Jeff Bridges, an awards contender for his portrayal of an alcoholic country music singer seeking redemption in Crazy Heart, will receive the 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival’s (PSIFF) Desert Palm Achievement Award.

Bridges will collect the honour at the PSIFF awards gala on January 5, 2010, when he will join a pantheon of previous honourees that includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn, Liam Neeson, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and James Stewart.

“Jeff Bridges’ career is the very embodiment of the Desert Palm Achievement Award, which was created to acknowledge acting excellence, and years of consistent and memorable work,” festival chairman Harold Matzner said of the four times Academy Award nominee.

“This year, in his remarkable performance in Crazy Heart, he once again shows us why he is considered one of America’s greatest actors.”

The festival runs from January 5 -18, 2010.