Quentin Tarantino is undeniably most famous for his loud, brash, blood-filled films, a staple throughout his career, from Reservoir Dogs to this year’s Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. What Tarantino is probably less famous for is publicly welling up.

Nevertheless, that’s what Greta Gerwig made him do at this year’s Palm Springs Film Festival Awards, with a speech that paid tribute to his directing and explained how it has inspired her own efforts.

“Quentin Tarantino makes movies as if movies could save the world,” she said, before presenting him with the award for Director of the Year. “Movies can kill Hitler, free slaves, and give Sharon Tate one more summer.”

Of course, Gerwig was referring to the alternative timeline trend in some of Tarantino’s later films: Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, which have seen real historical figures live or die according to the script, regardless of whether it’s fact or fiction.

In the speech, she also covered her love of Tarantino from an early age and shooting her new Little Women adaptation on film, at least partly inspired by his preference.

Tarantino was seen welling up as he took the stage, saying: “She literally talked about me the way I can only imagine somebody could ever talk about me in my wildest, self-possessed dream. Thank you.”

Also honoured at the event – which is often considered a fairly accurate predictor for the Oscars – were Laura Dern and Adam Driver (for their roles in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story), Joaquin Phoenix (for Joker), and Jennifer Lopez (for Hustlers) among others.