Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper and David O Russell Honored At Palm Springs Film Festival

Awards season is getting into full swing now, with pretty much all the main ceremonies bar the Oscars having revealed their shortlists by now - and some of the smaller events have even taken place, with the Palm Springs Film Festival gala the latest to honor the great and good of Hollywood. Among the winners at the event included Ben Affleck, who took the Ensemble Performance Award for Argo, and Bradley Cooper who was honored with the Desert Palm Achievement Actor Award for his role in Silver Linings Playbook. 

Bradley Cooper attends the Palm Springs Film Festival on Sunday (January 6, 2013)

Talking to E! News, Affleck commented "This is actually a very cool thing for me. My father lived for about 20 years in the next town over, Indio, Calif." Bigger things probably lie ahead for Affleck and Argo -not least the Golden Globes this coming Sunday (January 13, 2013), but the director insisted he was delighted with the Palm Springs accolade. "I'm thrilled anytime people have said that they've seen the movie, much less been touched by it" he said. "I've been around now for a little while and I've seen what happens when it's great, I've seen what happens when nobody wants to talk to you and I've seen what happens when people wanna see your movie and I've come to appreciate it."

David O Russell took the Variety Indie Impact Award at Palm Springs for Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook man Cooper was also pleased to be there. With his director David O Russell also taking a Variety Indie Impact Award at the event, it was a good day for the film, and the actor said: "I remember watching the photographs of David O. Russell winning last year here for The Fighter with Mark [Wahlberg] and Amy [Adams], and never thinking that I'd be here with him this year for a movie that I love so much. It's incredible."

Eddie Redmayne was among a glittering array of stars who showed up to the event