Franco Zeffirelli, LynnRedgrave, composer Michel Legrand and producer Mace Neufeld will each receive aLife and Career Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International FilmFestival gala awards ceremony on Jan 11. Organisers will also stage a tribute tothe late cinematographer Conrad Hall, the double-Oscar winner who died over theweekend and was originally due to collect his career achievement award inperson. Director Stephen Daldry, whose acclaimed adaptation of MichaelCunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours has already established itself as one of the Oscarfrontrunners, will receive the prestigious International Filmmaker'sAward. The gala ceremony will be hosted by Lily Tomlin.

Elizabeth Taylor, whoappeared in Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew and Young Toscanini, will present the director with his award, whileVanessa Redgrave will honour her sister. Allison Janney will present theInternational Filmmakers Award to Daldry, with Quincy Jones due to presentLegrand with his award. The feted cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and directorSteven Zaillian will preside over the tribute to Hall.

Festival executive directorMitch Levine praised the honourees in a statement, adding: 'Each of themhas created an exceptional body of work that represents the best of our artform. Their contributions to the world of film-making are immeasurable. Ofcourse, we are greatly saddened by the very recent loss of the wonderful ConradHall, who was very excited to come to Palm Springs to receive our award andattend our panel celebrating his life and career. As an artist, he will surelybe missed, and we now plan to celebrate his incredible career with a memorialin his honour.'

Zeffirelli's mostrecent picture, the biopic Callas Forever, will open the festival which runs from Jan 9 to 20. Lynn Redgrave mostrecently appeared in David Cronenberg's Spider. Neufeld's award will be presented by PhillipNoyce, who directed his productions Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger.