Zero Dark Thirty was not only considered one of the best films to be released in 2012, it also happens to be a pretty impressive showing of female power in Hollywood. Not only does the movie have Kathryn Bigelow at the helm, the first female filmmaker to ever win the Best Director award at the Oscars, but Jessica Chastain's performance as the strong-willed, determined Maya is considered by many to be one of the best performances of the year, by a man or a woman. And the Alliance of Women Film Journalists definitely agrees.
The critics organization has announced the winners of their annual EDA awards and, unsurprisingly, Zero Dark Thirty was the big winner. The film, which will be expanding to theaters nationwide this Friday, not only took home the top prize, voted the best movie of the year, but also won Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Editing as well as the Best Woman Director award in the EDA Female Focus Awards categories, the AWFJ Award For Humanitarian Activism - Female Icon Award (for Chastain) and the Unforgettable Moment Award (Chastain's "I'm the motherfucker who found this place" tying with Anne Hathaway's performance of "I Dreamed A Dream" in Les Miserables). You can scope out the full list of winners below and head over to the organization's official website to find out more about them.
Best Film Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Screenplay, Original Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal
Best Screenplay, Adapted Argo - Chris Terrio
Best Documentary Searching For Sugar Man - Malik Bendjelloul
Best Animated Film ParaNorman
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Best Ensemble Cast Silver Linings Playbook
Best Editing Zero Dark Thirty - William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor
Best Cinematography Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda
Best Film Music Or Score Beasts of the Southern Wild - Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin
Best Non-English-Language Film Amour
EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
These awards honor WOMEN only.
Best Woman Director
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Best Woman Screenwriter
Lucy Alibar (and Benh Zeitlin) - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Kick Ass Award For Best Female Action Star
Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games
Best Animated Female Brave - Merida - Kelly Macdonald
Best Breakthrough Performance
Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Actress Defying Age and Ageism
Judi Dench - Skyfall
AWFJ Award For Humanitarian Activism - Female Icon Award
(Presented to an actress for the portrayal of the most positive female role model, or for a role in which she takes personal and/or career risks to plumb the female psyche and therefore gives us courage to plumb our own, and/or for putting forth the image of a woman who is heroic, accomplished, persistent, demands her rights and/or the rights of others.)
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
This Year’s Outstanding Achievement By A Woman In The Film Industry
(Presented only when warranted to a female who has had a banner-making, record-breaking, industry-changing achievement during any given year — such as Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Director Oscar win, or for an actress having multiple outstanding films released during one year.)
Women Documentary Filmmakers, including Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Detropia), Lauren Greenfield (Queen of Versailles), Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwei Never Sorry) and Sarah Burns (The Central Park Five).
EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS
AWFJ Hall Of Shame Award
Sean Anders for That’s My Boy
Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent (Tie)
Katherine Heigl - One For The Money
Reese Witherspoon - This Means War
Movie You Wanted To Love But Just Couldn’t Anna Karenina
Unforgettable Moment Award (Tie) Les Miserables - Anne Hathaway as Fantine singing I Dreamed A Dream Zero Dark Thirty - Jessica Chastain as Maya says, “I’m the mother…”
Best Depiction Of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction The Sessions - Helen Hunt and John Hawkes
Sequel or Remake That Shouldn’t Have Been Made Award (Tie) Red Dawn Total Recall
Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest Award Flight - Denzel Washington and Kelly Reilly,..and Nadine Velazquez
