Leonardo DiCaprio to receive top prize at Palm Springs Film Festival

Leonardo DiCaprio is to receive a top prize at the Palm Springs Film Festival.

The Revenant actor will be handed the spectacle's Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, at the event's Film Awards, which will take place on January 3, 2026, at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi revealed DiCaprio will be bestowed with the gong following a "riveting and emotionally-charged performance" in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.

He said: "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."

Chandi also heaped praise on DiCaprio’s career - which has included roles in Titanic, The Wolf of Wall Street and Inception - admitting he has brought "emotional depth, artistic integrity and fearless commitment" to his many roles to date.

He added: "Across his career, DiCaprio has continually redefined what is possible in screen acting - bringing emotional depth, artistic integrity and fearless commitment to every role."

News of DiCaprio's prize comes after it was recently revealed Michael B. Jordan will receive the Icon Award at the Film Awards, and Adam Sandler will be presented with the Chairman’s Award.

Previous 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 same year they scooped the coveted prize, Bridges, Brody, Day-Lewis, McConaughey, Murphy, Oldman, Penn and Redmayne went on to win that year's Best Actor accolade at the Academy Awards.

The Palm Springs Film Festival runs from January 2-12, 2026.