Viola Davis to receive Gregory Peck Award at San Diego Film Festival

The EGOT winner will be honored during the festival’s Night of the Stars Tribute as it celebrates its 25th year.

Viola Davis will receive the Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence at this year’s San Diego International Film Festival, adding another major honor to her career across film, television, and theater.

Accoridng to Variety reports Davis will be honored during the festival’s Night of the Stars Tribute on Oct. 13 at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla. Cecilia Peck, Gregory Peck’s daughter, is scheduled to present the award.

“Viola Davis is one of the most extraordinary artists of our time,” Tonya Mantooth, CEO and artistic director of San Diego International Film Festival, said. “Her performances bring power, vulnerability and truth to every role, while her work beyond the screen has helped create opportunities for others. The Gregory Peck Award celebrates an enduring contribution to cinema, and Viola Davis embodies that legacy. We are honored to celebrate her remarkable artistry and impact.”

Davis joins a list of previous Gregory Peck Award recipients that includes Mark Hamill, Penelope Ann Miller, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia, Patrick Stewart and Annette Bening.

The award arrives during another active year for Davis. The EGOT winner has continued working as an actor and producer while expanding into publishing and philanthropy. Earlier this year, she released the courtroom novel “Judge Stone,” co-written with James Patterson, and her Davis-Tennon Foundation announced a $1.2 million investment in a new Rhode Island community center named for her mother.

Davis also received the Chairman’s Award at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards, where she reflected on her career, childhood, and the people whose work created opportunities for later generations of Black performers.

Her film résumé includes “Fences,” “The Woman King,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Air” and “G20,” while television audiences know her for her Emmy-winning role as Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away with Murder.”

The San Diego International Film Festival is celebrating its 25th year and will run from Oct. 13 through Oct. 18. The Night of the Stars Tribute will open the festival week with Davis receiving the Gregory Peck Award as its headline honoree.