The annual gala headlined by veteran actresses introduced Joey King as Max Mara’s Face of the Future
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
With a prescient theme, The Power of the Collective, WIF gathered members and supporters at its annual gala on Thursday, October 24, at the Beverly Hilton, headlined by honorees including Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, and Kate Winslet. The evening, held by the organization advocating for gender parity in entertainment formerly known as Women in Film, was presented by Max Mara and also honored Joey King with the WIF Max Mara Face of the Future award. Jurnee Smollett, also a WIF board of directors member, welcomed Quinta Brunson, Storm Reid, Jackie Tohn, Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, Alexandra Hedison, Annie Gonzalez, Lake Bell, Nava Mau, Lili Reinhart, Sharon Lawrence, Natasha Ofili, and Sherry Cola, alongside WIF board president Amy Baer, who announced she’ll pass the baton to Syrinthia Studer in the coming year.
Winslet, presented by Marion Cotillard with the Crystal award for advocacy in film alongside Ellen Kuras, who directed her in Lee, noted how far the industry has come since her early days as an actress. “We’re all talking about each other,” she said. “And I think that’s something we’ve seen such an uptick in, in the last five to ten years, is women really standing shoulder to shoulder and celebrating one another and looking out for each other and making sure that those male-dominated spaces are filled by women, and women who are more than capable of taking on those challenges and doing their job.”
Bening, who received the evening’s first commendation, the Jane Fonda Humanitarian award, was introduced by Fonda herself. “She would open up characters, women characters that we really hadn’t seen before,” said Fonda of Bening’s on-screen performances. “There’s clearly something Annette wants to explore through her characters, and she doesn’t need us to love her. That’s refreshing,” added Fonda. Washington received the evening’s Entrepreneur in Entertainment award from Emayatzy Corinealdi and Michelle Buteau, while Sanchez-Witzel took home the Crystal award for advocacy in television presented by Janelle James.
Also on hand was Maria Giulia Prezioso Maramotti, Max Mara’s global brand ambassador, who handed King the award given annually to actresses on the rise. “Growing up as a child actor I always looked to the women I was working with for guidance and friendship to help me navigate the uncertainty of being in this industry. These women, who taught me how to advocate for myself on set and who taught me how to be in a position of leadership with grace, are the reason I’m being named with this honor,” King said.
November 7, 2024.
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