Nominees unveiled for second annual Girls on Film Awards

The Woman King and The Wonder lead the way in the nominations for the second annual Girls On Film Awards, which take place on 23 February 2023 at The Garden Cinema in Central London. Reflecting the ethos of the Girls On Film podcast, the awards reward excellence in female-focused films. The categories differ slightly from the usual, to spotlight the women who are sometimes under-represented in awards season. Nominees are selected by leading film critics and the winners are selected by Girls On Film.

British Cinematographer are thrilled to be supporting this year’s awards as a media partner, backing the new Best Cinematographer category.

“As the Girls On Film podcast continues to go from strength to strength, British Cinematographer is delighted to join forces with the fantastic team on their awards event,” said British Cinematographer editor Zoe Mutter. “Celebrating talent and championing diversity across the filmmaking community is our passion and we’re honoured to partner on the newly introduced Girls On Film cinematography category to continue shining a light on the incredible work this industry produces.”

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King has scored five nominations, including Best Feature sponsored by EON Productions, Best Female Friendship On Screen and Best Ensemble Acting sponsored by Netflix. The Wonder received four nominations, including Best Cinematographer for Ari Wegner, and The Girls On Film Ally Award sponsored by IMDb for director Sebastián Lelio.

In a surprise turn, The Wonder star Florence Pugh has been nominated twice in the same category: for Best Female Orgasm sponsored by Intimacy on Set for The Wonder and for Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling. This category spotlights responsible and authentic depictions of female pleasure, and the award will be presented by Intimacy Coordinator Ita O’Brien. Other nominees in this category include Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’s Emma Thompson, who is also nominated for the Feminist Superhero award for her body of work and her activism. Girls On Film are pleased that their nominations this year include excellent films that some other awards bodies or groups have overlooked, notably Causeway, Girl Picture and Women Talking.

Hosted by Anna Smith and Hedda Archbold at The Garden Cinema in Central London in the run up to International Women’s Day, the ceremony will be attended by nominees, patrons, and last year’s award winners including head of the BFI Film Fund Mia Bays, director of For Sama Waad Al-Kateab, director of Misbehaviour Philippa Lowthorpe, composer Nainita Desai, and Rocks actress Afi Okaidja.

NOMINEES

Best Feature Film sponsored by EON Productions 

(previous year’s winner: Booksmart)

• Aftersun – directed by Charlotte Wells
• Ali & Ava – directed by Clio Barnard
• Corsage – directed by Marie Kreutzer
• Till – directed by Chinonye Chukwu
• The Woman King – directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
• The Wonder – directed by Sebastián Lelio

Best Documentary Feature 

(previous year’s winner: For Sama)

• All The Beauty And The Bloodshed – directed by Laura Poitras
• Fadia’s Tree – directed by Sarah Beddington
• Fire of Love – directed by Sara Dosa
• Last Flight Home – directed by Ondi Timoner
• Nothing Compares – directed by Kathryn Ferguson

Best Female Friendship On Screen

(previous year’s winner: Booksmart)

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – directed by Ryan Coogler.
  With Letitia Wright and Lupita Nyong’o as Shuri and Nakia
• Girl Picture aka Girls Girls Girls (Tytöt tytöt tytöt) – directed by Alli Haapasalo.
  With Aamu Milonoff, Eleonoora Kauhanen and Linnea Leino as Mimmi, Rönkkö and Emma
• She Said – directed by Maria Schrader.
  With Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor
• The Silent Twins – directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska.
  With Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance as June and Jennifer Gibbons
• The Swimmers – directed by Sally El Hosaini.With Nathalie Issa as Yusra Mardini and Manal Issa as Sara Mardini
• The Woman King – directed  by Gina Prince-Bythewood. With Viola Davis and Sheila Atim as Nanisca and Amenza

Best Ensemble Acting Sponsored by Netflix

(previous year’s winner: Rocks)

• Causeway – Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond, Jayne Houdyshell
• Gangubai Kathiawadi – Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz
• She Said – Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan, Samantha Morton, Jennifer Ehle, Patricia Clarkson
• Triangle of Sadness – Charlbi Dean Kriek, Harris Dickinson, Woody Harrelson, Dolly De Leon
• The Woman King – Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, John Boyega
• Women Talking – Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand

The Girls On Film Ally Award sponsored by IMDb – awarded to a male screenwriter/director for a complex female screen character or a man who has given exceptional support to women in the industry.

(previous year’s winner: Bo Burnham)

• Colm Bairéad for The Quiet Girl
• Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Sebastián Lelio for The Wonder
• Jordan Peele for Nope

Best Composer

(previous year’s winner: Nainita Desai)

• Chanda Dancy – Devotion and I Wanna Dance With Somebody
• Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking and Tár
• Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch – Living
• Aska Matsumiya – After Yang
• Amelia Warner – Mr Malcolm’s List

Best Cinematographer 

(new category)

• Autumn Durald Arkapaw ASC – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Hélène Louvart AFC – Nezouh and Mother and Son 
• Kate McCullough ISC – The Quiet Girl
• Polly Morgan ASC BSC – The Woman King
• Ari Wegner ACS – The Wonder and The Power of the Dog
• Rina Yang BSC – Nanny
• Mandy Walker AM ASC ACS – Elvis

Best Publicity Campaign

(previous year’s winner: Misbehaviour)

• Aftersun – MUBI with Organic for Theatrical & Awards Publicity and DDA for Awards Publicity
• Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – Lionsgate with WDW Entertainment
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Netflix with Organic Publicity
• Till – Universal with Organic Publicity
• Triangle of Sadness – Curzon, Lionsgate and Charles McDonald

Best Production Design

(new category)

• Katie Byron – Don’t Worry Darling
• Ruth de Jong – Nope
• Catherine Martin & Karen Murphy – Elvis
• Florencia Martin – Babylon and Blonde
• Kave Quinn – Catherine Called Birdy

Diversity Badge of Honour – for achievement in the area of industry representation and inclusion

(previous year’s joint winners: Michaela Coel and Ruth Madeley)

• Emma Butt – Sound Editor and activist
• Akua Gyamfi – Founder, The British Blacklist
• Ashanti Omkar – Journalist
• Gina Prince-Bythewood, Director – The Woman King
• Ben Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of the British Film Institute (BFI)
• Agnieszka Smoczyńska – Director – The Silent Twins

Feminist Superhero – for commitment to equality and representation through their activism and work

(previous year’s winner: Mia Bays)

• Viola Davis, Actress and activist
• Ita O’Brien, Founder of Intimacy on Set
• Sarah Polley, Director, Women Talking
• Emma Thompson, Actress and activist
• Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, journalists and authors

Best Female Orgasm sponsored by Intimacy on Set – for thoughtful, meaningful and authentic depictions of female pleasure

(previous year’s winner: I’m Your Man)

• Don’t Worry Darling – Florence Pugh (with Harry Styles)
• Girl Picture aka Girls Girls Girls (Tytöt tytöt tytöt)  – Linnea Leino with Aamu Milonoff
• Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – Emma Thompson (with Daryl McCormack)
• Lady Chatterley’s Lover – Emma Corrin (with Jack O’Connell)
• Piggy aka Cerdita – Laura Galán with Laura Galán
• The Wonder – Florence Pugh (with Tom Burke)

SPONSORS

Four of the Girls on Film Awards categories are sponsored this year:

• Best Feature sponsored by EON Productions
• The Girls On Film Ally Award sponsored by IMDb
• Best Female Orgasm sponsored by Intimacy on Set
• Best Ensemble Acting sponsored by Netflix

The Girls On Film Awards are also supported by:

• The Garden Cinema

MEDIA PARTNERS

This year’s media partners:

• British Cinematographer magazine is media partner for the Best Cinematographer category
• Deadline is media partner for the overall Girls On Film Awards 2023
• Scala Radio is media partner for the Best Composer category
• Time Out is media partner for the overall Girls On Film Awards 2023