Today, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) announced the winners of its 18th annual awards. The event was held to honor an important year for women in film. “The Brutalist,” directed by Brady Corbet, won the prestigious award for Best Film. After recently winning three Golden Globes, Corbet’s film has gained momentum this awards season.
It was hard to choose a winner because “The Brutalist” beat strong contenders like “Anora,” “Conclave,” and “Wicked.” Coralie Fargeat, on the other hand, had a great night. Her film “The Substance” won several awards. She won Best Original Screenplay and Best Director, beating well-known writers like Sean Baker, Jesse Eisenberg, and Mike Leigh.
AWFJ president Jennifer Merin said of this year’s winners, “2024 was an exceptional year with so many women playing major creative roles in high-profile projects.” She added, “We are thrilled that this year’s AWFJ EDA Awards honor women creatives in all of our female focus categories as well as in non-gendered ‘best of’ categories.” This shows that the group is committed to recognizing female talent.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste won Best Actress for her part in “Hard Truths,” and Colman Domingo won Best Actor for his part in “Sing Sing.” The awards for Best Supporting Actress went to Isabella Rossellini for “Conclave” and Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain.”
The ceremony had Female Focus Awards to honor women’s accomplishments. Interestingly, Fargeat for “The Substance” and Payal Kapadia for “All We Imagine as Light” tied for Best Woman Director and Best Female Screenwriter. Mikey Madison won the Breakthrough Performance award for “Anora,” and June Squibb, an experienced actor, won for her stunt work in “Thelma.”
One of the other big events was “Conclave,” which won Best Ensemble Cast. The award for Best Animated Film went to both “Flow” and “The Wild Robot.” Many awards were also given to the documentary “Dahomey” and the foreign film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
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This year’s event showed how women directors are getting more attention in independent and mainstream movies. Merin said she hopes this trend will continue until 2025 and stressed how important it is to help female creatives.
