‘Hamnet’ to Receive Vanguard Award From the Palm Springs International Film Awards
The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Focus Features’ Hamnet 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. Expected to attend for the award presentation include director Chloé Zhao as well as actors Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.
The Film Awards will take place on January 3, 2026, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running January 2-12, 2026. The event will be presented by Kering and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight.
“It is an enormous honor to present this year’s Vanguard Award to Hamnet,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “One of the most resonant films of the year, director Chloé Zhao brings forth a story of enormous weight to the screen. Alongside her direction, the extraordinary performances of Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal establish its human core. We are excited to recognize Hamnet for its exceptional achievement in cinematic storytelling.”
Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel of the same name and directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, Hamnet is the story of impoverished Latin tutor William Shakespeare and the free-spirited Agnes. The pair, captivated by one another, strike up a torrid affair that leads to marriage and three children. Yet as Will pursues a budding theater career in far-away London, Agnes anchors the domestic sphere alone. When tragedy strikes, the couple’s once-unshakable bond is tested, but their shared experience sets the stage for the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
Hamnet joins this year’s previously announced honorees Michael B. Jordan (Icon Award), Leonardo DiCaprio (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Adam Sandler (Chairman’s Award) and Sentimental Value cast members Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning (International Star Award).
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, Emilia Pérez, Killers of the Flower Moon, La La Land, Little Miss Sunshine, The Fablemans, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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