‘La La Land’ Wins Palm Springs Fest’s Vanguard Prize

La La Land has won the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Vanguard Award, in recognition of the film’s ensemble cast. Stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are expected to attend the ceremony alongside writer-director Damien Chazelle. The awards gala will be held January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. La La Land tells the story of an aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone), and a struggling jazz musician, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), struggling together in Los Angeles. This becomes the latest hardware to be accumulated by the Lionsgate/Black Label Media awards season front runner, which won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, the Volpi Cup for Stone’s performance at Venice, the Audience Award at the Hamptons Film Festival and Best Cinematographer for Linus Sandgren and Best Producer for Marc Platt at the Hollywood Film Awards. The picture opens December 16.

“Director and writer Damien Chazelle delivers a resonant cinematic masterpiece with La La Land,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner in a statement. “This visually stunning film pays tribute to classic Hollywood musicals with a contemporary love story driven by pitch-perfect performances by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. It is our honor to present the Vanguard Award to La La Land.”

 

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