Actress, activist, and Silence Breaker Ashley Judd will be celebrated for her international work with women and children at this year’s Greenwich International Film Festival. According to PEOPLE, she will be presented with the fest’s Changemaker Award at a gala on May 31.
The honor is given to artists who use “their public platform and the power of film to further positive social change,” explained Wendy Stapleton Reyes, fest Chairman of the Board.
Judd is being recognized for her role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The role sees her travelling to nations such as Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Ukraine, and Turkey, and working to help improve the lives of women and children. Judd also serves as global ambassador for Population Services International and Polaris, an org dedicated to ending human trafficking.
Previous Changemaker Award recipients include Renée Zellweger, Christy Turlington Burns, Mia Farrow, Freida Pinto, Abigail Breslin, and Trudie Styler.
“It is an honor to have been chosen as a Changemaker Award recipient at the 2018 Greenwich International Film Festival,” Judd said. “The festival serves as a great example of how film can be elevated to affect social change, and I’m grateful to be a part of such an extraordinary community.”
“We are incredibly honored to have Ashley Judd as our 2018 Changemaker,” Reyes stated. “She is an unapologetic voice for equality and women’s rights throughout the world. Ashley serves as an incredible example of an individual who, despite the consequences, has refused to be silenced when she has been confronted by injustice and has therefore eased the path for the next generation.”
Judd has been one of the most prominent voices in the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. At this year’s Oscars she appeared alongside Salma Hayak and Annabella Sciorra — who, like Judd, have been targeted by Harvey Weinstein — and spoke about those who are fighting for equality and respect. “Many spoke their truth and the journey ahead is long, but slowly a new path has emerged,” Judd said, calling for future Oscar ceremonies and contenders to “empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity inclusivity, intersectionality.”
Last year Judd received the Women’s Media Center’s Speaking Truth to Power Award and was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100. The two-time Golden Globe nominee’s recent credits includes spy series “Berlin Station,” the “Twin Peaks” revival, and “Trafficked,” a drama about three young women forced into the sex trade.
The Greenwich Film Fest will be held May 31–June 3 in Greenwich, Connecticut.
