Variety will honor director Ryan Coogler at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 4th as part of the annual 10 Directors to Watch Brunch at the Parker Palm Springs. The brunch is presented by AT&T.
The “Black Panther” director will receive the annual creative impact in directing award. Previous recipients of this award have included Patty Jenkins, David O. Russell, Charlie Kaufman, Jeff Nichols, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The award celebrates his career, from his groundbreaking first feature “Fruitvale Station,” to his most recent work directing ‘Black Panther,” which was recently named one of AFI’s Best Films of the Year and is nominated for a Golden Globe for best motion picture – drama.
“Ryan Coogler has directed one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the year with ‘Black Panther,’” said Variety co-editor in chief, Claudia Eller. “The film’s cultural significance is matched by its artistic merits and is a crowning achievement for a young filmmaker whose incredible storytelling abilities were already on full display in his compelling 2013 drama ‘Fruitvale Station.’”
Variety’s 10 directors to watch, including Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah (“Gangsta”), Augustine Frizzell (“Never Goin’ Back”), Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Joseph Kahn (“Bodied”), Xavier Legrand (“Custody”), Carlos López Estrada (“Blindspotting”), Anthony Maras (“The Palace”), Samuel Maoz (“Foxtrot”), Claire McCarthy (“Ophelia”), and Chloé Zhao (“The Rider”) will also be honored at the brunch.
Cadillac is a premiere sponsor of the event. The Palm Springs International Film Festival will be held Jan. 3-14, 2019.