THE SOCIAL NETWORK, which is the current favorite for Oscar gold, will be feted at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the first major international film festival event of 2011. The Festival Awards Gala will present the Ensemble Performance Award to the film’s cast, including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer and Rooney Mara, who are all expected to attend.  The film’s director, David Fincher, will present the award.  

THE SOCIAL NETWORK has already been honored as Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and received four awards from the National Board of Review, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Jesse Eisenberg.  In addition, the film has been nominated for six Golden Globe Awards (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Original Score), two Screen Actors Guild Awards (for the Ensemble and for Eisenberg as lead actor), and nine awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

Both director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin are odds-on favorites to win Oscars in their categories for the zeitgeist film of the year, that looks at how the technological revolution is effecting human relationships and behavior. The creation of the Facebook phenomenon presents a cautionary tale of our times, where new types of social relationships via the internet have more moral weight than relationships in real life. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, and Ceán Chaffin and based on the best-selling book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich. Whatever its award prospects next year, it has become an instant classic by which future generations will view this particular moment in human history.

The Palm Beach International Film Festival Awards Gala will be held on Saturday, January 8 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and will be hosted by “Entertainment Tonight’s” Mary Hart.  The cast of THE SOCIAL NETWORK will join previously announced honorees Javier Bardem, Robert Duvall, Colin Firth, Jennifer Lawrence, Carey Mulligan, Natalie Portman, David O. Russell and Diane Warren.  The Festival runs January 6 to 17. For more information, visit www.psfilmfest.org.
 

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Circuit Editor