[VIDEO] 'Selma' Star David Oyelowo to receive 2015 Breakthrough Performance Award at Palm Springs Film Fest

Originally posted at 4:10 p.m. Dec. 10, 2014. Edited with new details : Golden Globe Nominations.

– By Beau Behan, Film Critic & Entertainment Reporter

For his magnificent performance as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, David Oyelowo will be honored with the Breakthrough Performance Award, Actor, at the 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala on Jan. 3.

Directed by Ava DuVernay, Selma recounts the turbulent three-month period in 1965 when Dr. King led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Paramount Pictures film is garnering Oscar buzz, many now believe that Oyelowo could be in contention for an Academy Award nomination. Selma is set for release on Dec. 25.

David Oyelowo and Ava Duvernay have been nominated for the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, Best Actor and Best Director, in a Motion Picture, Drama, respectively, for Selma -- also nominated for Golden Globe Awards, Best Motion Picture, Drama.

Watch a preview of our interview with David Oyelowo.

“David Oyelowo’s transformation into Mr. Martin Luther King Jr. is truly outstanding,” said festival chairman Harold Matzner in a statement. “He perfectly re-creates King’s mannerisms and speech cadence, and moreover, captures the spirit of one of the greatest leaders in history, giving audiences a rewarding portrait of this iconic man that is deeply layered and effecting. For this phenomenal portrayal it is an honor to present him with the 2015 Breakthrough Performance Award, Actor.”

This year, Oyelowo has also appeared in Interstellar,Default, and A Most Violent Year.

Previous recipients of the Festival’s Breakthrough Performance Award include Lupita Nyong’o, Carey Mulligan, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson, Felicity Huffman, and Jeremy Renner.

In the years they were honored, Cotillard, Hudson and Nyong’o went on to receive Academy Awards®, while Huffman and Renner received nominations.

The Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Julianne Moore, Richard Linklater, Eddie Redmayne, Rosamund Pike, Reese Witherspoon, J.K. Simmons and the cast of “The Imitation Game.”

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will run Jan. 2-12. For more information, go to: http://www.psfilmfest.org/

Watch ‘Selma’ Trailer.

Photo Credit: David Oyelowo, courtesy Paramount Pictures