The 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival took place from January 2 to 13, 2025, in Palm Springs, California, United States. The festival opened with Michael Gracey's biographic drama film Better Man and closed 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 took place, dedicated to highlight Spanish cinema, while Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar received a spotlight section screening some films from his filmography.
As usual, throughout late 2024, several special awards were announced, which were presented during 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 received the Chairman's Award for A Complete Unknown while American singer and actress Ariana Grande was honored with the Rising Star Award for her performance in Wicked. Finally, the Visionary Award was 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 took place at the Parker Palm Springs. The recipients for the Creative Impact awards are Cynthia Erivo, who received the Acting Award, and Jacques Audiard, who was honored with the Directing Award. Additionally, American singer and actress Jennifer López was 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 Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel Norway Come Closer קרוב אלי Tom Nesher Israel Dahomey Mati Diop Senegal Drowning Dry Sesės Laurynas Bareiša Lithuania 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 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 Rich Peppiatt Ireland 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 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 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 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 Shannon Walsh Canada 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 Paris Barclay United States Blue Road – The Edna O'Brien Story Sinéad O'Shea Ireland, United Kingdom Bring Them Home Ivan Macdonald, Ivy Macdonald, Daniel Glick United States Checkpoint Zoo Joshua Zeman United States, Ukraine Counted Out Vicki Abeles United States Desert Angel Vincent Deluca The Diamond King Marq Evans Diane Warren: Relentless Bess Kargman Driver Nesa Azimi Every Little Thing Sally Aitken Australia Good Men Bobby Roth United States Group Therapy Neil Berkeley Headhunting to Beatboxing Rohit Gupta India His Own Way – The Cinema of Avi Nesher Yair Raveh Israel Homegrown Michael Premo United States Igualada Juan Mejía Colombia, Mexico, United States Janis Ian: Breaking Silence Varda Bar-Kar United States Jean Cocteau Lisa Immordino Vreeland Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story Bruce David Klein Mistress Dispeller Elizabeth Lo China, United States My Sweet Land Sareen Hairabedian Jordan, United States, France, Ireland Nasty Tudor Giurgiu, Tudor D. Popescu, Cristian Pascariu Romania No Other Land Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor Palestine Paul Anka: His Way John Maggio United States Sabbath Queen Sandi Simcha DuBowski Schindler Space Architect Valentina Ganeva Shelf Life Ian Cheney United States, Japan, Switzerland, Georgia, Egypt, Spain, United Kingdom Space Cowboy Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt United States The Stamp Thief Dan Sturman United States, Poland, Germany 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 Heidi Levitt United States Whatever It Takes Jenny Carchman United Kingdom, United States You're No Indian Ryan Flynn United States Zurawski v. Texas Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault
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 Mike Leigh United Kingdom, Spain Never Alone Ei koskaan yksin Klaus Härö Estonia, Finland Parthenope Paolo Sorrentino Italy 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 Tracie Laymon United States Bonjour Tristesse Durga Chew-Bose Canada, Germany Color Book David Fortune United States Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight Embeth Davidtz South Africa 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 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 Daniel Robbins United States The Friend Scott McGehee and David Siegel I Don't Understand You David Joseph Craig, Brian Crano United States, Italy Lilly Rachel Feldman United States Love Me Sam Zuchero and Andy Zuchero Millers in Marriage Edward Burns Paper Flowers Mahesh Pailoor Sacramento Michael Angarano
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 Halina Reijn United States Emilia Pérez Jacques Audiard France Maria Pablo Larraín Italy, Germany, United States A Real Pain Jesse Eisenberg Poland, United States Sing Sing Greg Kwedar United States 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 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 Faraz Arif Ansari India Desired Lines Jules Rosskam United States Drive Back Home Michael Clowater Canada Four Mothers Darren Thornton Ireland, United Kingdom A House Is Not a Disco Brian J. Smith United States I'm Your Venus Kimberly Reed Misericordia Miséricorde Alain Guiraudie France, Spain, Portugal A Nice Indian Boy Roshan Sethi United States, Canada 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) Spain The Room Next Door Talk to Her (2002) Hable con ella
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 Pete Browngardt United States Flow Straume Gints Zilbalodis Latvia, France, Belgium 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: