The women have voted! The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the winners selected for the 2016 AWFJ EDA Awards.
The 10th annual awards were announced in 25 categories, divided into three sections: The Best of Awards, Female Focus Awards, and EDA Special Mention Awards. The nominees were chosen by the 76 voting AWFJ members.
Some of the more humorous categories include “Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Lead and The Love Interest Award” and “Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent.”
Ava DuVernay won in both the Best of Awards and the Female Focused Awards categories, nabbing Best Documentary and Best Woman Director. Kelly Reichart was awarded Best Woman Screenwriter for “Certain Women.”
Both best actress winners were women of color, with Ruth Negga winning for “Loving” and Viola Davis taking the supporting prize for “Fences.” EDA Awards and AWFJ founder Jennifer Merin addressed the need for inclusion in the announcement.
“This year has brought heightened awareness of the impact movies and cinema culture have on setting our social norms,” said Merin. “The need for gender parity and greater diversity in the movie industry is patently clear. These goals are fundamental to AWFJ’s mission and core values. I’m thrilled that in our 10th anniversary awards season AWFJ members voted to honor such a diverse array of talent representing such a broad spectrum of perspectives, making the 2016 EDA Awards particularly relevant at a time when art — and film, in particular — must be the vanguard of social progress.”
The 2016 winners are:
AWFJ BEST OF AWARDS
These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.
Best Film: “Moonlight”
Best Director: Barry Jenkins — “Moonlight”
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 — Casting Director: “Moonlight” — Yesi Ramirez
Best Cinematography: “Moonlight” — James Laxton
Best Editing: “Moonlight” — Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders
Best Non-English-Language Film: “The Handmaiden” — Park Chan-Wook
EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
These awards honor WOMEN only.
Best Woman Director: Ava DuVernay -“13th”
Best Woman Screenwriter: Kelly Reinhardt — “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
EDA 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 Award : “Rules Don’t Apply” — Warren Beatty (b. 1937) and Lily Collins (b. 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”