Helen Hunt to receive Palm Springs film festival honor

Oscar-winning actress Helen Hunt (“As Good as It Gets”) will receive the Spotlight Award at the 24th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala Jan. 5 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The festival takes place Jan. 3-14.

“Few can claim the artistic distinctions of Helen Hunt,” said film festival chairman Harold Matzner in a statement Thursday. “A consummate actress, director, producer and screenwriter, Hunt’s talents are myriad.”

The 49-year-old Hunt, who won four Emmys in the 1990s for her role in the NBC comedy series “Mad About You,” has received strong notices in the new film “The Sessions,” as a professional sex surrogate who helps a man (John Hawkes) largely confined to an iron lung to lose his virginity.

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