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Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Actor and singer Jamie Foxx will be honored at the 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Festival organizers announced Thursday on Twitter that Foxx, 52, will receive the Spotlight Award, Actor, for his role in the new film Just Mercy.
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The 31st annual Palm Springs International Film Festival runs Jan. 2-13. Foxx will be honored at the festival's Film Awards Gala, which takes place Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
"In Just Mercy, Jamie Foxx gives a moving and truly remarkable performance as Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death for a murder, for which he was wrongly convicted," festival chairman Harold Matzner said in a statement.
"This is an inspiring drama that brings an important story about how our justice system can fail to the big screen. It is a story that audiences should see. It is our honor to present the Spotlight Award, Actor to Jamie Foxx," he added.
Previous recipients of the Spotlight Award, Actor, include Timothée Chalamet, Bryan Cranston, Andrew Garfield and Sam Rockwell.
Just Mercy, which opened in theaters Wednesday, recounts how McMillian was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of a white woman. Michael B. Jordan co-stars as McMillian's defense attorney Bryan Stevenson.
Foxx, Jordan and their co-star Brie Larson recently said they hope to use great storytelling to change people's hearts and minds about important issues.
Larson said on Good Morning America this month that Foxx was a leader on the movie's set.
"Jamie, he got to be in the intersection of everything he's good at -- entertainer, musician and actor. So it wasn't just that we were doing these really deep scenes on camera, he was sort of leading us with music, with stories, with jokes throughout the day," Larson said.
Foxx will direct and star in the upcoming movie All-Star Weekend.
