Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024

January 4 – 15

Palm Springs International Film Festival is a prestigious event that showcases a wide array of remarkable films and attracts film enthusiasts worldwide. It is an extravaganza featuring an impressive lineup of screenings, red-carpet events, panel discussions, and awards ceremonies. The festival aims to celebrate the art of cinema and recognize outstanding achievements in filmmaking.

Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala – Jan. 4

The Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024 Awards Gala takes place at the Palm Springs Convention Center.  The bright red carpet, shimmering gowns, sharp tuxedos, dazzling diamonds, the thrilling pop of flashbulbs, and of course, the world’s biggest stars… all the classic glitz and glamour that make the movies magical can be found right here at the Palm Springs International Film Awards.

The most buzzed-about names on the awards trail experience the unrivaled Palm Springs hospitality that creates an intimate event far removed from the frenzy of other awards shows. Here, Hollywood heavyweights settle in to share war stories and rekindle old friendships, and new professional relationships are born over gourmet food and cocktails. It’s a true testament to the Film Awards charm that so many A-listers return year after year!

 Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024 Honorees

Film Screening Theaters

The festival takes advantage of Palm Springs’ thriving theater scene, utilizing multiple venues to showcase a diverse range of films. Some of the prominent theaters that host festival screenings include the following;

Annenberg Theater: 101 Museum Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 | Uniquely located within Palm Springs Art Museum, the Annenberg Theater facility is a true combination of the visual and performing arts.

Camelot Theatres: 2300 E Baristo Rd, Palm Springs, CA, 92262 | The Palm Springs Cultural Center, aka Camelot Theatres, is a three-screen movie house and entertainment complex offering a full bar, café menu, and general concessions.

Mary Pickford is D’Place: 36850 Pickfair St, Cathedral City, CA 92234 | This state-of-the-art theater offers stadium or luxury VIP seating, and the Cinema Cafe offers an assortment of gourmet movie fare – featuring sandwiches, salads, pizzas, wine, and beer.

Palm Canyon Theatre: 538 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 | The festival turns the valley’s oldest source of live theatrical entertainment into a a single-screen venue just north of central Palm Springs. Located next to Frances Stevens Park and convenient to restaurants and shops. Concessions are not available at this location.

Palm Springs High School: 2248 Ramon Rd, Palm Springs, CA 92262 | Located at the Palm Springs High School, Richards Center for the Arts is the Festival’s most prominent venue accommodating over 850 guests in a newly renovated performance space.

Regal Cinemas: 789 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262 | A 9-screen theatre conveniently located within walking distance of downtown Palm Springs. Our largest venue, the Regal Cinemas offers concessions, wine, beer, coffee, and ice cream and is conveniently located near the Festival Ticket & Information Center.

Film Screenings

One of the festival’s main highlights is the extensive selection of films from around the world. From thought-provoking documentaries to critically acclaimed feature films, there’s something to suit every taste and interest. Here are some recommendations to get you started;

Award Winning Films

About Dry Grasses – Assigned to a remote Turkish village, a middle-aged teacher from Istanbul is accused of an inappropriate relationship with one of his pupils in this searing, slow-burn drama from Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Fallen Leaves – Precise and intelligent, this bittersweet romance between two Helsinki loners (Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, both irresistible) posits love as the means to transcend – or at least survive – the grim reality of living in a capitalist society.

Goodbye Julia – Tensions between Northern and Southern Sudanese communities erupt into violence, forever changing two families in this moving story of an unlikely bond between two women as they confront issues of class, gender, and race.

The Mother of All Lies – In this artful documentary from Morocco, a woman turns the camera on her parents and stern, camera-shy grandmother, who rules over her clan with an iron cane, to uncover a web of family secrets.

Perfect Days – Tokyo is the setting of Wim Wenders’ radiant, warm story of a gentle, music-loving man (Cannes Best Actor winner Koji Yakusho) who finds joy in his simple life cleaning public toilets. But a visitor from his past challenges his monastic life.

Award Season Hopefuls

Barbie – To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in an ideal place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis, or you’re a Ken.

American Fiction – In one of the smartest and funniest films this year, Jeffrey Wright plays an earnest novelist who mistakenly finds huge success by trading on despised cultural stereotypes.

Killers of the Flower Moon – Told through the romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Martin Scorsese’s highly lauded epic tracks the suspicious murders of members of the Osage Nation, who became rich overnight when oil was discovered underneath their land.

Maestro – Maestro is a 2023 American biographical drama film that centers on American composer Leonard Bernstein’s relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre.

Family-Friendly Films

Dancing Queen – Twelve-year-old misfit Mina falls head over heels for the new boy at school – the dreamy internet-famous dancer E.D. Win. When the opportunity arises to join the fantastic new dance group alongside him, Mina decides to audition despite one minor problem: she can’t dance!

Flamin’ Hot – Award-winning Eva Longoria’s feature directorial debut follows the inspiring true story of Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), who, as a Frito-Lay janitor, disrupted the food industry by channeling his Mexican-American heritage to turn Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from a snack into an iconic global pop culture phenomenon.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Miles Moran – Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – The Turtle brothers work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants.

LGBTQ+ Stories

20,000 Species of Bees – Eight-year-old Lucía spends a summer in the country with the family’s widowed matriarch when questions about her gender identity arise, leading each woman in the family to face her own doubts and fears.

Big Boys – This endearing, understated ode to queer self-discovery follows awkward 14-year-old Jamie (the wonderful Isaac Krasner), who discovers on a family camping trip to Lake Arrowhead that he can’t take his eyes off his cousin’s hunky older boyfriend.

Bonus Track – An underachieving teenager navigates the rocky road through high school by immersing himself in music. His dream of winning the school talent show seems attainable when he pairs up with a famous musician’s son who understands his music and heart.

Chasing Chasing Amy – Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy was the movie that saved 12-year-old Sav Rodgers’ life. Now a filmmaker, Rodgers embarks on a journey of self-discovery as he seeks out Smith and the cast to explore the 1997 film’s controversial legacy.

Housekeeping for Beginners – Dita lives with her girlfriend, her girlfriend’s two daughters, and a group of queer misfits in the North Macedonian capital, Skopje, in this tender story about families – the ones we’re born into and the ones we find for ourselves.

Film Event Listings and Finder

Film Festival Events

Opening Night, Jan. 5.  Wicked Little Letters.  It’s the 1920s in Littlehampton, a British seaside town, and the residents are anonymously receiving shocking, creatively expletive-laden letters. Righteous churchgoer Edith (Olivia Colman) is neighbor to free spirit Rose (Jessie Buckley), arrested for the crime. As the scandal escalates, the women of the town band together to solve the mystery.

Closing Night, Jan 13. Ex-Husbands.  In this beguilingly bittersweet seriocomedy, a newly divorced dad (a great Griffin Dunne) finds himself at a Mexican beach resort where his about-to-be-married son (James Norton) has gathered his friends for a bachelor party that goes awry. It’s a party you won’t want to miss.

Talking Pictures – One of the distinctive features of the Palm Springs International Film Festival is the chance to directly interact with filmmakers and actors, gaining firsthand insights and observations from them.

Film-Inspired Dinners – Join us for these one-of-a-kind dinner experiences that seamlessly blend cinema’s magic with gastronomy’s artistry. Immerse yourself in a multi-sensory experience where each delectable course is a culinary masterpiece inspired by films appearing at the Palm Springs International Film Festival 2024.

Best International Feature Film Panels – It’s another notable year for the Academy’s Best International Feature Film category: 92 countries put forward a film in the hopes of taking home the coveted Golden Statue. This year, we’re hosting TWO FREE panels with several shortlisted directors in attendance.

Get Film Festival Passes

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