The Women Film Critics Circle named Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” as their Best Movie About Women. The film also seemed tailor-made for some of their more specific awards. The Josephine Baker Award honors a film that embodies the American experience of women of color. The Karen Morley Award honors a film that exemplifies the female place in history/society and their search for identity. “Passing” checks all those boxes and rightfully wins those awards.
“The Power of the Dog” and “King Richard” also won multiple awards. Jane Campion won Best Movie by a Woman and Best Woman Storyteller. Will Smith represented “King Richard” by winning Best Actor, and the film itself won Best Equality of the Sexes. The Oscar-favorite Kristen Stewart won Best Actress for portraying Princess Diana in “Spencer.”
BEST MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN
“Passing”
Directed by Rebecca Hall
Produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, and Rebecca Hall
Netflix
NOMINEES
| “The Lost Daughter” (Netflix) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios) |
| “CODA” (Apple Original Films) |
BEST MOVIE BY A WOMAN
“The Power of the Dog”
Jane Campion
Produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion, and Tanya Seghatchian
Netflix
NOMINEES
| “CODA” — Sian Heder (Apple Original Films) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “The Unforgivable” — Nora Fingscheidt (Amazon Studios) |
| “Passing” — Rebecca Hall (Netflix) |
BEST WOMAN STORYTELLER
SCREENWRITING AWARD
Jane Campion
“The Power of the Dog”
Produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Jane Campion, and Tanya Seghatchian
Netflix
NOMINEES
| Rebecca Hall — “Passing” (Netflix) [RUNNER-UP] |
| Charlene Favier, Antoine Lacomblez and Marie Talon — “Slalom” (Kino Lorber) |
| Sian Heder — “CODA” (Apple Original Films) |
BEST ACTRESS
Kristen Stewart
“Spencer”
Directed by Pablo Larraín
Neon
NOMINEES
| Nicole Kidman — “Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios) [RUNNER-UP] |
| Sandra Bullock — “The Unforgivable” (Netflix) |
| Virginie Efira — “Benedetta” (IFC Films) |
BEST ACTOR
Will Smith
“King Richard”
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
Warner Bros. Pictures
NOMINEES
| Benedict Cumberbatch — “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix) [RUNNER-UP] |
| Andrew Garfield — “tick, tick… BOOM!” (Netflix) |
| Nicolas Cage — “Pig” (Neon) |
BEST FOREIGN FILM BY OR ABOUT WOMEN
“Titane”
Directed by Julia Ducournau
Neon
NOMINEES
| “Drive My Car” (Janus Films) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Benedetta” (IFC Films) |
| “I’m Your Man” (Bleecker Street) |
BEST DOCUMENTARY BY OR ABOUT WOMEN
“Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It”
Directed by Mariem Pérez Riera
Roadside Attractions
NOMINEES
| “Introducing, Selma Blair” (Discovery+) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Gunda” (Neon) |
| “Lady Buds” (Gravitas Ventures) |
BEST EQUALITY OF THE SEXES
“King Richard”
Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green
Warner Bros. Pictures
NOMINEES
| “The Harder They Fall” (Netflix) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Gunpowder Milkshake” (Netflix) |
BEST ANIMATED FEMALE
Mirabel
“Encanto”
Voiced by Stephanie Beatriz
Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard
Walt Disney Pictures
NOMINEES
| Raya — “Raya and the Last Dragon” (Walt Disney Pictures) [RUNNER-UP] |
| Abuela Alma — “Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures) |
| Gabi — “Vivo” (Netflix) |
BEST SCREEN COUPLE
Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson
“Passing”
Directed by Rebecca Hall
Produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, and Rebecca Hall
Netflix
NOMINEES
| Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur — “CODA” (Apple Original Films) [RUNNER-UP] |
| Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem — “Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios) [RUNNER-UP] |
| Anthony Ramos and Melissa Barrera — “In The Heights” (Warner Bros. Pictures) |
ADRIENNE SHELLY AWARD
(For a film that most passionately opposes violence against women)
“Last Night in Soho”
Directed by Edgar Wright
Focus Features
RUNNER-UP
| “Adrienne” (HBO) |
(Adrienne Shelly was a promising actress and filmmaker who was brutally strangled in her apartment in 2006 at the age of forty by a construction worker in the building, after she complained about noise. Her killer tried to cover up his crime by hanging her from a shower rack in her bathroom, to make it look like suicide. He later confessed that he was having a “bad day.” Shelly, who left behind a baby daughter, had just completed her film Waitress, which she also starred in, and which was honored at Sundance after her death.)
JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD
(For best expressing the woman of color experience in America)
“Passing”
Directed by Rebecca Hall
Produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, and Rebecca Hall
Netflix
NOMINEES
| “Respect” (MGM) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Bruised” (Netflix) |
| “Test Pattern” (Kino Lorber) |
(The daughter of a laundress and a musician, Baker overcame being born black, female and poor, and marriage at age fifteen, to become an internationally acclaimed legendary performer, starring in the films Princess Tam Tam, Moulin Rouge and Zou Zou. She also survived the race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois as a child, and later expatriated to France to escape US racism. After participating heroically in the underground French Resistance during WWII, Baker returned to the US where she was a crusader for racial equality. Her activism led to attacks against her by reporter Walter Winchell who denounced her as a communist, leading her to wage a battle against him. Baker was instrumental in ending segregation in many theaters and clubs, where she refused to perform unless integration was implemented.)
KAREN MORLEY AWARD
(For best exemplifying a woman’s place in history or society, and a courageous search for identity)
“Passing”
Directed by Rebecca Hall
Produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, and Rebecca Hall
Netflix
NOMINEES
| “Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios)) [RUNNER-UP] |
| “Benedetta” (IFC Films) |
| “Spencer” (Neon) |
(Karen Morley was a promising Hollywood star in the 1930s, in such films as Mata Hari and Our Daily Bread. She was driven out of Hollywood for her leftist political convictions by the Blacklist and for refusing to testify against other actors, while Robert Taylor and Sterling Hayden were informants against her. And also for daring to have a child and become a mother, unacceptable for female stars in those days. Morley maintained her militant political activism for the rest of her life, running for Lieutenant Governor on the American Labor Party ticket in 1954. She passed away in 2003, unrepentant to the end, at the age of 93.)
ACTING AND ACTIVISM AWARD
Dolly Parton
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Betty White
WOMEN FILM CRITICS CIRCLE SPECIAL PAULINE KAEL JURY AWARDS 2021
BEST FEMALE ACTION HERO
Sandra Bullock — “The Unforgivable”
Sandra Oh — “The Chair”
COURAGE IN FILMMAKING
Julia Ducournau — “Titane”
Sian Heder — “CODA”
COURAGE IN ACTING
[Taking on unconventional roles that radically redefine the images of women on screen]
Halle Berry — “Bruised”
Sandra Bullock — “The Unforgivable”
WOMEN’S WORK: BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Kathryn Hunter as The Three Witches — “The Tragedy Of Macbeth”
“King Richard”
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN AWARD
[Supporting performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored]
Danielle Deadwyler as Cathay Williams — “The Harder They Fall”
Rae Dawn Chong — “The Sleeping Negro”
WOMEN SAVING THEMSELVES AWARD
“A Quiet Place Part II”
“Holler”
BEST KEPT SECRET
Overlooked Challenging Gems
“Mama Weed” — Jean-Paul Salomé
“Small Time” — Niav Conty
OUTSTANDING SERIES
[Television or Streaming]
“Lovecraft Country”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
MOMMIE DEAREST
WORST SCREEN MOM OF THE YEAR
Olivia Colman — “The Lost Daughter”
QUICK LIST
Best Movie About Women: “Passing”
Best Movie By A Woman: “The Power of the Dog” — Jane Campion
Best Woman Storyteller: Jane Campion — “The Power of the Dog”
Best Actress: Kristen Stewart — “Spencer”
Best Actor: Will Smith — “King Richard”
Best Foreign Film By Or About Women: “Titane”
Best Documentary By Or About Women: “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It”
Best Equality of the Sexes: “King Richard”
Best Animated Female: Mirabel — “Encanto”
Best Screen Couple: Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga — “Passing”
Adrienne Shelly Award: “Last Night in Soho”
Josephine Baker Award: “Passing”
Karen Morley Award: “Passing”
Acting and Activism Award: Dolly Parton
Lifetime Achievement Award: Betty White
WOMEN FILM CRITICS CIRCLE
The Women Film Critics Circle is an association of 75 women film critics and scholars from around the country and internationally, who are involved in print, newswire, radio, online and TV broadcast media. We came together in 2004 to form the first women critics organization in the United States, in the belief that women’s perspectives and voices in film criticism need to be recognized fully.
