Palm Springs can now boast to having one of the top three film festivals in the United States, based on attendance.  Board Chairman of the festival, Harold Matzner called the new high attendance and revenue records “amazing in this economic environment . . . .” All of the festival passes were sold, and the gala which opened the festival this year also brought in more revenue than last year.

Each year an amazing roster of A-list stars are present and are honored, either as recipients of the awards given or as presenters. Many of these go on to receive nominations for Academy Awards for their work. This year these luminaries included  Clint Eastwood, Leonardo di Capprio, Ron Howard and Frank Langella, Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Jon Voight, and Dakota Fanning, among others. For a town of only 40,000 residents, we can be very proud to host this exciting event.

To see a photo gallery of the event in the Desert Sun archives, go to Film Fest.