Awards
Women Dominate NAACP Awards’ Directing, TV Drama, Fiction Categories
Women weren’t hard to find among the NAACP Awards’ sprawling and maverick nominees in film, television, music, and books. Three female filmmakers — Ava DuVernay (Selma), Amma Asante...
The Big O: The Lone Craft Category That is Almost Always Sewn Up By Female Nominees
Quick: Name the one Oscar category outside of acting that’s routinely dominated not just by female nominees, but female winners. Here’s a hint: It involves dressing for success. Or, rather,...
African-American Film Critics Assn. Names ‘Selma,’ ‘Belle,’ ‘Unbroken’ Among 2014’s Top Films
Selma has been named the African-American Film Critics Association’s top movie of the year. The first studio picture with Martin Luther King, Jr., as the protagonist won accolates from the AAFCA...
The Big O: Actresses Often Benefit When Musicals Catch Oscar’s Ear
Let’s sing the praises of musicals — especially when it comes to providing opportunities for female performers to shine at Oscar time. Such celebrations of song make up what is probably the...
Reese Witherspoon to Receive Palm Springs Film Festival’s Chairman Award for ‘Wild’
The Reese-surgence is in full swing. Reese Witherspoon will receive the Chairman Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival (Jan. 2–12), an institution rife with Academy voters, for...
Chicken & Egg Pictures Gives $330,000 in Grants to 18 Women-Directed Projects
In anticipation of its 10-year anniversary next year, Chicken & Egg Pictures has chosen 18 documentaries to receive $330,000 in funding. Fourteen new films were selected as part of the 2014 Open...
Julianne Moore, Tessa Thompson, ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ Win at Gotham Awards
Monday’s Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony didn’t produce too many surprises. Oscar frontrunners Julianne Moore and Laura Poitras took home the Best Actress and Best Documentary prizes,...
NYFCC Salutes Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Babadook’ and Laura Poitras’ ‘Citizenfour’
Two women-directed films — Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook and Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour — won recognition from the New York Film Critics Circle yesterday. The Babadook, a horror...
‘Selma,’ ‘Obvious Child,’ ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ Receive Multiple Spirit Awards Nominations
Five women-directed films — Ava DuVernay’s Selma, Gillian Robespierre’s Obvious Child, Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love, and Anja...
Watch: President Obama Salutes Meryl Streep with Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Big O: In a Weak Year for Female Roles, These Silent Types and Big Talkers Deserve Oscar Consideration
Silence can be golden and talk doesn’t have to be cheap — all you need is the right actress to pull it off. As is common at year’s end, when the air is rife with Oscar buzz, film pundits...
Emma Thompson to Be Honored by British Independent Film Awards
Emma Thompson, the only artist to boast Oscar trophies for both writing and acting, will receive the Richard Harris Award at this year’s Moët British Independent Film Awards. The Richard Harris...
Laura Poitras’ ‘Citizenfour’ Tops Cinema Eye Nominations
Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour has emerged as the nonfic to beat this awards season. The Edward Snowden documentary led the Cinema Eye Honors nominations with nods in six categories, including best...
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Wanda Sykes, Dawn Ostroff Among 2014 Women in Film and Television Awardees
For its 34th year, the New York Women in Film and Television’s Muse Awards will honor Maggie Gyllenhaal, Wanda Sykes, Conde Nast Entertainment president (and former CW head) Dawn Ostroff, and...
The Big O: Oscar Needs to Honor More Women With the “Write” Stuff
As the Academy Awards prepares for its 87th edition, a nagging fact continues to rear its gender-biased head: the astonishing fact that only four women have ever been nominated for Best Director and...
Four Women-Directed Animated Features Land on Oscar Shortlist
Next year’s February 22 ceremony is still far away, but here’s one thing that’s already crystallized about the Oscars’ animation race: There are no female frontrunners this year (like most...
The Big O: Can Hilary Swank stake a third claim on an Oscar?
You can have your SAGs and Golden Globes. But the ultimate acting prize in the movie biz has been and remains an Oscar for a lead performance. And if owning one is impressive, having two on your...
DOC NYC to Honor ‘Citizenfour’ Director Laura Poitras with Inaugural Award
Filmmaker and “MacArthur Genius” grantee Laura Poitras (CitizenFour, The Oath, Flag Wars) will receive DOC NYC’s inaugural Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence in a ceremony...
Producer Gale Ann Hurd to Receive PGA’s David O. Selznick Award
Gale Ann Hurd will receive the Producers Guild of America’s 2015 David O. Selznick Achievement Award. Hurd will be feted in a ceremony on January 24. “I am humbled to be mentioned in the same...
The Big O: Stand By Your Man — And Grab That Oscar Nomination
There are a number of films vying for awards attention this year that feature a certain female trope that’s grown increasingly popular since the dawn of the 21st century — one that often...
Gotham Awards Nominate Women Directors Ana Lily Amirpour, Eliza Hittman, Laura Poitras
Aaaaaand, we’re off! Award season officially began today with the announcement of the nominations for the Gotham Independent Film Awards, “a bellwether for indie titles and talent,” according...
The Big O: Will Keira Knightley’s Image Switch Convince Oscar She’s Worthy?
Take a look at Keira Knightley in her most recent perfume ad for Chanel from earlier this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZAZD3ylG6Y So gorgeous. So come hither-y. So female James Bond in...
Lucy Walker, Aneta Kopacz, Ellen Goosenberg Kent Among Oscar Semi-Finalists for Best Short Doc
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1: Trailer
Gena Rowlands to Be Feted by LA Film Critics Group
Gena Rowlands will receive the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s career achievement prize during its annual awards ceremony next year on January 10. Rowlands’ career encompasses six decades...
Julianne Moore to Be Honored at the Museum of Moving Image
The Oscars have demonstrated a stinginess toward Julianne Moore over the years, but other institutions have been lining up to shower the actress with trophies and accolades. After winning the Best...
The Big O: Watch Out, Rosamund Pike — Oscar Doesn’t Fall for Amy’s Type
Spoilers for Gone Girl ahead. As the iconic silver-screen siren Mae West once said, “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better. ” Since Hollywood’s earliest days,...
Patricia Ariza Wins Award for Creating Social Change Through Theater
Patricia Ariza, a Columbian artist and activist, has received the LPTW Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award for her endeavors toward peace and greater awareness of women’s issues during...
The Big O: Who’s More Overdue for a Win — Amy Adams or Julianne Moore?
Think back to last year’s Best Actress category and what a titanic lineup it was. Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judi Dench for Philomena, Meryl Streep for August: Osage County, and Cate Blanchett,...
Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Receive BAFTA’s Charlie Chaplin Award
National treasure and perennial award-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus (five Emmy and counting!) will receive another recognition of her genius later this month at the 2014 BAFTA LA Britannia Awards. The...
The Big O: If the Girl in ‘Gone Girl’ Provokes Debate, Oscar Noms Might Follow
Much of the suspense over Gone Girl, at least among the film journalists who were the first to witness David Fincher’s latest thriller at the New York Film Festival, has not revolved around any...
Julianne Moore’s ‘Still Alice’ to Receive Oscar-Qualifying Run (Plus Bonus Clip)
With four nominations and no wins yet, Julianne Moore might finally deserve her due at the next Academy Awards ceremony. The vehicle that’ll get here? Not the Hollywood-skewering showbiz satire...
Women Directors Comprise Majority of San Francisco Film Society Grant Finalists
The San Francisco Film Society has announced the 14 finalists who will be competing for a $300,000 grant from the SFFS and the Kenneth Rainn Foundation. One or more narrative films from the Bay...
The Big O: Lead or Supporting Actress? Depends on Which Category is Likeliest to Hit Gold
As of today, Patricia Arquette stands as the favorite to win a supporting-actress Oscar for her 12-years-in-the-making portrait of devoted motherhood in Boyhood. That is, if you believe the expert...
Roz Chast, Jane Smiley, Marilynne Robinson Among National Book Award Nominees
Roz Chast, a cartoonist for the New Yorker, has become the first graphic memoirst to be nominated for the National Book Award. Unfortunately, her account of her elderly parents’ difficult few...
Alison Bechdel Wins MacArthur “Genius” Prize, Working on Third Graphic Memoir
Already a household name in feminist, queer, and film circles, Alison Bechdel was named one of the 21 recipients of this year’s MacArthur “Genius Grant.” Bechdel was in an Italian castle at...
Hong Kong and Latvia Submit Films by Women Directors for Foreign-Language Oscar Consideration
Two works from female filmmakers have been chosen as their countries’ selections for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Hong Kong has submitted Ann Hui’s The Golden Era as its pick. The...
The Big O: Post-Toronto, the Oscar Picture Clears — and It Isn’t a Pretty One for Actresses
We were so spoiled. Last year, there was a rich variety of performances to celebrate in the lead-actress Oscar category. The choices were so abundant, in fact, that admirable efforts like Emma...
Debbie Reynolds to Be Awarded Life Achievement Honor at SAG Awards
Debbie Reynolds has been chosen as the 2014 recipient of SAG’s most prestigious award, the Life Achievement Award. The honor is bestowed on the basis of the awardee’s career within the industry...
Chicken & Egg to Honor Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Lesli Klainberg and Eugene Hernandez
Chicken & Egg Pictures, the only nonprofit film fund dedicated to women’s documentaries, will present its 2014 Good Egg Award to Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Lesli Klainberg and Eugene...
Orange is the New Black Wins Big at Creative Emmys
Orange is the New Black took home three trophies at last night’s Creative Arts Emmys, including an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy award for Uzo Aduba, who plays Suzanne, AKA “Crazy...
Quote of the Day: Octavia Spencer on How Her Oscar Changed Nothing
What’s the point of winning your industry’s highest honor if it doesn’t open up any more opportunities to succeed? That’s the sad but inevitable response to a new interview with Octavia...
The Big O: Watch Out, Toronto — The Great Kate, Dame Maggie, and Some Stellar Female Directors Are Coming Your Way
Lastyear’s Toronto International Film Festival provided invaluable lift-off to atleast three female-driven movies that landed in the 2013 Oscar race: Gravity, Philomena,and August:...
The Big O: 2015 Oscar Preview: Expect Reese to Rise Again and a Woman to Crash the Directing Category
Wow, that was fast. The movie year is already half over, and if you are a fan of Legos, sequels to bombastic blockbusters, and just-OK comedies, you probably think everything has been awesome in...
Orange is the New Black Leads Emmy Comedy Nods
The Emmys nominations are out, and Orange is the New Black leads the comedy categories with 12 nods, including those for star Taylor Schilling, supporting star Kate Mulgrew, and guest stars Natasha...
Stringent New Rules to Push Smaller Documentaries Out of Oscar Race
Several documentarians are crying foul that the Academy has effectively shut out smaller nonfiction movies from the Oscar race. A report from Deadline notes that new requirements to qualify for...
Beyoncé, Lupita Nyong’o, Nicki Minaj Among BET Awards Winners
Beyoncé was the big winner at last night’s BET Awards, where she was named Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, won Best Collaboration (with husband Jay Z for “Drunk in Love”), and nabbed the...
Donna Tartt and Doris Kearns Goodwin Awarded Carnegie Medals
Novelist Donna Tartt and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin received Carnegie medals in a Las Vegas awards ceremony this past Saturday. Tartt was honored for her bestselling (and prize-collecting)...
Wendy and Lisa Win ASCAP’s First Shirley Walker Award
Wendy and Lisa, the musical duo formerly of Prince’s The Revolution band, received the inaugural Shirley Walker Award at the 29th ASCAP Film and Television Awards yesterday. The 500,000-member...
Ava DuVernay’s Selma to Be Released Christmas Day
After directing two independent features and one documentary, Ava DuVernay is poised for her Hollywood — and possibly Oscar — breakthrough with Selma, the MLK biopic that’s her biggest...
Will 2014 Be a Breakthrough Year for Women Directors at the Academy Awards?
From my latest Forbes post on the potentially record-breaking awards season to come: “I know it is overly optimistic and a tad delusional to think that women could get two nominations for best...
Women Directors Win Majority of LAFF Awards for Features
A majority of the feature prizes at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival Awards went to women-directed projects. Winter’s Bone director Debra Granik took home the best-documentary trophy for her...