Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, for his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” this January.
The Film Awards will take place on Jan. 3, 2026, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, with the festival running Jan. 2-12, 2026. The event will be presented by Kering and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight.
Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” 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 nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her as both father and daughter battle the consequences of his past.
This is not DiCaprio’s first honor at the Palm Springs International Film Awards. He previously received the Vanguard Award as part of the cast of “Killers of the Flower Moon” in 2024 and the Ensemble Performance Award with the cast of “Revolutionary Road” in 2009.
“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,” Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement. “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 is an award-winning performer who has been recognized for his work as an actor, producer and activist. In 2015, he won the Academy Award for best actor, as well as the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award, for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in the film “The Revenant.” Thus far in his career, he has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, 11 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 13 Golden Globe Awards. He has earned critical acclaim for roles in films such as “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.
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, Firth, McConaughey, Murphy, Oldman, Penn and Redmayne went on to win the Academy Award for best actor, while Ahmed, Cooper, Driver, Garfield, Farrell and Pitt were nominated in the category.
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).
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Leonardo DiCaprio to receive Palm Springs film award for ‘One Battle After Another’
Reporting by Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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