CherryPicks, a review aggregator site and digital brand for women in film criticism, will be honoring a debut film from a female director at SXSW 2019. According to a press release, CherryPicks and the fest will present the inaugural CherryPicks Female First Feature prize at SXSW’s awards ceremony on March 12.
The Female First Feature Award, which includes prize money, will be given to a first-time narrative female filmmaker with a pic screening at SXSW. The movie must also feature at least one woman producer and “embody the CherryPicks mission: to create more inclusive storytelling and teamwork in entertainment.” Members of the CherryPicks and SXSW programming teams will select the winner.
The press release also announced that CherryPicks Founder and CEO Miranda Bailey, a filmmaker herself, will moderate a panel at SXSW. Entitled “What Makes Critics Love, or Hate A Movie,” the discussion will focus on why reviews matter to filmmakers and how they can affect a film’s distribution and overall reception. Critics Monica Castillo and Thelma Adams and Sony Pictures Classics Co-President and Co-Founder Michael Barker will participate in the conversation.
Led by Bailey (“You Can Choose Your Family”) and producer and Gurl.com co-founder Rebecca Odes (“This Is Me”), CherryPicks launched at SXSW last year.
SXSW will be held March 8-17. Over half of its Competition films are helmed by women.
