The Irish Actress who has starred in Jeff Nichols’ project, ‘Warcraft: The Beginning’ (Duncan Jones) and AMC series ‘Preacher’ this year alone, will accept the award at the festival’s award gala on Monday, January 2nd 2017.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs from January 2nd-16th 2017. Tom Hanks will also be presented with the Icon Award for his role in 'Sully' on the night. It has also been announced Casey Affleck will be honoured with the Desert Palm Achievement Award for 'Manchester by the Sea'.
Negga has been surrounded by rumours of an Oscar nomination since the premiere of ‘Loving’ at Cannes in May and its nomination for the Palme d’Or.
She plays the Mildred Loving, the wife of Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), whose true story shows the couple’s journey to the Supreme Court of 1950s America in a battle to have their interracial marriage recognised.
Harold Matzner, Festival Chairman:
“Ruth Negga’s performance as Mildred Loving is one of the year’s most luminous and striking portrayals. This timeless love story about an interracial couple reminds us of the unstoppable power of love in the face of hate and prejudice – a story that could not be more resonant and powerful today. This will certainly be just one of many breath-taking performances in a long career.”
She is an eight-time IFTA Nominee for her work on no less than seven respective titles—‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’, ‘Secret State’, ‘Shirley’, ‘Misfits’, ‘Love/Hate’, ‘Isolation’ and ‘Breakfast on Pluto.’ Negga received award for Best Actress in 2012 for her titular role in television series ‘Shirley’.
‘Loving’ is distributed in Ireland by Universal Pictures and will release to Irish audiences in February of 2017.