'Mank' star Gary Oldman to be honored by Palm Springs International Film Awards

Brian Blueskye
Palm Springs Desert Sun

British actor and filmmaker Gary Oldman will receive the Chairman’s Award, Actor at the 2021 Palm Springs International Film Awards for his performance in "Mank.”

Festival organizers in November canceled the 32nd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival planned for Feb. 25 to March 8. The Film Awards Gala will not be an in-person event this year, but honorees from this year's films still will be recognized.

Media partner Entertainment Tonight will highlight all the individual honoree announcements for a tribute segment during the week of Feb. 8, followed by film clips that will re-air on Entertainment Tonight Weekend on Feb. 13 or Feb. 20.

The week of Feb. 22, Entertainment Tonight will air a segment that includes exclusive interviews from the honorees with their awards.

In this image released by Netflix, Gary Oldman portrays Herman Mankiewicz in a scene from "Mank." Oldman will receive the Chairman's Award, Actor at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for his performance in the film. (Nikolai Loveikis/Netflix via AP)

“Mank” is a biographical drama about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his struggle to finish the script for Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” while recovering from a broken leg in Victorville, Calif. The film was directed by David Fincher (“Fight Club” and “The Social Network”) and released by Netflix in December.

Festival Chairman Harold Matzner described Oldman’s performance as “mesmerizing”

“Oldman plays the role to perfection as the film follows the screenwriter’s journey while he is co-writing the script for 'Citizen Kane,'” Matzner said in a prepared statement. 

Film critic Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said in his review: “There is some awfully good writing in 'Mank,' which is only to be expected for a movie about some of the finest writing ever to grace the silver screen.”

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Despite critical accolades, “Mank” failed to reach the successes of Netflix releases such as “Da 5 Bloods” and “The Queen’s Gambit.” It made the service’s top 10 most viewed films at its release but fell out of that ranking within a day

"It must have been a ball to do," Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote in a review. "But it’s questionable whether any of the fuss will appeal to anyone but the most dedicated 'Citizen Kane' fans." 

Oldman previously received the festival's Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor in 2018 for his performance as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour” and the International Star Award, Actor in 2012 for his work in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”

Gary Oldman

Since his debut in 1982 in the drama film “Remembrance,” Oldman has played many memorable roles such as punk rocker and Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in the 1986 biopic “Sid and Nancy,” Lee Harvey Oswald in “JFK,” Dracula in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” Jim Gordon in “The Dark Knight” trilogy and Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” film series.

Oldman, who bought a home in Palm Springs, won “Best Actor” at the Academy Awards in 2018 for his performance in “Darkest Hour.” 

Oldman joins this year’s previously announced honoree Carey Mulligan, who will receive the International Star Award, Actress for her role in "Promising Young Woman."

Past recipients of the Chairman's Award include George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Nicole Kidman. Last year’s recipient, Joaquin Phoenix, went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in "Joker."

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.