The 36th Palm Springs International Film Festival
By John Bayern
Celebrating its 36th year, the Palm Springs International Film Festival has a well-established reputation as one of the most prestigious and well-attended film festivals in the country. It is scheduled to be held from January 2-13, 2025. The Festival has long secured its place on the world stage as the portal for the very best in world cinema, welcoming hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic filmgoers to Palm Springs every January.
Launched in 1990, the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is a premier presenter of world cinema located in the beautiful Coachella Valley at the base of Mt. San Jacinto in southern California. The Festival brings together a sophisticated and diverse audience, including industry, film aficionados from across the country and filmmakers from around the world.
Explore the exciting selection of films at this year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival. From heartwarming narratives to riveting thrillers that will keep you on the edge of your seat, our carefully curated lineup spans genres, cultures, and continents. Whether you’re a seasoned cinephile or a newcomer to the world of cinema, there’s something for everyone to discover and enjoy.
The depth and breadth of the program – all set against the dramatic backdrop of Palm Springs – features more than 150+ films from over 70 countries and includes the largest selection Foreign Language Oscar® submissions of any Festival in the nation. In addition to having earned a reputation as a destination festival, the film screenings, special presentations, tributes, and nightly parties that constitute the Festival have a decidedly international flair and make PSIFF a cosmopolitan experience in world cinema.
PSIFF has also evolved into one of the most highly anticipated preludes to the Oscars®. The Festival’s glamorous centerpiece, the Awards Gala, honors the year’s brightest talents in front of and behind the camera before a glittering crowd of 2,000 attendees. This year’s honorees include Colman Domingo, Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Nicole Kidman, Adrien Brody , Mikey Madison, Jacques Audiard, Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Edgar Ramírez, & Ariana Grande.
The Standard Magazine recommends the following films that include poignant, heartfelt and insightful stories from the LGBTQ+ Community.
I Don’t Understand You
As Dom (Nick Kroll) and Cole (Andrew Rannells) await their adoption’s finalization, they embark on a romantic Italian getaway. But when their car breaks down
enroute to a private dinner, their night quickly devolves into mayhem and miscommunication in this outrageous comic thriller.
Bun Tikki
Sanu is a child learning to navigate the challenges of identity and belonging as he struggles to fit into society’s norms and build a loving relationship with his father. Meanwhile, his grandmother, harboring secrets of her own, teaches him to embrace his uniqueness.
Emilia Pérez
A resourceful lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) helps a notorious Mexican cartel boss undergo gender-affirming surgery and start anew as Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón). Complications arise when Emilia attempts to reconnect with the wife (Selena Gomez) and children she left behind in this exhilarating, genre-defying musical.
Queer
Daniel Craig delivers a career-high performance in director Luca Guadagnino’s daring adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ sex- and drug-addled novel, a love story in which the writer falls hard for a young American expat and seeks mind-expanding transcendence in the Mexican jungle.
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Liza Minnelli tells her own story in this fabulous salute to an iconic talent. It’s all here: her childhood in Mother Judy Garland’s shadow, her bonds with mentors Kay Thompson, Charles Aznavour, and Bob Fosse, her up-and-down marriages, and the triumphs of Broadway and Cabaret.
A Nice Indian Boy
In this hilarious rom-com, Naveen (Karan Soni) introduces his white fiancé Jay (Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff) to his conservative Indian parents, who must reconcile their traditional values with their son’s love while planning the perfect traditional Indian wedding to honor two gay men.
Desire Lines
After decades of concealing his trans identity, Ahmad, a 60-something Iranian expat, delves into the LGBTQ+ archives to explore his sexuality. With guidance from Kieran, a nonbinary archivist, he reimagines his life as an out trans man in this dreamy, sensual exploration of transmasculine desire.
Drive Back Home
Inspired by a true story, this 1970s-set dramedy follows a gruff New Brunswick plumber (Charlie Creed-Miles) as he reluctantly drives to Toronto to bail his estranged, gay brother (Alan Cumming) out of jail. Forced together, the brothers face their differences on an unforgettable journey home.
I’m Your Venus
Venus Xtravaganza, the 23-year-old star of the iconic voguing documentary Paris is Burning (1990), was murdered before its release. Now, in this moving celebration of her life and legacy, her three New Jersey brothers team up with her ballroom family to reopen the unsolved case.
A House Is Not A Disco
Fire Island Pines is often described as a gay paradise. This wide-ranging, seductive documentary offers a probing look at the men who live, work, and party there, examining its storied past, hedonistic flair, ecologically imperiled future, and the clash between different generations of gay men.
Four Mothers
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 London Film Festival, this Irish twist on Mid-August Lunch (PSIFF 2009) follows a shy, commitment-phobic gay novelist living with his elderly mother. When his friends take off for Pride weekend, he finds himself caring for four eccentric, combative and wildly different women.
Misericordia
The director of Stranger by the Lake concocts a sly brew of sex, religion, and murder in a provincial French village where the return of a polyamorous former local sets off a macabre chain of erotic events as unpredictable as it is perversely funny.
Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion
A celebration of the six-decade career of legendary costume designer Bob Mackie, whose iconic, over-the-top creations have crowned him the king of Hollywood’s red carpet. A glittering cavalcade of Mackie’s celebrity clients including Cher, Carol Burnett, P!nk, and Tom Ford offers an inside look at his dazzling legacy.
Sabbath Queen
Filmed over 21 years, this is the story of Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, whose ever-evolving identity as a rabbi, drag queen, and religious reformer, raises provocative questions about the future of Judaism. Determined to reform conservative Judaism from within, he encounters fierce resistance from all sides.
For complete schedule, showtimes and tickets visit www.psfilmfest.org
