With the Oscars less than a week away, awards season is winding down. Women have nabbed several prestigious honors throughout the 2019 awards circuit, including at the Berlinale and WGA Awards this past weekend. Angela Shanelec’s “I was Home, But,” Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher,” and Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” were among the big winners.
According to Deadline, both Shanelec and “System Crasher” won Silver Bears at the Berlin Film Fest. Shanelec was named Best Director for “I Was at Home, But,” the story of a teen’s mysterious disappearance and subsequent return. “System Crasher,” centering on an energetic, lovesick nine-year-old, took home the Alfred Bauer Prize Silver Bear. Yong Mei won Best Actress for “So Long, My Son,” an epic about the social and economic change that has swept China since the ’80s.
The Berlinale awards were presented by a jury headed by Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche and featuring actress Sandra Hüller (“Toni Erdmann”) and actress-filmmaker Trudie Styler (“Freak Show”), among others.
Berlinale’s two highest honors, the Golden Bear and the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, both went to women-directed films in 2018. Adina Pintilie’s “Touch Me Not” took home the former and Malgorzata Szumowska’s “Mug” the latter.
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty snagged the WGA’s adapted screenplay prize for “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” Deadline confirms. Based on Lee Israel’s memoir, the film sees the desperate biographer forging letters from literary icons including Dorothy Parker to pay the bills. Holofcener and Whitty will compete for the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award this coming Sunday.
Dava Whisenant and Ozzy Inguanzo won best documentary screenplay for the Whisenant-directed “Bathtubs Over Broadway.” The pic follows late-night writer Steve Young as he discovers, and tries to learn more about, Broadway-style musical recordings about American corporations such as General Electric and McDonald’s.
The WGA award for best comedy series went to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” Writers for the Amazon show about a ’50s housewife-turned-comedian include creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, Kate Fodor, Jen Kirkman, and Sheila Lawrence, among others.
The WGA also handed out several special honors. “Orange Is the New Black” creator Jenji Kohan received the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement. Kohan wasn’t present to accept her prize, but sent a video message instead. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there in person, but sadly due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn’t want to,” she joked. “I’m a writer, not a performer, which means that I have many things to say, but prefer other people to say them.”
All of the female Berlinale and WGA winners are below. Lists adapted from Deadline.
Berlinale
Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize
System Crasher, dir. Nora Fingscheidt
Silver Bear for Best Director
Angela Shanelec, I Was at Home, But
Silver Bear for Best Actress
Yong Mei, So Long, My Son
Audi Short Film Award
Rise, dir: Barbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca
Panorama Audience Award Winner Fiction Film
37 Seconds, Japan, dir. Hikari
WGA
FILM
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Based on the book by Lee Israel; Fox Searchlight
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Bathtubs Over Broadway
Written by Dava Whisenant & Ozzy Inguanzo; Focus Features
TELEVISION
COMEDY SERIES
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Written by Kate Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Jen Kirkman, Sheila Lawrence, Daniel Palladino, Amy Sherman Palladino; Prime Video
DRAMA SERIES
The Americans, Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX Networks
NEW SERIES
Barry, Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff, Ben Smith, Sarah Solemani; HBO
LONG FORM ADAPTED
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Writers: Maggie Cohn, Tom Rob Smith, Based on the book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth; FX Networks
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Castle Rock, Writers: Marc Bernardin, Scott Brown, Lila Byock, Mark Lafferty, Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, Gina Welch, Vinnie Wilhelm; Hulu
COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver; Writers: Tim Carvell, Raquel D’Apice, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Daniel O’Brien, John Oliver, Brian Parise, Owen Parsons, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Juli Weiner; HBO
COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Nathan For You, Writers: Leo Allen, Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Michael Koman, Adam Locke-Norton, Eric Notarnicola; Comedy Central
COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS
The Fake News with Ted Nelms, Written by John Aboud, Andrew Blitz, Michael Colton, Ed Helms, Elliott Kalan, Joseph Randazzo, Sara Schaefer; Comedy Central
ANIMATION
“Bart’s Not Dead” (The Simpsons), Written by Stephanie Gillis; Fox
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Head Writer: Stephen A. Melcher, Jr.; Writers: Kyle Beakley, Tom Cohen, Patricia A. Cotter, Ryan Hopak, Gary Lucy, James Rowley, Ann Slichter, Dylan Snowden; Disney/ABC Syndication
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA ORIGINAL
Class of Lies, Written by Tessa Leigh Williams; Snapchat
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“The Eugenics Crusade” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS
NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Catastrophe” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News
NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Wounds of War” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Katie Kerbstat, Nicole Young; CBS News
OTHER
DIGITAL NEWS
“Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games,” Written by Cecilia D’Anastasio; Kotaku.com
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT—REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Remembering The Good, The Bad and the Brilliant,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“John McCain: A Life of Service,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio
SPECIAL HONORS
Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement
Jenji Kohan
Jean Renoir Award
Agnès Varda
Morgan Cox Award for Guild Service
Joan Meyerson
Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting
Ariella Carmell
