Martin McDonagh with directing award at Palm Springs Film Festival
Palm Springs, Calif. (KESQ) - Academy Award-winning writer and director Martin McDonagh will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award at the 2027 Palm Springs International Film Festival.
McDonagh is being honored for his latest film, Wild Horse Nine, starring John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas.
The Film Awards will take place on January 7, 2027, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running January 7-18, 2027.
“Martin McDonagh remains one of our most distinctive and original voices in cinema today,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “Over the course of his celebrated career, he has built a body of work that is humorous, timely, and morally complex. Wild Horse Nine is another testament to his singular vision, and we are honored to recognize him and his extraordinary film with the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award.”
Wild Horse Nine follows CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, as they set out to Easter Island from Santiago, where they are stationed alongside their boss and bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Amongst the Island's iconic statues, as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris's newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) threatens to send everyone's trip to this remote paradise sideways.
McDonagh joins this year’s previously announced honorees The Invite’s Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton (Vanguard Award) and Inde Navarette (Rising Star Award). Past director honorees include Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman), Greta Gerwig (Barbie), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), David O. Russell (The Fighter), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland).
Martin McDonagh is an award-winning, London-born filmmaker and playwright of Irish descent.
McDonagh first gained attention when he was awarded the Oscar for his short film Six Shooter then wrote and directed the acclaimed features In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Banshees of Inisherin. He has received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture (Three Billboards and Banshees), Best Director (Banshees), and Best Original Screenplay (In Bruges, Three Billboards, and Banshees), and has won six BAFTAs and three Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Drama for Three Billboards.
He is also an accomplished playwright whose works, including The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman, and Hangmen, have been staged in the West End and on Broadway and performed in more than 40 countries. His honors include three Olivier Awards: Best New Comedy for The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Best New Play for both The Pillowman and Hangmen.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing announcements on the film festival.
