Danielle Brooks to receive Palm Springs film festival award for 'The Color Purple'

Screen Actors Guild Award winner Danielle Brooks will receive the Spotlight Award, Actress, forher performance in "The Color Purple" at the Palm Springs International Film Awards.

The Film Awards will take place on Jan. 4, 2024, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running through Jan. 15.

A bold new take on the classic story of love and resilience, "The Color Purple" is a portrayal of the bonds of sisterhood and the triumph of the human spirit. With performances from a powerhouse cast, the cinematic experience takes Celie (Fantasia Barrino), Shug (Taraji P. Henson), Sofia (Brooks) and more on a hope-filled journey to discover one’s voice, to find one’s joy and to be true to one’s own heart and mind. Directed by Blitz Bazawule from a screenplay by Marcus Gardley, the film also stars Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.

"The Color Purple" hits theaters Dec. 25.

"In 'The Color Purple,' Danielle Brooks revisits her Tony-nominated portrayal of Sofia, a force to be reckoned with who challenges traditional female roles and stands for what she believes in,” Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement. "For her exceptional work and a scene-stealing performance, it is our honor to present the Spotlight Award, Actress, to Danielle Brooks."

Brooks is an award-winning actress and singer. She most recently starred in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play "The Piano Lesson" opposite Samuel L. Jackson and directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson. With Bazawule’s big screen adaptation of "The Color Purple," Brooks reprises her iconic performance as Sofia, which earned her a Tony Award nomination, a Grammy Award, Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

The actress is a graduate of Juilliard and the co-founder of Black Women on Broadway, which honors the legacy of Black Women’s contributions to the world of theater.

Her other appearance in film and television include "Peacemaker," "Close Enough," "Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia" and "Orange is the New Black," for which she earned three SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Past recipients of the Spotlight Award, Actress, include Amy Adams, Jessica Chastain, Helen Hunt, Allison Janney, Rooney Mara, Julia Roberts, Kristen Stewart and Yuh-Jung Youn, all seven of whom received Academy Award nominations in the year they were honored, with Janney ("I, Tonya") and Youn ("Minari") winning an Oscar for best supporting actress.

Brooks joins this year’s previously announced honorees "Killers of the Flower Moon" (Vanguard Award), Emma Stone (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress), Cillian Murphy (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Breakthrough Performance Award), Greta Gerwig (Director of the Year Award), Jeffrey Wright (Career Achievement Award), Carey Mulligan (International Star Award, Actress) and Colman Domingo (Spotlight Award, Actor).

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Danielle Brooks to receive Palm Springs film festival award