Leslie Odom Jr. to Receive Palm Springs Film Festival Spotlight Award — Film News in Brief

Jazz Tangcay
·3 min read
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MONDAY, FEB. 1

Palm Springs International Film to Honor Leslie Odom, Jr.

Leslie Odom, Jr. will receive the Palm Springs International Film’s spotlight award, actor for his performance in “One Night in Miami.”

“Leslie Odom, Jr. is a truly talented performer. In his latest project, ‘One Night in Miami,’ Odom, Jr. brilliantly portrays singer Sam Cooke with charisma and tenacity, as he joins iconic figures Malcolm X, Cassius Clay and Jim Brown in this fictionalized account that is based on their actual meeting,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “It is our honor to present the Spotlight Award, Actor to Leslie Odom, Jr.”

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Past recipients of the award include Timothée Chalamet, Bryan Cranston, Jamie Foxx, Andrew Garfield, Sam Rockwell and J.K. Simmons. In the years they were honored, Rockwell and Simmons went on to win Academy Awards for best supporting actor.

Odom, Jr. joins this year’s previously announced honorees Riz Ahmed (Desert Palm achievement award, actor), Carey Mulligan (international star award), Gary Oldman (chairman’s award), Chloé Zhao (director of the year award) and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (vanguard award).

The festival and film awards gala will not be held in-person this year, but Entertainment Tonight will air a tribute to the honorees on Feb. 11 and Feb. 25.

Sundance Darling ‘Summertime’ Gets a Trailer

Carlos López Estrada’s “Summertime” has a new trailer. The movie, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival last year, follows 25 young Angelenos’ interconnected stories, told through spoken-word poetry. After attending a spoken-word showcase featuring high school performers in 2019, Estrada felt invigorated by the artists’ vibrant, young voices, and asked them to collaborate on a loose narrative film, inviting the non-actors to express themselves and their relationship to the city in an authentic way on screen. As a result, the film’s diverse cast and writers average 21 years old, with the majority making their feature film debut.

“We just witnessed on Inauguration day the power of spoken word poetry and the ability that it has to inspire real positive change,” Estrada said. “The work of the ‘Summertime’ poets has had a profound impact on me, and I hope the movie is able to bring even more awareness to these brilliant and powerful voices.”

25th Satellite Awards Nominees Announced

The International Press Academy announced its nominations for the 25th Satellite Awards in Motion Pictures and Television on Monday, along with special achievement award recipients.

“Promising Young Woman” director Emerald Fennell was honored with the auteur award for her directorial debut, and “Miss Juneteenth” helmer Channing Godfrey Peoples received the best first feature award.

The Satellite Awards recognized “The Trial of Chicago 7” and “The Good Lord Bird” in its ensemble categories for film and TV, respectively.

Oscar contenders “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Minari,” “Sound of Metal,” “One Night in Miami,” “The Father” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” all earned nominations in the motion picture, drama category.

The IPA was first to change the foreign films category to international films, and created a separate category for best animated or mixed media in motion pictures. Other major awards shows have subsequently implemented similar changes.

The International Press Academy selects Satellite Awards nominees from domestic and international submissions in 22 motion picture and 13 TV categories. Nominations are derived from advanced screenings, worldwide film festivals (including BAFTA, Cannes, Sundance, Telluride and TIFF), as well as from screeners to journalists and/or sanctioned lists.

One of the primary goals of the IPA and its Satellite Awards is to celebrate new works from both established and developing independent filmmakers, giving them access to the widest audience from around the globe.

The winners will be announced on Feb. 15. Full nominations can be found here.

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