Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel, it started in 1989 and is held annually in January. It is run by the Palm Springs International Film Society, which also runs the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (ShortFest), a festival of short films and film market in June. Though the festival does feature American independent films, the focus from its inception was to shine a spotlight on international cinema. The festival was cancelled in both 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California. It will be held from January 6 to January 16 in 2023. The 34th edition will screen 134 films from 64 countries including 27 premieres. Film Awards ceremony on January 5 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, will start the celebrations. Details Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, described the festival as a good place to show foreign-language movies and heralded this festival's ability to spread good word-of-mouth for movies. The event is noted for screening most foreign Oscar nominees. In 2013, the festival screened 42 of the 71 movies that were submitted by countries around the world to the Oscars for that year's foreign language film prize. In the days before the festival's opening, several of the foreign filmmakers convene at Sunnylands, the Annenberg estate in Rancho Mirage, to trade strategies on funding, producing and promoting their movies. The festival regularly attracts around 135,000 people, with some 70% coming from outside of the Coachella Valley, including Canada and Europe. It is noted for its Award Ceremonies where such actors as Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Clint Eastwood, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Hathaway, Allison Janney, Brie Larson and Leonardo DiCaprio have appeared. In January 2011, the festival's honorees included Ben Affleck and Danny Boyle. The current Artistic Director of the festival is Liliana Rodriguez. In 2021 the main festival was not held, but the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films on June 22-28 did go ahead. As of April 8, 2021, the next PSIFF was scheduled for January 6−17, 2022. However, due to rising cases of COVID-19, the 2022 festival was canceled. Awards Film Gala Awards The Gala awards are Sonny Bono Visionary Award, Career Achievement Award, Desert Palm Achievement Award, Director of the Year Award, Frederick Loewe Award