Everyone pays close attention to the really popular awards: The Academy’s Oscars are the clear definition of excellence in film for many. The Golden Globes gives the press a voice. The People’s Choice are what’s really popular among the public. But maybe we should start giving more attention to awards that imply significance for a film, such as the Humanitas awards, which recognize films that offer insight into the human condition.

This year’s Humanitas had difficulty narrowing down which film truly offered insight into the human condition above all others this year, so the category was tied. Both Freedom Writers and Venus took home the honors and will split the $25,000 prize money between Richard LaGravenese and Hanif Kureishi, the writers behind the two films.

The official Humanitas awards press release announces the award being given to Freedom Writers for its belief that one person can make a difference in the lives of children, while Venus took honors because of its depiction of the “painful humiliations and deprivations that come with aging.”

Other winners of Humanitas awards include HBO’s Longford in the 90-minute telefilm category, “ER” for hour-long television, “The New Adventures of Old Christine” for 30-minute television, PBS’s “Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks” for children’s animated programming, and “Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front” from Disney for children’s live action programming, Where God Left His Shoes for the Sundance Indie feature award, and USC student Jonny Mais won the David and Lynn Angell fellowship award for a spec script of Showtime’s “Weeds”.

It’s a shame that the awards that promote glitz and glamour but don’t really mean anything are the ones that are frequently highlighted, while awards like these – given for quality and a level of humanity, seldom get to see the spotlight. Both Venus and Freedom Writers deserve accolades of this sort. If you haven’t already seen them, they are worth checking out. Both are already available on DVD.