Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards 2019

Posted on January 10, 2019 at 4:00 pm

I am proud to be a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and proud of our 2019 awards.

These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.

Best Film 

ROMA   

Best Director  

Alfonso Cuaron

ROMA 

Best Screenplay, Original 

THE FAVOURITE

Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara   

Best Screenplay, Adapted  

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty

Best Documentary  

WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?

Morgan Neville

Best Animated Film 

SPIDER-MAN INTO SPIDER-VERSE

Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsay, Rodney Rothman  

Best Actress 

Olivia Colman

THE FAVOURITE  

Best Actress in a Supporting Role  

Regina King

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Best Actor 

Ethan Hawke

FIRST REFORMED

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Richard E Grant

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?   

Best Ensemble Cast

BLACK PANTHER

Sarah Finn, Casting Director

Best Cinematography 

ROMA

Alfonso Cuaron

Best Editing 

ROMA

Alfonso Cuaron, Adam Gough   

Best Non-English-Language Film 

ROMA

Alfonso Cuaron

Mexico

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS

These awards honor WOMEN only.

Best Woman Director 

Marielle Heller

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?   

Best Woman Screenwriter 

Deborah Davis

THE FAVOURITE

Best Animated Female

Elastagirl

Holly Hunter

INCREDIBLES 2

Best Breakthrough Performance 

Thomasin McKenzie

LEAVE NO TRACE

Outstanding Achievement by A Woman in The Film Industry 

Rachel Morrison

For paving the road for women cinematographers with her Oscar nomination for MUDBOUND and scoring as DP on BLACK PANTHER.

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS

Actress Defying Age and Ageism  

Viola Davis – WIDOWS  

Bravest Performance 

Olivia Colman – THE FAVOURITE   

Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent 

Jennifer Lawrence – RED SPARROW

Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Lead and The Love Interest Award 

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT – Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson

Remake or Sequel That Shouldn’t Have Been Made 

OVERBOARD

AWFJ Hall of Shame Award

ALL ALLEGED ABUSERS: Including Weinstein, Moonves, CK, Spacey, Rush, Franco, Singer, Rose, Lauer et al.

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS: AWFJ, a not-for-profit corporation, is an international association of professional female movie critics, reporters and feature writers working in print, broadcast and online media, dedicated to raising the volume on women’s voices in the film community by broadening opportunities for women who write about film and supporting films by and about women – both in front of and behind the cameras – through intra-group promotional activities, outreach programs and by presenting EDA awards in recognition of outstanding accomplishments (the best and worst) by and about women in the movies. More information about AWFJ, including the membership list, can be accessed at www.awfj.org or sending inquiries to awfjinc@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE EDA AWARDS: The AWFJ presents EDA Awards to honor women’s achievements in front of and behind the cameras. In addition to the annual end of the year awards, AWFJ presents EDA Awards for Best Female-Directed Films at select film festivals, including IDFA, Whistler Film Festival, DOXA. Edinburgh Film Festival. St. Louis International Film Festival and others. The EDAs are named in honor of AWFJ founder Jennifer Merin’s mother, Eda Reiss Merin, a stage, film and screen actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. A dedicated foot soldier in the industry, Eda was one of the founders of AFTRA and a long-standing member of AMPAS.

Related Tags:

Awards Gender and Diversity

Interviews About My #1 Film of 2018, If Beale Street Could Talk

Posted on January 7, 2019 at 8:00 am

I had the great pleasure of speaking to two of the people behind my favorite film of the year, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” breakout star Kiki Layne and writer/director Barry Jenkins, who adapted the film from the James Baldwin novel.

My interview with Ms. Layne was for the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. She spoke about the support her character gets from her strong, devoted family.

The love in that family is just so, so powerful. We see the beauty of having those people to lean into and having those people around that are nurturing you and nurturing your growth. Tish has some growing up to do. Her family encourages that but it’s not all, “You’ve got to get over this.” It wasn’t that type of energy. It’s just like, “Hey, this is a situation that you’re in but really we’re all in it together,” and I think that was the beauty of the family dynamic in this film.

And I spoke to Barry Jenkins for rogerebert.com. He described the one scene where he augmented Baldwin’s story.

Another one of my favorite scenes is the one where they’re in the loft with the young landlord after so many rejections. It is so delicate and charming.

The character was in the book but it’s one of the few places in the translation that I’ll say I felt it didn’t go just far enough for me and so as I was walking around the space I just had this thought in my head like, “How in the hell could you possibly see a way to turn this into a home?” Then I realized, “Oh, but what says love and faith more than a lover saying, ‘I promise I can do this’ and you say ‘Okay, yes I believe you,’” So that’s when we added this whole thing of how we’re going to make this into a home and then him showing where he’s going to put all these things and then I was like, “Oh, it feels kind of cute let’s just go all the way with this pantomiming with the fridge,” and when we did it, there was something so lovely about watching Dave Franco and Stephan James perform this kind of joke in a certain way which was rooted in love and faith that when we got to the roof it also seemed like, “Okay, and now these characters feel connected. How can we take it one step further?”

This idea of mothers in the film is so important. Tish has a mother and she is pregnant, Fonny has a mother, Victoria Rogers, the woman who’s been sexually assaulted, she’s pregnant. She’s not showing but she’s pregnant. It’s all this idea of mothers. I thought, “Oh, here is something that I can see uniting these characters,” and that’s when we gave Dave Franco the line, “I’m just my mother’s son.” Sometimes it’s that idea that makes the difference between us and them; not black and white but people who have been loved and the people who haven’t.

This was adapted with I think much respect and deference to Mr. Baldwin, but that was one of the places where I’m really proud of how I was able to fuse my voice and his.

Breakout Stars of 2018

Posted on January 6, 2019 at 10:12 pm

What I look forward to most every year, as I examine the list of upcoming films, is the surprises. Of course I am excited about more from the actors and filmmakers I love — the big blockbusters and earnest dramas, the comedies and romances. But it is the actors and filmmakers I have never heard of in January and will not be able to imagine life without in December I am eagerly anticipating most. With that in mind, I really enjoyed Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the biggest breakout stars of 2018, and I agree that every one of them is now in my pantheon of greats, including “Leave No Trace’s” Thomasin McKenzie, “Deadpool 2′” Zazie Beats (who also gets the coolest name award), Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians” and “Oceans 8”), Cynthia Erivo (“Bad Times at the El Royale,” “Widows”), and Noah Centineo (“To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” and “Sierra Burgess is a Loser”). I’d add Amandla Stemberg (I was already a fan but she was sensational in “The Hate U Give”), Kiki Layne (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), John David Washington (“BlackKklansman”), and Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”). To the people who will surprise me this year — I can’t wait to meet you.

Related Tags:

Actors

One of the Best Screenplays of 2018 Free Online

Posted on January 6, 2019 at 9:53 am

The best surprise I had at the movie theater last year was “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and I am delighted that the filmmakers have made the screenplay available online. Take a look at the fresh, clever, jubilant writing that made this movie such a delight.

The Apartment — Without Lemmon and MacLaine

Posted on January 4, 2019 at 10:18 pm

This fascinating video essay shows us what the Oscar-winning Billy Wilder film “The Apartment” would look like without the actors, revealing the role that the setting plays in telling the story. After all, that is the name of the film.

Related Tags:

Understanding Media and Pop Culture