“12 Years a Slave” has been critically acclaimed and audiences have said nothing but good things about it. So it should come as no surprise that the film’s director, Steve McQueen, will be awarded for his work.

At the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala, to be held Jan. 4, McQueen will be given with the Director of the Year Award for “12 Years a Slave.” The awards gala will be presented by Cartier and hosted by Mary Hart.

Festival Chairman Harold Matzner talked more about McQueen and the award. “Director Steve McQueen captivates his audiences by challenging them with often unorthodox and unrelenting subject matter and technique,” he said. “McQueen is a master of utilizing the senses to create the essence of his works. In his latest effort, 12 Years a Slave, audiences become integrally involved in the unbearably violent nightmare of a free black man, who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, eventually to return home to freedom. To Steve McQueen, a soaring talent who ranks among the greats with each directorial effort, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present him the 2014 Director of the Year Award.”

“12 Years a Slave” stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free black man from pre-Civil War New York who is abducted and sold into slavery, the brunt of that time under the ownership of the cruel and sadistic slave owner, played by Michael Fassbender. Throughout his time in slavery, Northup struggles to keep his sanity and dignity. In the 12th year of his captivity, Northup meets a Canadian abolitionist, played by Brad Pitt, who changes his life forever. The film also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodard, Chris Chalk, Taran Killam and Bill Camp.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will run from Jan. 3 through Jan. 13, 2014.