PHOTO RECAP: Hollywood Takes on Palm Springs As Film Festival Comes to Town

– By Beau Behan, Film Critic & Entertainment Reporter

Lights! Camera! Action... and Fashion!

The Palm Springs International Film Festival ushered in its 26th anniversary this year with Hollywood glamour and glitter. The desert was filled with pulse-pounding excitement as Oscar contenders and hopefuls made their rounds this weekend, at the event’s annual red carpet gala– hobnobbing with their fans and film lovers from around the world.

The gala, hosted once again by famed Entertainment Corespondent Mary Hart, clearly made its mark as the first stop for the 2015 Awards Season. And as you can see from the video above, the celebrities looked great while in attendance.

The following awards were presented at this year’s Awards Gala:

· Rosamund Pike received the Breakthrough Performance Award, Actress for Gone Girl presented by her co-stars Carrie Coon and Kim Dickens.

· David Oyelowo received the Breakthrough Performance Award, Actor for Selma presented by one of the film’s producer Brad Pitt.

· J.K. Simmons received the Spotlight Award for Whiplash presented by Juno director Jason Reitman.

· Robert Duvall received the Icon Award for The Judge presented by his co-star Robert Downey, Jr.

· Julianne Moore received the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress for Still Alice presented by her co-star in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Steve Carell.

· Richard Linklater received the Sonny Bono Visionary Award for Boyhood presented by Shirley MacLaine, who he directed in Bernie.

· Eddie Redmayne received the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor for The Theory of Everything presented by his Savage Grace co-star Julianne Moore.

· Alejandro González Iñárritu received the Director of the Year Award for Birdman presented by the film’s star Michael Keaton.

. The Imitation Game (Benedict Cumberbatch, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard and Alex Lawther in attendance) received the Ensemble Performance Award presented by the film’s director Morten Tyldum.

· Reese Witherspoon received the Chairman’s Award for Wild presented by her co-star Laura Dern.

The festival got underway with a screening of the Golden Globe-nominated Selma on Jan. 2, and the U.S. premiere of François Girard’s Boychoir will help wrap up the festival on Jan. 11.

For more information on the Palm Springs International Film Festival, go to: http://www.psfilmfest.org/

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Photo Credit: Getty Images for PSIFF