All eight star honorees showed up--and were in top form--at the remodeled Palm Springs Convention Center. Some were introduced on stage by other major stars. Keanun Reeves presented most gracefully the Desert Palm Achievement Female Award to Charlize Theron for her powerful performance in "North Country."

Actors who often shy publicity turned up to honor their colleagues. Hence, Viggo Mortensen not only showed up to introduce his "History of Violence" director David Cronenberg, but also showed knowledge of film history, when he cited in his speech the Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dreyer (Mortensen's family is from Denmark) and quoted what film critic Pauline Kael wrote about Cronenberg's visionary work.

For many, honoree Jake Gyllenhaal and his presenter-actor Peter Sarsgaard were the highlight of the evening. Sarsgaard, who appeared with Gyllenhall in Mendes' war film, "Jarhead," danced on stage, before Gyllenhaal, obviously in high spirits, danced and sang with him on stage. Gyllenhaal, who could be seen in three high-profile movies last year, including "Brokeback Mountain," exorted the crowd for being "raucous."

The tribute started with a video clip showing Charlize Theron receiving an award at another event and going spontaneously into the audience to kiss Shirley MacLaine's butt as homage to the Oscar-winning actress, who was in town to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Afterwards, Theron took the stage by storm, when she asked, "Where's Shirley sitting Where's my lady of the night" Upon spotting MacLaine's table, Theron then said, "Shirley, room 406, you know where." A few minutes"and drinks later"MacLaine, upon receiving the trophy from her colleague Kathy Bates continued to raunchy dialogue, when she quipped, "Charlize, room 204"the three of us. Everyone else in this town is doing it!"

Award Honorees

Shirley MacLaine

As noted, MacLaine received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Kathy Bates. In her funny speech, Bates said: "What I most admire about Shirley is her courage. Her courage to be who she is on the world stage whether they agree with what she thinks or not."

No speech by MacLaine goes without referencing her avocations and best-selling books about the before and after-life. The vet star told Mary Bono, widow of the mayor (who had established the festival in 1990) and Republican Representative, "Mary, I talked to Sonny. He's fine. Let's have a good time tonight. Earlier than night, Mary Bono, paying tribute to her late husband, said: This festival was Sonny's dream, and his dream has now grown far, far beyond anything Sonny had ever dreamed."

Upon receiving the award, MacLaine said: "There's something very creative stuff going on in the desert." The 7-time Oscar nominee and winner (for "Terms of Endearment" in 1983) noted that this was the first time she had returned to Palm Springs since her Rat Pack days with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. She made fun of her celeb status for propagating metaphysics, and mentioned briefly her spirituality. But she also talked tongue-in-cheek about the creativity ("in whatever form) that can flourish in the desert, and encouraged the audience to find and communicate with their "higher self."

Finally, she conceded in what was uncharacteristically a short speech, "This is the most interesting gathering I've been to in 5,000 years."

David Cronenberg

The highly acclaimed Toronto-based filmmaker ("Dead Ringers," "The Fly," "Crash") received the Sonny Bono Visionary Filmmaker Award from Viggo Mortensen. The director said he liked the idea of a film festival in the desert, but noted that receiving a visionary award in the desert was scary. "Deserts are known for their history of visionaries and prophets and madmen of all kinds," he said, "I didn't really feel I was capable of that kind of artistic invention."

Jake Gyllenhaal

Gyllenhaal received the Desert Palm Achievement Award from colleague Peter Sarsgaard (who, by the way, is dating Jake's sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal). Sarsgaard said he was planning to say nice things about Gyllenhaal, since they all picked on him during the making of "Jarhead." However, the first thing that Sarsgaard noted was Gyllenhaal's great hair. He said, "Jake's got an amazing head of hair. Look at it, it's incredible. He then proceeded to talk about other eccentricities: "His dogs are named Boo and Atticus (the characters played by Robert Duvall and Gregory Peck in the film "To Kill a Mockingbird). If that doesn't tell you who Jake is, I don't know what will. Jake grew up in a family that loves stories, and Jake chose acting to tell stories."

On the same wavelength as Sarsgaard, Gyllenhaal said that he indeed "loves to tell stories in film," but then immediately said, "I already did a gay cowboy movie this year. If I did a musical, people might start asking questions. But don't think it's not beating deeply in my veins, and the urge is a deep urge. Deep, deep urge." He also said he was proud of Brokeback Mountain socially, not just artistically, to which the live audience responded with a warm applause.

Charlize Theron

Theron received the Desert Palm Achievement Award from Keanu Reeves, with whom she had co-starred in the Faustian morality tale, "The Devil's Advocate." Said Reeves: "I'm one of those people who can say I was there from the beginning. I saw then what the world would come to know: Here is an exceptional actress."

For her part, even though she has won a number of awards, including the 2003 Oscar for "Monster," Theron felt she was "really bade at things like that." However, she did say: "The only thing I can say is thank you to this wonderful film festival; thank you to all the wonderful sponsors. I feel like this is only the beginning.

The other honorees

Composer Thomas Newman ("American Beauty," Six Feet Under"), the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing.

Actor Terrence Howard ("Crash," Hustle & Flow," "Four Brothers"), the Rising Star Award.

Producer Michael London ("Sideways," "The Family Stone"), the Producer of the Year Award.

Actress Felicity Huffman, still better known for TV's sitcom "Desperate Housewives," the Breakthrough Performance Award for "Transamerica," in which she plays a transgendered individual.