‘Emilia Pérez’ to Receive Vanguard Award from 2025 Palm Springs International Film Awards

The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Emilia Pérez is the recipient of the Vanguard Award. The Vanguard Award is a group honor distinguishing a film’s cast and director in recognition of their collective work on an exceptional film project. The award will be presented to director Jacques Audiard and actors Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Edgar Ramírez, all of whom are expected to be in attendance. 

The Film Awards will take place on January 3, 2025, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running January 2-13, 2025. The event will be presented by Silvercrest and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight.

“Emilia Pérez is one of the greatest achievements in cinema this year,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. ‘This powerful film from visionary director Jacques Audiard, is led by outstanding performances from Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez. The film started its awards run at the Cannes film festival, where it won the Jury Prize, and its main actresses shared the Best Actress prize. It’s our honor to celebrate the director and cast of Emilia Perez with the Vanguard Award for this achievement in filmmaking.” 

Past recipients of the Vanguard Award include Academy Award Best Picture winners Green Book and The Shape of Water as well as Best Picture nominees Belfast, Killers of the Flower Moon, La La Land, Little Miss Sunshine, The Fabelmans, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

From award-winning director Jacques Audiard comes Emilia Pérez, an audacious fever dream that defies genres and expectations. Through liberating song and dance and bold visuals, this odyssey follows the journey of four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. The fearsome cartel leader Emilia (Karla Sofía Gascón) enlists Rita (Zoe Saldaña), an unappreciated lawyer stuck in a dead-end job, to help fake her death so that Emilia can finally live authentically as her true self. The Netflix film is written and directed by Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet), the double Cannes-winning film also stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Edgar Ramírez.

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 the Oscar-qualifying ShortFest is the largest short film festival and market in North America. The 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