Casey Affleck will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor at the 2017 Palm Springs International Film Festival, PSIFF organizers announced on Friday.
Affleck was chosen for the award for his performance in Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea,” where he plays a janitor trying to take care of his nephew, but haunted by a tragedy from his past. Along with Denzel Washington in “Fences,” he is considered one of the Oscar frontrunners in the Best Actor category for his performance.
The award will be presented to Affleck at the festival’s annual Awards Gala, which will take place on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, at the beginning of a festival that will run through Jan. 16 in the desert resort town east of Los Angeles.
Previous recipients of the award include Jeff Bridges, Daniel Day-Lewis, Matthew McConaughey, Sean Penn and Eddie Redmayne, all of whom won the Oscar for Best Actor the same year they were honored at PSIFF.
Affleck joins Tom Hanks, who on Thursday was the first recipient to be announced for the gala. An additional lineup of honorees will be revealed over the coming weeks.
The Awards Gala is an annual black-tie event for the festival, handing out honorary awards as Oscar voting begins and help fill the 2,500-seat Convention Center to raise millions for the PSIFF, a charitable non-profit organization.