Actor Lili Reinhart joined a host of her peers for an evening of advocacy honoring women at the annual benefit
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography by EMMA McINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES
WIF Max Mara Face of the Future Award winner Lili Reinhardt.
Women In Film, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit advocating for women in all screen industries, held its annual WIF Honors gala with longtime partner Max Mara at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, October 27. The Forging Forward benefit, supporting WIF’s educational and philanthropic programs advocating for gender parity and honoring actors with vision and persistence, drew guests and honorees including Jane Fonda, Viola Davis, authors and Pulitzer-winning journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, Carey Mulligan, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Olivia Wilde, Quinta Brunson, Miranda July, Reed Morano, Maria Bakalova, Lisa Ann Walter and Amy Baer.
Maria Giulia Prezioso Maramotti, VP of U.S. retail at Max Mara who is also the global ambassador for the brand and the granddaughter of its founder, was on hand to present actor and author Lili Reinhardt with the WIF Max Mara Face of the Future Award. Maramotti called the Riverdale actor, who also helms a production company, “outspoken, a perfectionist,” and applauded Reinhardt’s work foregrounding young women in her upcoming projects. “There’s work to be done and we have the good fortune of being in a position to enact change,” said Reinhardt, accepting the award from Maramotti.
The 2022 Women in Film Honors: Forging Forward Gala, held at the Beverly Hilton.
Honoree Quinta Brunson (center) in discussion with Channing Dungey and Lee Ralph.
Honorees Olivia Wilde and Katie Silberman.
Lili Reinhardt, at the podium, and Maria Giulia Prezioso Maramotti.
Gina Prince-Bythewood, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Polly Morgan and Terilyn A. Shropshire.
Miranda July.
Lake Bell and Jane Fonda.
Honorees Dede Gardner, Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Carey Mulligan.
Fonda presented screenwriter and actor Michaela Coel with a Crystal Award (Lake Bell accepted it on her behalf) and Davis handed one to her The Woman King director during the gathering which raised $75,000 for advocacy and support for those experiencing discrimination. “This film required a freakin’ warrior, and that’s what we had in Gina Prince-Blythwood,” Davis said, introducing the filmmaker, whose works also include Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees. Da’Vine Joy Randolph hosted the evening, also honoring Abbott Elementary creator Brunson, the She Said creative team including producer Dede Gardner, Mulligan, plus journalists Kantor and Twohey, and Booksmart writer Katie Silberman and director Wilde.
Discussing collaboration among women making films with Silberman and director and cinematographer Morano, Wilde delved into her approach to considering material: “Can we push this further? Can we question ourselves? Can we question our complicity in the patriarchy together? Can we really try to make something that’s a little less simplistic? Let’s just try to be a little bit bold,” she said, adding, “We don’t want to be a category, we want to be equal.”
Feature image: Angelique Jackson, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu and Viola Davis speak onstage during the WIF Honors: Forging Forward Gala sponsored by Max Mara.
November 10, 2022
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