“Variety” will honor Golden Globe, Grammy Award and Critics Choice Award nominee Teyana Taylor at the 2026 Palm Springs Film Festival with the Creative Impact in Breakthrough Performance Award. The award will be given as part of Variety’s annual 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch on January 4.
Taylor will be recognized for her standout performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture. The film is the most nominated contender at the Golden Globe Awards with nine nods and has been named Best Picture of the Year by The Gotham Awards, The National Board of Review, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle.
Taylor also stars in the Hulu legal drama “All’s Fair,” which was recently renewed for a second season. Her previous credits include “Coming 2 America,” “White Men Can’t Jump,” and “A Thousand and One,” which earned her widespread critical acclaim out of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. She can be seen next in “The Rip” opposite Ben Affleck and Matt Damon releasing in January.
“With her multilayered performance in ‘One Battle After Another,’ Teyana Taylor manages to do the impossible: She stands out in one of the year’s best ensembles. Combined with her previous film roles in ‘A Thousand and One’ and ‘The Book of Clarence,’ Teyana has quickly established herself as a formidable and fearless actress, and we can’t wait to see what she does next. We are delighted to honor her with “Variety’s” Breakthrough Performance Award,” said Ramin Setoodeh, co-president & co-editor-in-chief, “Variety.”
The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs from January 2 to 12, 2026. Passes and tickets arecurrently on sale. For additional information visit https://www.psfilmfest.org/.
About the Palm Springs International Film Society
The Palm Springs International Film Society is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization whose mission is to cultivate and promote the art and science of film through education and cross-cultural awareness. The Film Society produces the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) and Film Awards every January and Palm Springs ShortFest in June. In addition to curating the best in international cinema, PSIFF’s Film Awards has come to be known as the first stop on the campaign trail for the Academy Awards, and our Oscar-qualifying ShortFest is the largest short film festival and market in North America. Our festivals, year-round member screenings and educational programs
manifest our organization’s mission by nurturing and encouraging new filmmaking talent, honoring the great masters of world cinema, and expanding audience horizons. The City of Palm Springs is the title sponsor of both festivals. The Film Awards are presented by Kering and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight.