The Academy and Chanel Celebrate Women Filmmakers

Held at the Academy Museum, the annual luncheon drew a starry group of creatives

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL

Emerging filmmakers joined writers, directors, costume designers, actors, and women from a range of fields across the industry at the Academy Women’s Luncheon held in partnership with Chanel at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Tuesday, December 10. The trove of talented women assembled on the Renzo Piano–designed roof deck to honor two filmmakers: New York–based writer, director, and producer Raha Amirfazli and Iranian actor, director, writer, and producer Shadi Karamroudi are this year’s recipients of Academy Gold Fellowships for Women, a one-year program of support and mentorship. Selena Gomez, the recording artist, actor, and producer who delivered the afternoon’s keynote speech, cited her latest film, Emilia Pérez, as an example of a project that brought women together in front of and behind the camera. “We, as women, rise even higher when we work together,” she said. “When we share and when we stand together we create a ripple effect that stretches far beyond our own lives.” And, she noted, these gatherings are also “a reminder of the work we still have to do.”

Academy president Janet Yang and Warner Bros. CEO Pam Abdy, the organization’s executives branch governor, joined Amy Adams, Gia Coppola, Connie Nielsen, Sarah Paulson, Regina King, Olivia Wilde, Dree Hemingway, Diane Warren, Ruth E. Carter, Joan Chen, Cleo Wade, June Squibb, Antonia Desplat, Ava DuVernay, Awkwafina, Erin and Sara Foster, Gal Gadot, Pamela Anderson, Ariana Grande, Siân Heder, Jen Brill, Eve Hewson, Laura Karpman, Debra Zane, Laura C. Kim, Joanna Calo, Mila Kunis, Ellen Kuras, Havana Rose Liu, Patricia Cardoso, Justine Lupe, Stacey Battat, Hallie Meyers-Shyer, Lauren Schuker Blum, Rachel Morrison, Arianne Phillips, Halina Reijn, A.V. Rockwell, Terilyn A. Shropshire, Taura Stinson, Kim Taylor-Coleman, and Rita Wilson at the gathering. Adams — clad in Chanel, like so many at the luncheon, and whose latest project, Nightbitch, was directed by Marielle Heller — pointed to the French house’s origins as a female-founded company with deep connections to film, and a long history of working with leading directors and artistic peers. She also underscored the importance of women’s voices in the medium, noting, “I think female filmmakers have a unique perspective and they really help tell female stories with a very strong female gaze.”