Despite the best efforts at change by various austere bodies, awards season can still sometimes feel musty with conventional, male-led, heteronormative energy.
Enter ‘The Girls on Film Awards’ to celebrate the best in female-led filmmaking over the past 12 months with categories including ’Feminist Superhero’, ‘Diversity Badge of Honour’ and ‘Best Female Friendship On Screen’.
This year’s big winner was Charlotte Wells’s extraordinary debut ‘Aftersun’, which picked up the Best Film prize at London’s The Garden Cinema.
Real-life action movie ‘The Woman King’ won Ensemble Acting, while its lead, Viola Davis, also won Feminist Superhero.
The big one – Best Female Orgasm – went to Emma Thompson for her sex-positive dramedy ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’ (with some help from co-star Daryl McCormack).
‘We talked a lot about Nancy’s orgasm in the redrafting of the film… [asking]... should she even have an orgasm?,’ said the film’s screenwriter Katy Brand. ‘Should she have it with Leo?... And in the end, it seemed that she ought to have this orgasm as a moment of just purely private pleasure, just for her. And that felt really right. And so I'm really glad that you agree.’
The winners in full:
Best Female Friendship On Screen:
‘The Woman King’ (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Best Documentary:
‘Nothing Compares’ (Kathryn Ferguson)
Best Production Design:
Kave Quinn for ‘Catherine Called Birdy’
Best Composer:
Hildur Guðnadóttir for ‘Women Talking’ and ‘Tár’
Best Cinematographer:
Ari Wegner for ‘The Wonder’ and ‘The Power of the Dog’
Ensemble Acting:
‘The Woman King’ (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
The Girls On Film Ally Award:
Sebastián Lelio for ‘The Wonder’
Best Feature Film:
‘Aftersun’ (Charlotte Wells)
Diversity Badge of Honour:
Akua Gyamfi – founder, The British Blacklist
Feminist Superhero:
Viola Davis
Best Female Orgasm:
‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’, Emma Thompson (with Daryl McCormack)
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