Jessica Chastain, Howard Shore Take Palm Springs Fest Honors

Actress will receive Spotlight Award for her many 2011 roles; composer will be honored for “Hugo”

The Palm Springs International Film Festival has now stocked its annual Awards Gala with 14 honorees, adding actress Jessica Chastain and composer Howard Shore to its previously announced lineup.

Jessica ChastainChastain will receive the festival's Spotlight Award at the Jan. 7 gala, while Shore will get the Frederick Loewe Music Award.

Also receiving awards at the gala are George Clooney, Glenn Close, Stephen Daldry, Michel Hazanavicius, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Octavia Spencer, Michelle Williams and the creative team behind "Young Adult": director Jason Reitman, screenwriter Diablo Cody and stars Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt.

The two new honorees will complete the lineup.

Chastain had seven movies released in 2011, including "The Tree of Life," "The Help," "Take Shelter," "The Debt" and "Coriolanus."

Shore wrote the music for David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" and Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," though PSIFF says he will be receiving the award for the latter film.

In a press release announcing the awards, festival chairman Howard Matzner called Chastain "one of the cinema's most versatile and most sought after young actresses," and termed Shore "a master composer who has consistently delighted audiences of the more than 80 films he has scored."

The 23rd Palm Springs International Film Festival will begin on Jan. 5 and run through Jan. 16 in the desert resort town east of Los Angeles.

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