The 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival took place from January 2 to 13, 2025, in Palm Springs, California, United States. The festival opened with Michael Gracey's biographic drama film Better Man and closed with Peter Cattaneo's comedy drama film The Penguin Lessons.
The full lineup was revealed on November 26, 2024. Among the sections, a Spanish Focus section took place, dedicated to highlight Spanish cinema, while Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar received a spotlight section screening some films from his filmography.
As usual, throughout late 2024, several special awards were announced, which were presented during the Opening Gala on January 3, 2024, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Jacques Audiard's musical crime comedy Emilia Pérez received the Vanguard Award. The Desert Palm Achievement for Best Actor and Best Actress went to Adrien Brody and Angelina Jolie for their performances in The Brutalist and Maria, respectively. Mikey Madison and Kieran Culkin both won the Breakthrough Performance Award, for Anora and A Real Pain respectively. Australian actress Nicole Kidman won the International Star Award for Babygirl. The Spotlight Award went to Colman Domingo for Sing Sing. Mystery thriller Conclave received the Ensemble Performance Award. Its cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Lucian Msamati. American actor Timothée Chalamet received the Chairman's Award for A Complete Unknown while American singer and actress Ariana Grande was honored with the Rising Star Award for her performance in Wicked. Finally, the Visionary Award was presented to Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve for '.
The following day, on January 4, the Varietys 10 Directors to Watch & Creative Impact Awards brunch took place at the Parker Palm Springs. The recipients for the Creative Impact awards are Cynthia Erivo, who received the Acting Award, and Jacques Audiard, who was honored with the Directing Award. Additionally, American singer and actress Jennifer López was presented with the Legend & Groundbreaker Award.
The films selected for each section are as follows:
The following section consists of submissions for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the True Stories section:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Modern Masters section, consisting of new films by well-established directors:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the New Voices New Visions competition:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the American Indies section:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Talking Pictures section, each with discussion panels with their directors, writers and actors:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Spanish Focus section, dedicated to celebrate Spanish cinema:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Queer Cinema Today section and The Gayla:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of a section destined to highlight Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar's filmography:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Family Day section:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the World Cinema Now section:
The following films were selected to be screened as part of the Talking Pictures: Book to Screen:
The following awards were presented at the 36th Edition:
The following awards were presented during the opening gala:
The following creative impact awards were presented:
The list consisted of the following directors: