Cast Reunions, Standing Ovations, And Hard Truths: A Recap Of The 2022 Women In Film Honors

The painful past and the way forward were key at last Thursday's 2022 WIF Awards. Held at the Purple Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, this annual event celebrates the achievements of women in the entertainment industry. This year's honorees included Abbott Elementary principal Quinta Bronson, The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bethwood and Don't Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde .

The party started like every holiday: with Jane Fonda. The veteran actress, who announced that she was diagnosed with cancer last month, received a standing ovation. Fonda was there to present her second Humanitarian Award, named after her, to Michaela Cowell, who described her as an artist who "crosses boundaries" and "makes us think about complex things in new ways." Fonda personally selected Coel and was one of the first to appear on his hit show I Can Destroy You.

Koel is currently on a marathon press tour for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and unfortunately was unable to accept the award in person. Instead, Lake Bell read aloud Joel's letter to Fonda. "Your recognition has added so much to its global reach and my mother is more proud of me than I could ever be," the letter reads. "That's why I can never reward you."

Koel's Emmy-winning song "I May Destroy You" was based on her experience of being sexually abused. "By serving my pain, I seem to have served your pain," Cole wrote in his letter. "This is a strange, beautiful and cosmic dance between us."

The issue of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry and the fight for reproductive rights overshadowed the event. WIF CEO Kirsten Schaefer expressed concern about the red carpet. Speaking of this year's theme, "Moving Forward," Schaeffer told PopSugar, "There's a lot of backlash going on right now, so we're bringing the community together to allow people to move forward." it is twice as much as compared to last month. "We're not done yet," Schaefer added.

The topic was also the fifth anniversary of the #MeToo movement. Crystal Advocacy Award winners included Jody Kantor and the team behind She Said, the upcoming adaptation of Megan Twoy's book about the Harvey Weinstein expose. New York Times reporters, as well as She Said star Carey Mulligan and producer Diddy Gardner, were on hand to accept the award and participate in a panel discussion that accompanies each presentation.

"We were strangers, but the people here, even in this room, were helping us," Cantor said. Three of Weinstein's accusers, Sarah Ann Maas, Katherine Kendall and Lauren O'Connor, were in the room and the audience was asked to stand up in applause. Both Masse and Kendall appear in She Said. These days, Maas, who accused Weinstein of sexual assault in 2017, helps survivors like her seek opportunities and seek revenge through her Hollywood-based initiative Hire Survivors. While Masse is optimistic about the future, he believes there are still not enough "certain changes" in the industry. "We're moving in the right direction, but there's no need to distort the mission," he told PopSugar.

He also stressed the importance of creating a safe environment where victims can come. “It took me about a decade to assert myself because of the fear and retribution that surrounded him, and then it happened. "However, I still faced retaliation," he said. People need to remember that there are real risks and real losses.

Weinstein is currently on trial in Los Angeles. (The hapless film producer is already serving 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to sex crimes in a New York City trial in 2020.) Sexual Assault: "I know some of these women personally, I know their stories personally, and they really need our help." . support. And they need to know that we are behind them. It's been a long struggle for many people and it's not over yet."

Jessica Knoll, author of The Happiest Girl Alive, reflects on the memory of #MeToo and says she has felt a "transformation" over the past five years. He recently adapted his 2015 novel into a Netflix film, and the story follows a magazine editor who unsuccessfully attempts to erase a high school sexual assault from his memory. A year after the novel was published, Knoll shared a similar experience in an article for the Lenny Letter. "The world reacted the same way to this article, which to me was a marked change from how people reacted to the attack 17 years ago," Knoll told PopSugar. "I felt a change in the world."

The past is gone and the future is celebrated at the WIF Honors. Lili Reinhart received Max Mara's "Face of the Future" award. In her acceptance speech, the Riverdale actress spoke about her commitment to speaking out about mental health and body image issues. "After a while, I started seeing a lot of negative attention on Twitter, and let me tell you, there's nothing scary about seeing your name on Twitter," Reinhart said. "I learned the hard way that a lot of people didn't hear what I had to say."

Reinhart responded to some of the criticism she received by saying, "Damn, is this girl just moaning or can she shut up for once?" His answer, he says, "definitely always has been and always will be."

Viola Davis delivered one of the highlights of the night. Paying tribute to the director of The King's Wife, Davies recalled how Princess Bythewood cried when they first met for the film. "I knew with tears in my eyes that she would be a good lead for this movie," Davis said. "This movie needs an alien fighter." At one point Davis shouted "Oh Captain! Captain!" he sang a part of his song. Walt Whitman.

In the panel discussion that followed, Davis was joined by cast members Queen Su Mbedu and Lashana Lynch, who praised Prince Baywood for being involved in every step of the production, from auditions to Muay Thai lessons. "He was always there and stood up for us," Mbedu said. When Lynch later starred in Prince-Bethwood's directorial debut, Love and Basketball, the audience received a standing ovation.

Cooperation was mentioned as well as leadership. This is confirmed by Wilde and his creative partner Kathy Silberman, who wrote the screenplay for the film "Don't Worry, Darling". The pair previously worked together at Booksmart, and a mysterious Marvel project set in the Spider-Verse is rumored to be in development. "No one makes you braver than a friend," Zilberman said during the session.

Meanwhile, Wilde urged the House to rely on the help of others. "Filmmakers' heroic stories are complete bullshit," Wilde said, "no director ever does it alone." He then added: “We use the community. Let's use each other… We're all trying to do this together. It still feels very isolated and kids don't think so.

The team at Abbott Elementary offered a lot of comfort. Sheryl Lee Ralph was there to present her "working child" Bronson with the Crystal Defense Award and began her speech by singing Diane Reeves' "Endangered Species," just as she did during her Emmy Awards appearance. Ralph's voice filled the room as everyone cheered.

The Emmy Award was a historic milestone for the sitcom and proved its respect and importance. It was a stormy night for the actors as well. "We went to the ABC party and a lot of people ate and drank their faces off," Lisa Ann Walter told PopSugar. "I won't say who it was, but maybe he was dancing." Walter also recalled that Ralph took the time to talk to everyone who congratulated him that evening. "About an hour and a half into the festivities, he completely lost his voice and we had to go to work the next day," Walter recalls. We were at 6 in the morning.

Both Walter and Ralph expressed their admiration for Bronson, who made history by winning an Emmy at the age of 32. "He may be young, but he's ready," Ralph said in his speech. As Walter told POPSUGAR, "Our show gave Cheryl and I an opportunity to work and share that connection. A lot of people respond because they know that from their personal lives."

In a particularly emotional moment during his speech, Ralph Bronson praised her for standing up for the underdog: "She's here not only to reach her potential, but to help others reach their potential as she did for me. When I Win Best Supporting Actress " in the Emmy nomination. Ralph's eyes filled with tears. "I wrote this and it made me cry," he said.

In the next panel, Bronson learns more about the shows and movies that shaped his upbringing, including "Living Color," "Everything" and "Sister Act 2," and he says he loves Ralph as "This Woman Screams." To Lauren Hill. Bronson said he hopes it will be a formative cultural milestone for generations to come. "Artists feel like pieces of a puzzle," he says. "I don't think I'm alone," Abbott is a stepping stone to something else.

How long will the Abbott trial take?

"Quinta started this project with such a plan and foresaw what would happen next. "I bet he was thinking about five years when you walked into the room to show the first episode," Walter told PopSuger. Studies.

When their session was over, Bronson and Ralph said "I love you" and ran home to sleep, returning early in the morning. After all, even if the evening provides a break, work is never done.

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