensemble cast: “Babel” (Adriana Barraza, Gael García Bernal, Cate Blanchett, Boubker Ait El Caid, Rinko Kikuchi, Brad Pitt, Said Tarchani, Kôji Yakusho)
Director of the Year: Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Babel,”
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Philip Glass
Screen Actors Guild Foundation Patron of the Arts: Sydney Pollack
emcee: Mary Hart.
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Germany); Audience Award Best Documentary: “Blindsight,” Lucy Walker (UK).
2006:
Sonny Bono Visionary: David Cronenberg
Lifetime Achievement: Shirley MacLaine
Desert Palm Achievement: Jake Gyllenhaal, Charlize Theron
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Huffman, “Transamerica
Rising Star: Terrence Howard
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Thomas Newman
Producer of the Year: Michael London
emcee: Mary Hart
Festival awards: Audience Award for Best Narrative: “Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont,” Dan Ireland (UK), “Mother of Mine,” Klaus Härö (Finland); Audience Award for Best Documentary: “Five Days in September,” Barbara Willis Sweete (Canada).
2005:
Sonny Bono Visionary for Acting, Producing & Directing: Kevin Spacey
Lifetime Achievement in the Arts & Humanities: Kirk Douglas
Career Achievement in Acting: Samuel L. Jackson
Desert Palm Achievement: Laura Linney, Liam Neeson
Rising Star: Bryce Dallas Howard
Chairman's Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts: Nicole Kidman
Director of the Year: Alexander Payne
Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing: Howard Shore
emcee: Mary Hart
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “The Sea Inside,” Alejandro Amenábar (Spain); Audience Award Best Documentary: “Watermarks,” Yaron Zilberman (France/Israel/USA).
2004:
Sonny Bono Visionary: Sidney Sheldon
Lifetime Achievement in Film Production: Richard D. Zanuck
International Filmmaker Award for Writing & Directing: Anthony Minghella
Career Achievement Award in Art of Cinema: Kevin Costner
Career Achievement Award in Production Design: Dante Ferretti
Desert Palm Achievement: Naomi Watts
Rising Star: Scarlett Johansson
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Danny Elfman
Distinguished Achievement in Directing & Producing: Jim Sheridan
emcee: Mary Hart.
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “The Best of Youth,” Marco Tullio Giordana (Italy); Audience Award Best Documentary: “Paper Clips,” Joe Fab, Elliott Berlin (U.S.).
2003:
Sonny Bono Visionary: Christopher Nolan
Lifetime Achievement: Stephen Frears
International Filmmaker: Stephen Daldry
Career Achievement in Acting: Lynn Redgrave
Career Achievement in Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Career Achievement in Producing: Mace Neufeld
Director's Achievement: Franco Zeffirelli
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Michel Legrand
emcee: Lily Tomlin.
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Documentary: “OT: Our Town,” Scott Hamilton Kennedy (U.S.).
2002:
Sonny Bono Visionary: Baz Luhrmann
Lifetime Achievement: Irwin Winkler
International Filmmaker: Alan Bates
Career Achievement: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Mira Nair
Spotlight Award: Michael Apted
Desert Palm Achievement: Andy Garcia
Director's Achievement: Arthur Hiller
Da Vinci Cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Hans Zimmer
Excellence in Film Distribution: Miramax Films
emcee: Leonard Maltin.
Festival awards: Audience Award for Best Narrative: “I Love You Eugenio,” Francisco Josè Fernandez (Italy).
2001:
Lifetime Achievement: Sean Connery
Lifetime Achievement in Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
International Filmmaker: Ang Lee, Liv Ullmann
Career Achievement: John Schlesinger
Career Achievement in Art of Cinema: Lasse Hallström
Spotlight: Joan Allen
Desert Palm Achievement: Nicolas Cage
Director's Achievement: Ridley Scott
Da Vinci Cinematographer: Luciano Tovoli
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Randy Newman
Excellence in Film Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics
emcee: Nancy O'Dell
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “Sky Hook,” Ljubisa Samardzic (Serbia).
2000:
Sonny Bono Visionary: M. Night Shyamalan
International Filmmaker, Catherine Deneuve
Career Achievement, Pedro Almodóvar
Career Achievement in Art of Cinema: Owen Roizman
Career Achievement in Producing: Yimou Zhang
Charles A. Crain Desert Palm Achievement: Annette Benning
Director's Achievement: Milos Forman
Da Vinci Cinematographer: Janusz Kaminski, Dirk Brüel and Gernot Roll
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Distinguished Achievement in Directing & Producing: Dino DeLaurentiis
Excellence in Film Distribution: Landmark Theatres
emcee: Swoosie Kurtz.
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “East-West,” Régis Wargnier (France).
1999:
Sonny Bono Visionary: Jack Valenti
Lifetime Achievement: Debbie Reynolds
Desert Palm Achievement: John Travolta
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: John Barry
Excellence in Film Distribution: Vittorio Cecchi Gori
emcee: Christine Baranski.
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “Life is Beautiful,” Roberto Benigni (Italy).
1998:
Lifetime Achievement: Michelangelo Antonioni
Charles A. Crain Desert Palm Achievement: Sylvester Stallone
Director's Achievement Award: Kasi Lemmons
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Jerry Goldsmith
emcee: Leonard Maltin.
1997:
Lifetime Achievement: Lauren Bacall
Career Achievement: Sydney Guilaroff
Charles A. Crain Desert Palm Achievement: Richard Dreyfuss
Director's Achievement: Norman Jewison
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Bill Conti
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Documentary: “Blue Eyed,” Bertram Verhaag (Germany); “Queens of the Big Time,” Adriana Trigiani (U.S.); Audience Award Best Foreign Language Film: “The King of Masks,” Tian-Ming Wu (Hong Kong); Audience Award Best English Language Film: “Soulmates,” Duane Clark (U.S.)
1996:
Lifetime Achievement: Leslie Caron
Career Achievement in Choreography: Michael Kidd
Charles A. Crain Desert Palm Achievement: Susan Sarandon
Director's Achievement: Stanley Donen
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Marvin Hamlisch
emcee: Donald O'Connor.
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Foreign Language Film: “French Twist,” Josiane Balasko (France); Audience Award Best English Language: “The Grass Harp,” Charles Matthau (U.S.); Best Director: Tim Robbins, “Dead Man Walking,” (U.S.)
1995:
Career Achievement in Costume Design: Jean Louis
Charles A. Crain Desert Palm Achievement: Tony Curtis
Director's Achievement: George Sidney
Frederick Loewe for Film Composing: Henry Mancini
emcee: Donald O'Connor.
Festival awards: Audience Award Drama: “Farinelli,” Gérard Corbiau (Belgium); Audience Award Comedy: “Spider & Rose,” Bill Bennett (Australia).
1994:
Desert Palm Achievement: Sophia Loren
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “The Boys of St. Vincent,” John N. Smith (Canada).
1993:
Lifetime Achievement: Marcello Mastroianni
Desert Palm Achievement: Frank Sinatra
1992:
Desert Palm Achievement: James Stewart
Festival awards: Audience Award Best Narrative: “Mediterraneo,” Gabriele Salvatores (Italy).
1991:
Desert Palm Achievement: Cyd Charisse and Ruby Keeler.
1990:
Retrospective honorees: Denys Arcand, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Frank Capra and Kirk Douglas
I hope you enjoyed this retrospective. Thanks for checking out the past 20 years of Award Recipients from the Palm Springs Film Festival. As you can see by the number of awards, the event has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in 1990. Today it is part of what has made Palm Springs sparkle once again.
-Rick Rockhill