Palm Springs International Film Awards to present Greta Gerwig with the Director of the Year Award

The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Greta Gerwig is the recipient of the Director of the Year Award for her critically acclaimed, record-breaking Barbie. The Film Awards will take place on January 4, 2024, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running through January 15, 2024. The event will be sponsored by Entertainment Tonight and IHG Hotels & Resorts.

“Director Greta Gerwig has brought us the cinematic experience of the year with Barbie, the perfect blend of comedy, emotion and adventure that has both entertained and resonated with audiences, becoming a cultural touchstone around the world,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “Gerwig is a masterful filmmaker, and her vision is brought to life so vividly by both the script she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, and by her clear and singular collaboration with her extraordinary crafts teams, whose visuals are matched only by the outstanding performances delivered by Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and the entire cast. It is our honor to present the Director of the Year Award to Greta Gerwig.”

Past recipients of the Director of the Year Award include Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Alexander Payne (Sideways), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), David O. Russell (The Fighter), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland). McQueen, Payne, Reitman, Russell and Tarantino all went on to receive Best Director Academy Award nominations, while Campion, Iñárritu and Zhao received a Best Director Academy Award for their respective films.

Greta Gerwig is an Academy Award-nominated director and writer who has established herself as one of Hollywood’s most important voices. Prior to writing (with Noah Baumbach) and filming Barbie, Gerwig’s last film, Little Women, starring Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, and Florence Pugh, was nominated for six Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards as well as PGA and WGA honors. Her debut film,

Lady Bird, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including nominations for Gerwig for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Gerwig is also a prolific actor, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Frances Ha, which she also co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. Last year, she starred in his latest film, White Noise, opposite Adam Driver. Her additional acting credits include Jackie, Maggie’s Plan, 20th Century Women, Lola versus, Damsels in Distress and Mistress America.

About Barbie

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken. Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Heyday Films Production, A LuckyChap Entertainment Production, An NB/GG Pictures Production, A Mattel Production, Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell. The film is written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, based on “Barbie” by Mattel, and produced by David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner. The executive producers are Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams. The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

About the Palm Springs International Film Society

The Palm Springs International Film Society is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization whose mission is to cultivate and promote the art and science of film through education and cross-cultural awareness. The Film Society produces the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) and Film Awards every January and Palm Springs ShortFest in June. 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 our Oscar®-qualifying ShortFest is the largest short film festival and market in North America. Our festivals, year-round member screenings and educational programs manifest our organization’s mission by nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema, and expanding audience horizons.