Jaime Foxx Latest Honoree Named For Film Festival

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Oscar-winning actor Jaime Foxx will receive the Spotlight Award for an actor at the 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival for his performance in "Just Mercy," organizers announced Thursday.

"In `Just Mercy,' Jamie Foxx gives a moving and truly remarkable performance as Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death for a murder, for which he was wrongly convicted," said festival Chairman Harold Matzner. "This is an inspiring drama that brings an important story about how our justice system can fail... It is a story that audiences should see."

"Just Mercy" is based on the true story involving lawyer Bryan Stevenson, played by Michael B. Jordan, a newly graduated lawyer who turns down lucrative jobs at high-priced law firms, opting instead to defend people thought to be wrongfully convicted. The film follows the case of Walter McMillian, played by Foxx, who in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl.

Foxx, who is also a singer and comedian, has notched several high- profile awards in his career.

For his performance in the 2004 biopic "Ray," based on the life of Ray Charles, Foxx won an Oscar for best actor, a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy, and a Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role.

Past recipients of the Spotlight Award -- including actors Bryan Cranston, Andrew Garfield, Sam Rockwell and J.K. Simmons -- all received Oscar nominations in the year they were honored, with Rockwell and Simmons winning Oscars as best supporting actors in their respective years.

Foxx, along with previously announced honorees Adam Driver, Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Lopez, Laura Dern, Martin Scorsese, Joaquin Phoenix, Zack Gottsagen, Renee Zellweger and Charlize Theron, will be recognized at the festival's Jan. 2 awards gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The festival runs from Jan. 2 to Jan. 13.

— By City News Service