WIF (Women In Film, Los Angeles) kicked off Oscar weekend with its highly-anticipated cocktail party presented by sponsors Johnnie Walker, Max Mara, and Mercedes-Benz.
Credit/Copyright: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for WIF
The party honored all 65 women, in front of and behind the camera, who have been nominated for an Academy Award this year, and is the only event throughout awards season that celebrates all the women nominated for Oscars. Since 2007, the annual event has celebrated the belief that collaboration between women, behind and in front of the camera, is the best way to ensure more films are made by and for women. Co-hosted by Oscar-winning producer and WIF Board President Emerita Cathy Schulman, Oscar-winning actor Marlee Matlin and director and Oscar®-winning screenwriter Siân Heder, the event was held at NeueHouse Hollywood.
Nominated attendees included Anne Alvergue (Best Documentary Short Film, The Martha Mitchell Effect), Gail Berman (Best Picture, Elvis), Annemarie Bradley-Sherron (Best Makeup & Hairstyling, The Whale), Ruth E. Carter (Best Costume Design, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Lindsey Collins (Best Animated Feature, Turning Red), Sara Dosa (Best Documentary Feature, Fire of Love), Bev Dunn (Best Production Design, Elvis), Linda Eisenhamerová (Best Makeup & Hairstyling, All Quiet on the Western Front), Ina Fichman (Best Documentary Feature, Fire of Love), Camille Friend (Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Nan Goldin (Best Documentary Feature, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed), Kartiki Gonsalves (Best Documentary Short Film, The Elephant Whisperers), Sara Gunnarsdóttir (Best Animated Short Film, My Year of Dicks), Ernestine Hipper (Best Production Design, All Quiet on the Western Front), Shirley Kurata (Best Costume Design, Everything Everywhere All at Once), Beth Levison (Best Documentary Short Film, The Martha Mitchell Effect), Catherine Martin (Best Picture, Elvis), Florencia Martin (Best Production Design, Babylon), Melanie Miller (Best Feature Documentary, Navalny), Guneet Monga (Best Documentary Short Film, The Elephant Whisperers), Lesley Paterson (Best Adapted Screenplay, All Quiet on the Western Front), Sarah Polley (Best Adapted Screenplay, Women Talking), Rebecca Pruzan (Best Live-Action Short Film, Ivalu), Odessa Rae (Best Feature Documentary, Navalny), Pamela Ribon (Best Animated Short Film, My Year of Dicks), Domee Shi (Best Animated Feature, Turning Red), Wendy Tilby (Best Animated Short Film, The Flying Sailor), Mandy Walker (Best Cinematography, Elvis), Diane Warren (Best Original Song, Tell It Like a Woman), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle (Best Sound, Avatar: The Way of Water), Mary Zophres (Best Costume Design, Babylon), and more.
Additional attendees included Amy Baer (WIF Board President and CEO Landline Pictures), Garcelle Beauvais (Actress, Black Girl Missing, Split Marriage, RHOBH), Brooklyn Peltz Beckham (Media Personality), Nicola Peltz Beckham (Actress, Lola James, The Holidate), Lake Bell (Actress, Director, WIF Board Member), Madeline Brewer (Actress, The Handmaid’s Tale), Jordana Brewster (Actress, Fast X), Carrie Brownstein (Musician, Sleater-Kinney), Sophia Bush (Actress, Good Sam), Barbie Ferreira (Actress, Euphoria), Carlacia Grant (Actress, Outer Banks), Ashley Greene (Actress, The Retirement Plan, The Gemini Lounge), Patti Harrison (Actress, The Lost City), Christina Hendricks (Actress, Mad Men), Brendan Hunt (Actor, Ted Lasso), Dakota Johnson (Actress, Madame Web), Christine Ko (Actress, Dave, Only Murders in the Building, The Handmaid’s Tale), Anna Ryan Konkle (Actress, The Afterparty), Hayley Law (Actress, Door Mouse, Tales, Riverdale), Li Jun Li (Actress, Babylon), Sheila McCarthy (Actress, Women Talking), Euzhan Palcy (Film Director), Shivani Rawat (WIF Board Member, Founder & CEO of ShivHans Pictures), AnnaSophia Robb (Actress, Dr. Death), Inanna Sarkis (Actress, Seance), Kirsten Schaffer (WIF CEO), Raven-Symoné (Actress, Raven’s Home), Abigail Spencer (Actress, Grey’s Anatomy, Suits), Amirah Vann (Actress, A Jazzman’s Blues), Malala Yousafzai (Activist), Chloé Zhao (Filmmaker, Nomadland), and more.
Event Highlights:
- While on stage, Siân Heder said, “There’s a kind of camaraderie that’s happening with women filmmakers right now. I feel like the louder we are for each other, the more that we can amplify each other’s voices, support each other’s stories, shout about each other’s movies – that’s how we move this forward.”
- Marlee Matlin said, “Being the first is a significant moment for the advancement in equality, as several of this year’s nominees know well. Women In Film was the first organization founded by a group of women who want to make a difference for gender equality in Hollywood. The work that Women In Film and all the advocates for equality do is so important because one day we want to stop celebrating firsts.”
- WIF Board President Emerita Cathy Schulman said, “All of us who live on set know how crucial the sisterhood is between above and below the line women in film. We know that men at the top of their field have countless opportunities to network and get to know each other but women are still left out.”
On stage, WIF CEO Kirsten Schaffer thanked sponsors Johnnie Walker and Max * Mara sharing that, “They have invested in critical W.I.F. programs to build the pipeline of women and gender expansive people from underrepresented communities in the screen industries.”
The event was designed and produced by Event Eleven.
