Martin McDonagh Set for Palm Springs Directing Honor

By Tom Whitfield

Martin McDonagh, the writer-director of Wild Horse Nine, will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 7, 2027.

The festival announced the honor on Thursday. Its Film Awards ceremony falls on the opening day of the festival, which runs Jan. 7 to Jan. 18, 2027. McDonagh’s selection places Wild Horse Nine on this year’s awards slate alongside the previously announced Vanguard Award recipient, The Invite.

What is Wild Horse Nine about?

Wild Horse Nine stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents who set out for Easter Island shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup to confront their dark pasts. Their journey turns upside down when they meet two rebellious students, played by Mariana di Girolamo and Ailin Salas.

The plot puts the agents’ mission in direct contact with the students. The timing places their journey shortly before a major political upheaval, while the student encounter changes the course of the trip.

In short, the film combines a 1973 CIA mission with an encounter that disrupts it.

Why did the festival choose McDonagh?

Festival Chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said: “Martin McDonagh remains one of our most distinctive and original voices in cinema today. Over the course of his celebrated career, he has built a body of work that is humorous, timely and morally complex.”

Chandi also said: “Wild Horse Nine is another testament to his singular vision, and we are honored to recognize him and his extraordinary film with the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award.”

The chairman based the honor on both the span of McDonagh’s career and his work on Wild Horse Nine.

What does McDonagh’s résumé show?

McDonagh is an award-winning filmmaker and playwright whose credits include In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin.

His Oscar nominations include:

• Best picture for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin.
• Best director for The Banshees of Inisherin.
• Best original screenplay for In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin.

He has also won six BAFTAs and three Golden Globes. The award therefore arrives after a career that already includes multiple wins at both ceremonies.

Who are the previous directing recipients?

Past recipients of the directing award include:

• Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog.
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Babel and Birdman.
• Greta Gerwig for Barbie.
• Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave.
• Sarah Polley for Women Talking.
• David O. Russell for The Fighter.
• Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
• Chloé Zhao for Nomadland.

McDonagh now joins eight named previous recipients in the festival’s directing record.

How does The Invite fit the awards slate?

The Invite, with Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, is the previously announced recipient of this year’s Vanguard Award. Those four cast members will collect it.

The two announcements put Wild Horse Nine and The Invite on the Jan. 7 ceremony slate, but under separate award designations: directing achievement for McDonagh’s film and Vanguard recognition for The Invite.

For awards watchers, the change is direct: McDonagh is the named directing honoree, and The Invite remains the announced Vanguard recipient.