Palm Springs

Palm Springs, CA – The 27th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Alicia Vikander with the Rising Star Award at its annual Awards Gala. The Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Michael Fassbender, Brie Larson, Tom McCarthy, and Saoirse Ronan. The Awards Gala will be hosted by Mary Hart with presenting sponsor Entertainment Tonight on Saturday, January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The Festival runs January 1-11.

“In The Danish Girl, Alicia Vikander delivers a superb performance as Gerda Wegener, the wife of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe,” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “She projects so much love and pain as she goes on a journey with Lili during an era when there was no precedent for it. Gerda’s own transformation as a character speaks to the story’s themes of courage and self-acceptance. For her astonishing screen presence and masterful performance, we are delighted to present Alicia Vikander with the 2016 Rising Star Award.”

Past recipients of the Rising Star Award include Jessica Biel, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, Bryce Dallas Howard, Terrence Howard, Anna Kendrick, Jennifer Lawrence, and Scarlett Johansson. In the years they were honored Howard, Kendrick, and Lawrence went on to receive Academy Award nominations.

The Danish Girl is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, portrayed in the film respectively by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper. The film also stars Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts. For her role in the film, Vikander received a Breakthrough Performance honor from the New York Film Critics Online.

Following her breakthrough performance in the film Pure, Vikander was named one of the Shooting Stars, representing her native Sweden, for the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival. Her other film credits include A Royal Affair, Anna Karenina, Ex Machina, Testament of Youth, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Hotell. Her upcoming movies include The Light Between Oceans, Tulip Fever, and Paul Greengrass’ new action thriller, opposite Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.

About The Palm Springs International Film Festival The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Roberts, David O. Russell, Meryl Streep, and Reese Witherspoon.

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit http://www.psfilmfest.org.

-Official PSIFF Press Release-