The 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Antonio Banderas with the International Star Award, Actor for his performance in Pain and Glory at its annual Film Awards Gala. The event, presented by American Express, sponsored by AT&T and Entertainment Tonight and hosted by Mary Hart is scheduled for Thursday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs January 2-13, 2020.
“Throughout his career Antonio Banderas has garnered international acclaim and world recognition from his memorable performances. In his latest film Pain and Glory, Antonio Banderas gives another deeply moving performance as aging film director Salvador Mallo going through a creative crisis as he reflects on the choice’s he’s made throughout his life,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the International Star Award, Actor to Antonio Banderas.”
Past recipients of the International Star Award include Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren, Gary Oldman and Saoirse Ronan. He joins previously announced honorees Jennifer Lopez (Spotlight Award), Joaquin Phoenix (Chairman’s Award), Martin Scorsese (Sonny Bono Visionary Award), Charlize Theron (International Star Award, Actress) and Renée Zellweger (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress).
From Sony Picture Classics and presented by El Deseo, Pain and Glory tells of a series of reencounters experienced by Salvador Mallo, a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void created by the incapacity to keep on making films. Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.
In 1982, Antonio Banderas was cast by writer/director Pedro Almodóvar in Labyrinth of Passion. It was the first of eight films Banderas would do with Almodóvar, the others being Matador, Law of Desire, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In) and I’m So Excited. The international success of these films introduced him to Hollywood, where has starred in countless films including Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Original Sin, Evita, in which he received his first Best Actor Golden Globe nomination, The Mask of Zorro, in which he received his second Best Actor Golden Globe nomination, and the sequel The Legend of Zorro, Interview with a Vampire, Philadelphia, House of the Spirits and Femme Fatale. He was nominated for his third Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance in HBO’s release of And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. His additional film credits include The Laundromat, Life Itself, Beyond The Edge, The Music of Silence, Security, Black Butterfly, The 33, Automata, Knights of Cups, The Expendables 3, SpongeBob: Sponge Out Of Water, Machete Kills, Justin and the Knights of Valour, Ruby Sparks, Haywire, Black Gold, Day of the Falcon, Puss In Boots, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, The Big Bang, The Other Man, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, Take the Lead, Spy Kids trilogy, Miami Rhapsody, Four Rooms, Assassins, Never Talk to Strangers, Two Much, The 13th Warrior, Play it to the Bone and Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. His next project is Dolittle. Banderas is represented by Paradigm talent agency.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 136,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, a glamorous, black-tie event attended by 2,500, presented this year by American Express and sponsored by AT&T and Entertainment Tonight. The Film Awards Gala honors the year’s best achievements in cinema in front of and behind the camera. The celebrated list of talents who have been honored in recent years includes Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Mary J. Blige, Sandra Bullock, Jessica Chastain, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Gal Gadot, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Regina King, Rami Malek, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron and Reese Witherspoon. Call 760-969-7533 for Gala tickets or tables, 760-778-8979 or 800-898-7256 for Film Festival information or visit www.psfilmfest.org.
