PALM SPRINGS, CA — Leonardo DiCaprio is being honored in Riverside County.
During next year’s Palm Springs International Film Awards, the 51-year-old actor and director will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award for his performance in the critically acclaimed 2025 movie “One Battle After Another,” officials announced Tuesday.
The awards will take place on Jan. 3, 2026 at the Convention Center at 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, with the accompanying film festival running from Jan. 2-12.
From Warner Bros. Pictures, “One Battle After Another” was written, directed and produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It follows washed-up revolutionary Bob (DiCaprio) who exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years, she goes missing, and the former radical scrambles to find her, as father and daughter both battle the consequences of his past.
In what some describe as the greatest car chase scene in cinema since 1971’s “The French Connection,” the California desert takes center stage in a climatic “One Battle After Another” finale . A hilly road known as the Texas Dip in Borrego Springs was the chase’s shooting location. The film crew called the spot the River of Hills. It’s situated near Highway 78 and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Road.
Unlike other turbo-charged chase scenes in movie history, the speed is slow in the desert pursuit — prolonging the adrenaline rush.
“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,” Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said. “Across his career, DiCaprio, has continually redefined what is possible in screen acting— bringing emotional depth, artistic integrity, and fearless commitment to every role.”
Past recipients of the Desert Palm Achievement Award include Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”), Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”) and Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”).
DiCaprio has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, 11 Screen Actors Guild Awards, 13 Golden Globe awards and won an Academy Award for his performance in 2015’s “The Revenant.”
He began his film career in the 1990s, with early roles including “This Boy’s Life” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” before gaining worldwide superstardom with 1997’s smash “Titanic.”
He has since earned critical acclaim for films such as “The Departed,” “The Aviator,” “Inception” and “Wolf of Wall Street.”
DiCaprio also advocates for climate change through his production company, Appian Way, which has produced numerous documentaries, including “Ice on Fire” and “Path of the Panther.” Additionally, he is a founding board member of Re:wild, a brand aimed at protecting and restoring the diversity of life on Earth through collaborations.
