Spotlighting Oscar hopefuls and international heavy hitters, the Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival kicks off its 36th edition with “Better Man,” an audacious crowd-pleaser in which the character of Brit pop star Robbie Williams appears in the movie as a CG chimp, narrating his life story.
“It’s touching and has a unique and personal perspective on fame and resilience,” PSIFF artistic director Liliana Rodri-guez says of the unconventional biopic, directed by Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”). “It’s a fun ride to set the tone for the festival.”
The 2025 slate features 164 films from 71 countries and closes Jan. 13 with Peter Cattaneo’s “The Penguin Lessons,” starring Steve Coogan. The desert fest is a reliably starry destination for awards contenders, where this year’s Jan. 3 Film Awards will fete buzzy breakouts Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”), Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”), Angelina Jolie (“Maria”), Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), director Denis Villeneuve (“Dune: Part Two”), and the casts of “Conclave” and “Emilia Pérez.” On Jan. 4, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch will honor “Emilia Pérez” director Jacques Audiard, Grande’s “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo and “Unstoppable” actor Jennifer Lopez.
Colman Domingo, a 2024 awardee for “Rustin,” returns to receive the festival’s Spotlight Award. He gives an emotional performance in Greg Kwedar’s “Sing Sing” as John “Divine G” Whitfield, an incarcerated man who finds purpose in the theater while fighting for exoneration.
Popular on Variety
“‘Sing Sing’ is so very special to me because, at this time, it is even more impactful to tell stories that help heal us all,” says Domingo. “I feel like all roads of my 34-year career have led to the work that I have been able to lead and support in this film.”
Domingo and stars of “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked,” “Maria” and “Babygirl” will also take part in the popular post-screening Talking Pictures series, while legendary costume designer and Palm Springs local Bob Mackie (“Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion”), Alan Cumming (“Drive Back Home”) and Billy Zane (“Waltzing With Brando”) are among additional guests expected to attend the fest with their films.
Writer-director Rachel Feldman and star Patricia Clarkson will screen “Lilly,” about equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter and her landmark 2007 legal case against Goodyear Tires. A former chair of the DGA Women’s Steering Committee and advocate for gender equity in Hollywood, Feldman made the film with the support of Ledbetter, who died in October.
“An ordinary woman faced with injustice who doesn’t recognize that she has it within herself to do an extraordinary thing — it’s a transformation story,” Feldman says of the film. “It’s heartbreaking that Lilly passed just as we were premiering the movie at festivals, but she did see the finished product … She was very proud that Patricia Clarkson represented her on screen and was thrilled that her story would inspire others.”
Held in Palm Springs and Cathedral City, PSIFF expands this year across the Coachella Valley with the addition of a La Quinta venue, while the second year of the Family Day sidebar welcomes young cinephiles with Latvia’s animated Oscar entry “Flow,” sci-fi toon “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” and actor-turned-director Rachel House’s Māori coming-of-age dramedy “The Mountain.”
A rich array of 35 international Oscar submissions will screen, among them shortlisted entries including Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” (Brazil), Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Germany) and Mati Diop’s “Dahomey” (Senegal). Bringing together as many shortlisted international artists as possible in conversation, PSIFF plays host each year to the collegial relationships that will last through a long awards season.
“It’s one of my favorite things that we do, because these filmmakers who have been doing the festival and awards circuit rarely get a chance to take a breath and meet and talk,” says Rodriguez. “And this is where they do that.”