Naomi Watts, Scarlett Johansson, production designer DanteFerretti and writer Sidney Sheldon will receive special honours at the upcoming15th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival's awards gala on Jan 11.

Watts, who has already been nominated as best lead actress of 2003by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and other bodies for her role inAlejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's drama 21 Grams, will receive the Desert PalmAchievement Award.

Her credits include Mulholland Drive, The Ring and Le Divorce and she will next be seen in JohnCurran's drama We Don't Live Here Anymore, Niels Mueller's drama The Assassination Of RichardNixon and David ORussell's comedy I (Heart) Huckabee's.

Johansson has won acclaim this year for her roles in Lost InTranslation and GirlWith A Pearl Earring andwill collect the inaugural Rising Star Award. In December 2003 she received twoGolden Globe nominations for the roles; she first captured critics' attention playingKristin Scott Thomas's daughter in The Horse Whisperer in 1998.

Ferretti has been nominated for an Oscar six times and his latestwork includes Cold Mountain and Martin Scorsese's upcoming Howard Hughes epic The Aviator. He will collect the Career AchievementAward for Production Design. Previous credits include Gangs Of New York,Titus and InterviewWith The Vampire.

Sheldon will receive the SonnyBono Visionary Award, named after the event's founder and to be presented byCongresswoman Mary Bono

Sheldon won thescreenplay Oscar for The Bachelor And The Bobby Soxer in 1948 and his other film writingcredits include Easter Parade and Annie Get Your Gun. He has also written more than 200 television scripts, sixBroadway plays and published more than 18 novels.