‘Rustin’ Star Colman Domino To Receive Spotlight Award at Palm Springs International Film Awards

The Palm Springs International Film Awards has announced that Colman Domingo is the recipient of the Spotlight Award, Actor for his performance in Rustin. The Film Awards will take place on January 4, 2024, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running through January 15, 2024. The event will be sponsored by Entertainment Tonight and IHG Hotels & Resorts.

“In Rustin, Colman Domingo demonstrates his impressive talents bringing to life civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington,” said Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi. “For this career defining performance, it is our honor to present the Spotlight Award, Actor to Colman Domingo.”

Domingo joins this year’s previously announced honorees Emma Stone (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress), Cillian Murphy (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Breakthrough Performance Award), Greta Gerwig (Director of the Year), Jeffrey Wright (Career Achievement Award), Carey Mulligan (International Star Award, Actress) and Killers of the Flower Moon (Vanguard Award). Past recipients of the Spotlight Award, Actor include Bryan Cranston for Trumbo, Brendan Fraser for The Whale, and Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge. All three went on to receive Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, with Fraser receiving the Best Actor award.

The architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington, Bayard Rustin was one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known. He made history, and in turn, he was forgotten. Directed by DGA Award and five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe and starring Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo as Rustin, the film shines a long overdue spotlight on the extraordinary man who, alongside giants like the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Ella Baker, dared to imagine and inspired a movement in a march toward freedom. Produced by Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen, Higher Ground’s Tonia Davis and George C. Wolfe, the Netflix film features an all-star cast including Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, Gus Halper, CCH Pounder, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Johnny Ramey, Michael Potts, with Jeffrey Wright and Audra McDonald.

For three decades, Colman Domingo has worked in film, television, and theater. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and SAG Ensemble Award for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and a second Spirit Award and Gotham Award for his work in Zola. He won the 2022 Emmy Award, an Imagen and HCA Television Award for his incredible performance as “Ali” in the critically acclaimed Euphoria. On stage, Domingo has been nominated for two Tony® awards as well as an Olivier Award. He has also been recognized for his work as a playwright (A Boy and His Soul) and producer. Domingo will next be seen in the musical adaptation of The Color Purple which is set to release on December 25th, 2023. In 2024, Domingo produced and stars in A24’s film Sing Sing, Drive Away Dolls and the limited Netflix series The Madness. His other credits include: If Beale Street Could Talk, The God Committee, Without Remorse, Candyman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Assassination Nation, First Match, Lucy in the Sky, Selma, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Lincoln, Zola, Freedomland, True Crime, The Birth of a Nation and three films directed by Spike Lee, including Miracle At St. Ana, Red Hook Summer and Passing Strange. Domingo co-wrote, produced, and starred in the Academy Award shortlisted animated short film “New Moon” and Executive Produced and starred in the short film “North Star.” Domingo along with his producing partner Raul Domingo have produced a myriad of work under their Edith Productions banner including the upcoming independent feature It’s What’s Inside.

The Palm Springs International Film Society is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization whose mission is to cultivate and promote the art and science of film through education and cross-cultural awareness. The Film Society produces the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) and Film Awards every January and Palm Springs ShortFest in June. In addition to curating the best in international cinema, PSIFF’s Film Awards has come to be known as the first stop on the campaign trail for the Academy Awards®, and our Oscar®-qualifying ShortFest is the largest short film festival and market in North America. Our festivals, year-round member screenings and educational programs manifest our organization’s mission by nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema, and expanding audience horizons.