Richard Gere, Helen Mirren, Sally Field and Helen Hunt were among the other honorees at the annual awards taking place in Palm Springs Convention Center over the weekend.
- Jan 7, 2013
AceShowbiz - The prestigious Hollywood film awards season in 2013 was kicked off in Palm Springs Convention Center over the weekend when the 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival handed out its special prizes to a number of acclaimed people in the industry. A host of Golden Globe nominees and Oscar hopefuls were on hand at the Saturday, January 5 event, including Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Naomi Watts and Helen Mirren.
Affleck, along with Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston, received the Ensemble Performance Award for his highly-praised directorial effort "Argo". Cooper and Watts, meanwhile, were honored with Desert Palm Achievement Awards for Best Actor and Actress respectively.
Watts won the gong for her role in Tsunami drama "The Impossible", while Cooper snatched his award thanks to his well-reviewed performance as a mentally-sick widower in "Silver Linings Playbook". Asked if he hoped to score an Oscar nomination this coming January 10 after winning the prize, Cooper responded, "That would be incredible. Yeah, I'm sure I'll get up, but maybe I'll be asleep. I don't know."
Mirren, who has just got her Hollywood Walk of Fame star recently, won the International Star Award for starring in "Hitchcock". On the other hand, Richard Gere was honored with Chairman's Award, which he described as "Great!" He said of the prize, "That's better than the Governors Award? What's the pecking order of these awards? I want to know. Am I getting the best award? I'm not going in unless I'm getting the best award!"
Oscar winner Sally Field, meanwhile, received Career Achievement Award for playing Mary Todd in "Lincoln". She gushed, "I still can't believe I got the role. Did I get it?" The veteran actress went on, "I'm very lucky... Next year it'll be 50 years that I've been in the business as a professional. It's been a wild ride."
The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs through Sunday, January 13.
2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival Honorees:
- Ensemble Performance Award: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin and Bryan Cranston for "Argo"
- Desert Palm Achievement Award: Bradley Cooper, the actor for "Silver Linings Playbook"
- Desert Palm Achievement Award: Naomi Watts, the actress for "The Impossible"
- Spotlight Award: Helen Hunt for "The Sessions"
- International Star Award: Helen Mirren for "Hitchcock"
- Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing: Mychael Danna for "Life of Pi"
- Chairman's Award: Richard Gere for "Arbitrage"
- Director of the Year Award: Robert Zemeckis for "Flight"
- Career Achievement Award: Sally Field for "Lincoln"
- Sonny Bono Visionary Award: Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables"
