Colin Firth and Natalie Portman are set to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Award for acting at the 22nd Annual Palm Springs Film Festival Awards Gala taking place January 8th at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Firth and Portman will join previously announced honorees, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence and Cary Mulligan for the event, which will be hosted by Entertainment Tonight’s, Mary Hart.

Firth will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Actor Award.  Firth will next be seen in the feature film The King’s Speech as King George VI, father of the current Queen Elizabeth II, who reluctantly assumed the throne after his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated. King George VI struggles to overcome a nervous stammer with the help of a speech therapist, played by Geoffrey Rush.  The King’s Speech is set for release later this month.

Portman, who started dancing at age four and acting at age 11, tests the full range of her talent with another stunning performance as an obsessed ballerina in filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

The Palm Springs Film Festival runs from January 6th through January 17th, 2011.