Palm Springs

The Palm Springs International Film Awards Jeffrey Wright the Career Achievement Award, for his performance in Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction. The Film Awards took place on January 4, 2024, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running through January 15, 2024. The event was sponsored by Entertainment Tonight and IHG Hotels & Resorts.

“Jeffrey Wright has a prolific acting career from his Tony Award winning performance in the Broadway production of “Angels in America” to his TV roles in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and Westworld and on the big screen in Basquiat, The Batman, The French Dispatch and the James Bond films,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “In his latest film American Fiction, he gives an exceptional and smart performance as an author on the brink of a choice between his integrity and giving in to societal stereotypes. For this career-best performance, which will be recognized throughout this award season, we are honored to present the Career Achievement Award to Jeffrey Wright.”

Wright joined this year’s previously announced honorees 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) and Killers of the Flower Moon (Vanguard Award). Past recipients of the Career Achievement Award include Annette Bening, Kevin Costner, Bruce Dern, Laura Dern, Clint Eastwood, Nicole Kidman, Sally Field, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and Helen Mirren.

American Fiction is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Adapted from Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure,” Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. The Amazon MGM/Orion Pictures film features stellar supporting performances from Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Adam Brody and Erika Alexander.

Jeffrey Wright is a Tony, Emmy, AFI and Golden Globe Award-winning actor who has enjoyed an illustrious career, spanning the worlds of theatre, film and television. This year, along with American Fiction, Wright can also be seen in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and George C. Wolfe’s Civil Rights movie Rustin. Wright made his Broadway debut in 1993 in the landmark play “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” playing three parts. He returned to his roles in the continuation of the story, “Angels in America: Perestroika,” winning a Tony award and a Drama Desk award for his performance.  Wright broke onto the big screen in 1996 with a harrowing performance in the feature Basquiat, portraying the gifted late painter Jean Michele Basquiat. Wright is most well known for playing the critically acclaimed role of ‘Bernard Lowe’ in HBO’s “Westworld,” for which he earned three Emmy nominations. He made history as the first African American actor to portray ‘Commissioner Gordon’ in Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman. Other projects include Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, All Day and a Night, O.G., Hold the Dark, Syriana, The Manchurian Candidate, The Hunger Games, Boardwalk Empire and the James Bond films No Time to Die, Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale and more.

About the Palm Springs International Film Society

The Palm Springs International Film Society is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization whose mission is to cultivate and promote the art and science of film through education and cross-cultural awareness. The Film Society produces the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) and Film Awards every January and Palm Springs ShortFest in June. In addition to curating the best in international cinema, PSIFF’s Film Awards has come to be known as the first stop on the campaign trail for the Academy Awards®, and our Oscar®-qualifying ShortFest is the largest short film festival and market in North America. Our festivals, year-round member screenings and educational programs manifest our organization’s mission by nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema, and expanding audience horizons.