By Brian Blueskye | Desert Sun
British actor and filmmaker Gary Oldman will receive the Chairman’s Award, Actor at the 2021 Palm Springs International Film Awards for his performance in “Mank.”
Festival organizers in November canceled the 32nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival planned for Feb. 25 to March 8. The Film Awards Gala will not be an in-person event this year, but honorees from this year’s films still will be recognized.
Media partner Entertainment Tonight will highlight all the individual honoree announcements for a tribute segment during the week of Feb. 8, followed by film clips that will re-air on Entertainment Tonight Weekend on Feb. 13 or Feb. 20.
The week of Feb. 22, Entertainment Tonight will air a segment that includes exclusive interviews from the honorees with their awards.
“Mank” is a biographical drama about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his struggle to finish the script for Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” while recovering from a broken leg in Victorville, Calif. The film was directed by David Fincher (“Fight Club” and “The Social Network”) and released by Netflix in December.
Festival Chairman Harold Matzner described Oldman’s performance as “mesmerizing”
“Oldman plays the role to perfection as the film follows the screenwriter’s journey while he is co-writing the script for ‘Citizen Kane,’” Matzner said in a prepared statement.
Film critic Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said in his review: “There is some awfully good writing in ‘Mank,’ which is only to be expected for a movie about some of the finest writing ever to grace the silver screen.”
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