Moonlight and its director, Barry Jenkins, have been voted Best Film and Best Director for 2016 by members of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
AWFJ was founded in 2006 by Jennifer Merin, Maitland McDonagh, Joanna Langfield and Jenny Halper. Its members, of which I am one, are professional female movie critics, reporters and feature writers working in print, broadcast and online media.
The organization's annual EDA Awards recognize the work done by and about women in front of and behind the camera.
The EDAs are named in honor of AWFJ founder Merin's mother, Eda Reiss Merin, a stage, film and television actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. EDA is also an acronym for Excellent Dynamic Activism.
The full list of winners:
Best screenplay, original: Manchester by the Sea -- Kenneth Lonergan
Best screenplay, adapted: Moonlight -- Barry Jenkins
Best documentary: 13th -- Ava DuVernay
Best animated film: Zootopia -- Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
Best actress: Ruth Negga -- Loving
Best actress in a supporting role: Viola Davis -- Fences
Best actor: Casey Affleck -- Manchester by the Sea
Best actor in a supporting role: Mahershala Ali -- Moonlight
Best ensemble cast: Moonlight
Best cinematography: Moonlight -- James Laxton
Best editing: Moonlight -- Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders
Best non-English-language film: The Handmaiden -- Chan-wook Park, South Korea
Female Focus Awards (honoring women only)
Best female director: Ava DuVernay -- 13th
Best female screenwriter: Kelly Reichardt -- Certain Women
Best animated female (tie): Judy in Zootopia -- Ginnifer Goodwin, Moana in Moana -- Auli'i Cravalho
Best breakthrough performance: Ruth Negga -- Loving
Outstanding achievement by a woman in the film industry: Ava DuVernay -- For 13th and raising awareness about the need for diversity and gender equality in Hollywood
Special Mention Awards
Actress defying age and ageism (tie): Annette Bening -- 20th Century Women, Isabelle Huppert -- Elle and Things to Come
Most egregious age difference between the lead and the love interest: Rules Don't Apply -- Warren Beatty (born 1937) and Lily Collins (born 1989)
Actress most in need of a new agent: Jennifer Aniston -- Mother's Day and Office Christmas Party
Bravest performance: Isabelle Huppert -- Elle
Remake or sequel that shouldn't have been made: Ben Hur
AWFJ hall of shame award: Sharon Maguire and Renee Zellwegger for Bridget Jones's Baby
For more information visit awfj.org.
MovieStyle on 01/20/2017