Jennifer Hudson to receive Chairman’s Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival

The Palm Springs International Film Awards announced on Monday that two-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Academy Award-winning actress, Emmy Award-winning producer, and best-selling author Jennifer Hudson is the recipient of the Chairman’s Award for her performance in Respect. The Film Awards will take place in-person on January 6, 2022 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running through January 17, 2022. The event will be presented by American Express and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight. 

“In Respect, Jennifer Hudson brings to life Aretha Franklin’s rise from childhood gospel singer to international star. Hudson transforms into the Queen of Soul singing her heart out in this legendary performance,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “It is our honor to recognize Jennifer Hudson’s phenomenal acting and singing talents with the Chairman’s Award.”   

Hudson was previously honored at the festival with the Breakthrough Performance Award in 2007. Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Regina King, Gary Oldman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Reese Witherspoon. Hudson joins this year’s previously announced honorees Jane Campion (Director of the Year Award), Jessica Chastain (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress), Penélope Cruz (International Star Award, Actress) and Kristen Stewart (Spotlight Award, Actress).   

Respect follows the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom, Hudson, who was handpicked by Franklin to play this role, also executive produced this remarkable true story of Franklin’s journey to find her voice. The Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film is directed by Liesl Tommy, written by Tracey Scott Wilson and also stars Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, and Mary J. Blige. The film was released domestically by United Artists Releasing. 

In 2007, Hudson won an Academy Award for her role as ‘Effie’ in the smash hit Dreamgirls. Her breakout film performance also garnered a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA and an NAACP Image Award. Additional film and television credits include Monster, Baba Yaga, Cats, Sing, Confirmation, Chi-Raq, Hairspray LIVE!, The Secret Life of Bees, Sex and the City: The Movie, Lullaby, Black Nativity, Winnie Mandela, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, The Three Stooges, Call Me Crazy: A Five Film, Smash, and Empire. Hudson is also attached to executive produce and star in an untitled Christmas musical comedy at New Line. She will produce alongside Jonathan Glickman, with whom she also produced Respect.

Photo: Shutterstock

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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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