Coachella Valley welcoming back PSIFF

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Film festivals continue to return to in-person formatting in Southern California.

With restrictions in place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its omicron variant, the Palm Springs International Film Society said it is preparing to welcome back guests into Coachella Valley’s local theaters. The Palm Springs International Film Festival just revealed the lineup for its 33rd edition and continues this week to roll out announcements of honorees for various prestigious awards.

Gathering films and preparing for a renowned festival like PSIFF are year-round processes, and 2022’s upcoming edition kicking off in January has been a particularly unique endeavor — given that the event was canceled last year due to the coronavirus.

“We start watching as soon as the festival ends, in a normal year. So in 2020, we started with Sundance 2020, looking at movies for the next edition, so this year, we had two years,” said Lili Rodriguez, artistic director for the film society. “A lot of these films, even if they premiered in 2021, 2020, they may not have had a release outside of their own countries.”

In addition to curating the best in international cinema, PSIFF’s Film Awards has come to be known as the first stop on the campaign trail for the Academy Awards, and the Oscar-qualifying ShortFest, which takes place in June, is the largest short film festival and market in North America.

The society’s festivals, year-round member screenings and educational programs manifest the organization’s mission by nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema, and expanding audience horizons. With pandemic restrictions in place, however, the upcoming event in January is faced with limitations.

“Usually, we do a country focus,” said Rodriguez. “We select a region of the world, and we do a number of movies from there, [making] sure to invite the filmmakers over, and we’re not doing that this year mostly because we weren’t quite sure what travel restrictions were going to look like. And for us, having the filmmakers from those countries is really important for that section.”

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem, stars of Aaron Sorkin’s highly anticipated new film “Being the Ricardos,” were just announced as recipients of PSIFF’s Career Achievement Award and Variety’s Creative Impact in Acting Award at PSIFF, respectively. They join this year’s previously announced honorees, which include:

• “Belfast,” recipient of the Vanguard Award, presented to writer and director Kenneth Branagh and cast members Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds and Jude Hill
• Jane Campion, recipient of the Director of the Year Award
• Jessica Chastain, recipient of the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress
• Penélope Cruz, recipient of the International Star Award, Actress
• Andrew Garfield, recipient of the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor
• Jennifer Hudson, recipient of the Chairman’s Award
• “King Richard,” recipient of the Ensemble Performance Award, presented to cast members Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal and Tony Goldwyn
• Kristen Stewart, recipient of the Spotlight Award, Actress
• Lady Gaga, recipient of the Icon Award

The film festival will present films that are local to the Coachella Valley.

“This year, we have five, which is more than we’ve done in the past,” said Rodriguez. “They are five excellent films, from biographies [to] documentaries. And that’ll be really great because it’s always nice to shine the spotlight back into the community, and the audience that comes out for those always is eager and enthusiastic.”

Overall, the 2022 PSIFF is just one more example of Hollywood’s efforts to successfully adapt to the times and safely provide entertainment to Southern California’s moviegoers amid a global crisis. While offering a completely in-person experience, the event is maintaining COVID safety guidelines: Theaters won’t be at 100% capacity, and attendees must wear masks at all times.

“It was a little more difficult because we were asking ourselves more questions,” said Rodriguez. “But it just makes, I think, the program stronger.”

The festival begins Jan. 6, 2022, and concludes on Jan. 17. General sales tickets can be purchased here starting Dec. 22.