{"id":67634,"date":"2013-12-10T01:47:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T01:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2013\/12\/10\/lupita-nyongo-composer-thomas-newman-to-be-honored-at-palm-springs-fest\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T08:41:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T08:41:20","slug":"lupita-nyongo-composer-thomas-newman-to-be-honored-at-palm-springs-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/lupita-nyongo-composer-thomas-newman-to-be-honored-at-palm-springs-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Composer Thomas Newman To Be Honored at Palm Springs Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Composer Thomas Newman To Be Honored at Palm Springs Fest<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

December 10, 2013<\/p>\n

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The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival <\/strong>(PSIFF) will present Lupita Nyong\u2019o<\/strong> with the Breakthrough Performance Award<\/strong> for 12 Years a Slave<\/strong> and Thomas Newman<\/strong> with the Frederick Loewe Award<\/strong> for Film Composing for Saving Mr. Banks<\/strong> at its annual Awards Gala. The Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey, Steve McQueen<\/strong> and Julia Roberts<\/strong>. Presented by Cartier and hosted by Mary Hart<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLupita Nyong\u2019o is outstanding as the exploited slave whose beauty attracts the attention of Michael Fassbender\u2019s vicious slave master. She delivers a raw and deeply moving performance that serves as the fulcrum for the film\u2019s message of the inhumanity of slavery,\u201d<\/strong> said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. \u201cFor her American film debut in 12 Years a Slave, it is a great honor for the Palm Springs International Film Festival to present her with the 2014 Breakthrough Performance Award.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>Past recipients of the Breakthrough Performance Award include Mariah Carey, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson, Felicity Huffman, Carey Mulligan<\/strong> and Jeremy Renner<\/strong>. In the years they were honored, Cotillard and Hudson went on to win Academy Awards, while Huffman and Renner received Oscar nominations.<\/p>\n

12 Years a Slave is based on a true story of one man\u2019s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender) as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon\u2019s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) forever alters his life. The Fox Searchlight Pictures film is directed by Steve McQueen and written by John Ridley. Producers are Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan and Anthony Katagas. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodard, Chris Chalk, Taran Killam<\/strong> and Bill Camp<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Lupita Nyong\u2019o marks her American film debut in 12 Years a Slave. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama\u2019s acting program, her stage credits include Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (Yale Repertory Theater), Sonya in Uncle Vanya, Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, as well as the original production of Michael Mitnick\u2019s Elijah. The Kenyan actress is also a filmmaker, having served as creator, director, editor and producer of the award-winning feature-length documentary In My Genes. The film follows eight Kenyans who have an unusual trait in common: they were born with albinism, a genetic condition that causes a lack of pigmentation. In February she will co-star alongside Liam Neeson, Michelle Dockery<\/strong> and Julianne Moore<\/strong> in the Universal Pictures thriller Non-Stop<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Of Thomas Newman\u2019s win of the PSIFF\u2019s Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing, his second win in the category, Matzner commented, \u201cThomas Newman is a master at creating memorable film scores. In Saving Mr. Banks, he pays tribute to Mary Poppins composers Richard and Robert Sherman through an indelible original score. The Festival is delighted to once again present Thomas Newman with the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

PSIFF recipients of the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing previously include T Bone Burnett, Mychael Danna, Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Randy Newman and Diane Warren. In the years they were honored Burnett and Danna went on to win Academy Awards, while Desplat, Elfman, Newman received Oscar nominations.<\/p>\n

Walt Disney Pictures presents Saving Mr. Banks, a film inspired by this extraordinary, untold back story of how Disney\u2019s classic Mary Poppins made it to the screen, starring two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson<\/strong> and fellow double Oscar winner Tom Hanks<\/strong>. The film is directed by John Lee Hancock<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Thomas Newman has composed music for nearly 100 motion pictures and television series and has earned 11 Academy Award nominations and six Grammy Awards. He has contributed distinctive and evocative scores to numerous acclaimed films, including Desperately Seeking Susan, The Lost Boys, The Rapture, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Player, Scent of a Woman, Flesh and Bone, The Shawshank Redemption, Little Women, American Buffalo, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Oscar and Lucinda, The Horse Whisperer, Meet Joe Black, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Erin Brockovich, In The Bedroom, Road to Perdition, Finding Nemo, Lemony Snicket\u2019s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Cinderella Man, Jarhead, Little Children, The Good German, Revolutionary Road<\/strong> and Wall-E<\/strong>. His most recent projects include The Debt, The Adjustment Bureau, The Help, The Iron Lady, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Skyfall<\/strong> and Side Effects<\/strong>. Newman also composed the music for HBO\u2019s acclaimed six-hour miniseries Angels in America<\/strong>, directed by Mike Nichols. He received an Emmy Award for his theme for the HBO original series Six Feet Under<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For more information, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7256 or visit www.psfilmfest.org<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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