The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Leonardo DiCaprio is the recipient of the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, for his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.” The Film Awards will take place on January 3rd, 2026, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running January 2nd–12th, 2026. The event will be presented by Kering and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight.
“In ‘One Battle After Another,’ Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a riveting and emotionally charged performance, embodying a man pushed to his breaking point in the face of relentless adversity,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “Across his career, DiCaprio has continually redefined what is possible in screen acting—bringing emotional depth, artistic integrity, and fearless commitment to every role. It is our honor to present him with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, in recognition of his enduring influence and exceptional body of work.”
DiCaprio joins this year’s previously announced honorees Michael B. Jordan (Icon Award), Adam Sandler (Chairman’s Award), and “Sentimental Value” cast members Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning (International Star Award). Past actor recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award include Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”), Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”), Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”), Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”), Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick… Boom!”), Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”), Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”), Sean Penn (“Milk”), Brad Pitt (“Moneyball”), and Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”). In the years they were honored, Bridges, Brody, Day-Lewis, McConaughey, Murphy, Oldman, Penn, and Redmayne went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Actor, while Ahmed, Cooper, Driver, Garfield, Farrell, Firth, and Pitt received Best Actor Oscar® nominations.
From Warner Bros. Pictures comes “One Battle After Another,” written, directed, and produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, which follows washed-up revolutionary Bob (DiCaprio) who exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years, she goes missing, and the former radical scrambles to find her, as father and daughter both battle the consequences of his past.
Leonardo DiCaprio is an Academy Award–winning actor who has been recognized for his work as an actor, producer, and activist. He has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, eleven Screen Actors Guild Awards, and thirteen Golden Globe Awards. In 2015, he won his first Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in the film “The Revenant.” He has earned critical acclaim for roles in films like “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Inception,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “Django Unchained,” alongside his work with director Martin Scorsese on films such as “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Shutter Island,” “Gangs of New York,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” DiCaprio’s film career began in the early 1990s with standout performances in “This Boy’s Life” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” the latter earning him his first Academy Award nomination. In addition to acting, DiCaprio co-founded the production company Appian Way, alongside Jennifer Davisson, which has backed critically acclaimed films such as “The Aviator,” “The Revenant,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The company has also put forth strong efforts to gain headway in the documentary world, especially as it pertains to progressive environmental change, producing films such as “Path of the Panther,” “We Are Guardians,” “Virunga,” “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret,” “Sea of Shadows,” and “Ice on Fire.” Outside of his film work, DiCaprio is the founding board member of Re: wild, a brand with the goal of protecting and restoring the diversity of life on Earth through innovative collaborations among individuals, communities, Indigenous peoples, governments, scientists, and businesses to drive the most pressing nature-based solutions to our planet’s urgent crises.
What do you think of this news for the Palm Springs International Film Festival? Have you seen “One Battle After Another” yet? If so, what did you think of the film and do you believe Leoanrdo DiCaprio will receive his second Oscar win for his performance in the film? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
