PALM SPRINGS, CA — Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo will be presented with the actor Spotlight Award at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival, organizers announced Monday.
Domingo is set to be recognized at the Palm Springs Convention Center on Jan. 3 for his performance in “Sing Sing,” which earned a Gotham Award nomination last week.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, the Greg Kwedar-directed indie film generated instant buzz among audiences and a bidding war among major studios. A24 eventually acquired the distribution rights to “Sing Sing,” opting for a theatrical release the following year.
“We are so thrilled to honor the remarkable talent of Colman Domingo at the Palm Springs International Film Awards for the second year in a row,” festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement. “In `Sing Sing,’ Colman Domingo delivers another outstanding performance based on the true story of the wrongfully convicted Divine G, who finds purpose in prison through stage acting.”
The movie centers on John “Divine G” Whitfield, who is imprisoned at the Sing Sing maximum-security facility for a crime he didn’t commit and joins a theater group with other incarcerated men, according to the official summary.
Domingo is an executive producer on the film, along with co-star Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin and Whitfield himself. Other than Domingo, the vast majority of the ensemble cast are formerly incarcerated actors and real graduates of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, including Maclin.
Past recipients of the actor Spotlight Award include Bryan Cranston for “Trumbo,” Brendan Fraser for “The Whale” and Andrew Garfield for “Hacksaw Ridge.” Last year’s award was also given to Domingo, who attended the festival as the star of the Netflix biopic “Rustin.” That film centered on Bayard Rustin, the chief political organizer behind the March on Washington whose sexuality forced him into the shadows of the civil rights movement.
His performance as the civil rights leader garnered an Academy Award nomination for the 2024 ceremony. With the selection, Domingo joined Ian McKellen as the only openly gay men to become Oscar nominees for playing gay characters.
Domingo previously won an Emmy for his character work as “Ali” in the HBO series “Euphoria,” and made a name for himself with roles in “Zola,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Selma,” “Candyman” and a trio of Spike Lee films, among others. He appeared in the musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,” which also played at PSIFF 2024, and has upcoming film roles in Tina Fey’s “The Four Seasons” and Antoine Fuqua’s “Michael,” playing Joe Jackson in the latter. His next upcoming project, the limited Netflix series “The Madness,” is available on the platform Nov. 28.
After the ceremony on PSIFF 2025’s second day, the film festival will continue through Jan. 13.
