Lupita Nyong’o, tipped for an Oscar for her supporting role in 12 Years A Slave, will receive the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival’s (PSIFF) Breakthrough Performance Award.

Nyong’o (pictured, centre) will collect the honour at the annual awards gala on January 4 2014.

“Lupita Nyong’o is outstanding as the exploited slave whose beauty attracts the attention of Michael Fassbender’s vicious slavemaster,” said PSIFF chairman Harold Matzner.

“She delivers a raw and deeply moving performance that serves as the fulcrum for the film’s message of the inhumanity of slavery.”

The festival is scheduled to run from January 3-13 2014.

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