Since 2006, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) has presented annual EDA Awards, representing professional women critics’ collective perspectives on movies and cinema culture in the movie awards arena, where female critics and critical opinion are still greatly underrepresented. AWFJ honors female creatives in non-gender specific awards categories and in unique Female Focus categories designated for women only.
“Women are still strugging for gender parity in all aspects of the film industry, which is undergoing seismic shifts in production and distribution. Unless the changes open opportunities for female filmmakers to make femme-centric films, the mainstream awards arena will continue to be dominated by men,” says AWFJ President Jennifer Merin. “AWFJ always focuses on and supports women’s contributions in all aspects of film production, and we will continue to boost women in film not only during awards season, but throughout the year. For this awards season, we are pleased that women have won several ‘Best Of’ awards in our non-gender specific categories, but we also realize how important our ‘Female Focus’ awards are in recognizing and honoring the extraordinary work of female creatives. This year there was a female forward trend in filmmaking. AWFJ tracked more than 500 femme-helmed and/or femme-centric films made and/or distributed in 2025, but most of them were small-budget indie productions that, despite their excellence, don’t stand a chance at receiving one of the major awards– or any awards for that matter. We hope the female forward trend will continue in 2026. Meanwhile, we congratulate all of the 2025 Eda Award winners.”
In 2025, SINNERS swept most of the major categories, capturing seven awards for Best Film, Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Supporting Actress (Wunmi Mosaku), Best Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), Best Original Screenplay and Best Ensemble Cast and Casting Director. HAMNET captured two awards for Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay, and SENTIMENTAL VALUE won Best International Film, along with a nod for Stellan Skarsgaard for Best Supporting Actor. Other awards went to THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR for Best Documentary, KPOP DEMON HUNTERS for Best Animated Film and Best Editing for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. In the Eda Female Focus Awards, presented only to women, Chloe Zhao won Best Director for HAMNET, Eva Victor win Best Female Writer for SORRY, BABY and newcomer Chase Infiniti won both Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Stunt Performance for her turn in ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER.
The EDAs are named in honor of AWFJ founder Merin’s mother, Eda Reiss Merin, a stage, film and television actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. A dedicated foot soldier in the industry, Eda was one of the founders of AFTRA and a long-standing member of AMPAS.
EDA is also an acronym for Excellent Dynamic Activism, qualities shared by Eda Reiss Merin, AWFJ members and those honored with EDA Awards.
BEST FILM
FRANKENSTEIN
HAMNET
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
THE SECRET AGENT
SENTIMENTAL VALUE
SINNERS
TRAIN DREAMS
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Ryan Coogler – SINNERS
Jafar Panahi – IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
Joachim Trier – SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Chloe Zhao – HAMNET
BEST SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT – Jafar Panahi
JAY KELLY – Noah Baumbach
SENTIMENTAL VALUE – Joachim Trier
SINNERS – Ryan Coogler
SORRY, BABY – Eva Victor
BEST SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED
BUGONIA – Will Tracy
FRANKENSTEIN – Guillermo del Toro
HAMNET – Maggie O’Farrell & Chloe Zhao
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Paul Thomas Anderson
TRAIN DREAMS – Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar
DOCUMENTARY
COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT – Ryan White
MY MOM JAYNE – Mariska Hargitay
ORWELL 2+2=5 – Raoul Peck
THE LIBRARIANS – Kim A. Snyder
THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR – Geeta Gandbhir
ANIMATED FEATURE
ARCO – Ugo Bienvenu & Giles Cazaux
IN YOUR DREAMS – Erik Benson & Alexander Woo
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS – Chris Applehaus & Maggie Kang
LITTLE AMELIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN – Liane-Cho Jin Kuang & Mailys Vallade
ZOOTOPIA 2 – Jared Bush & Simon Howard
BEST ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – HAMNET
Rose Byrne – IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
Renate Reinsve – SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Emma Stone – BUGONIA
Tessa Thompson – HEDDA
BEST ACTRESS, SUPPORTING
Nina Hoss – HEDDA
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Amy Madigan – WEAPONS
Teyana Taylor – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Wunmi Mosaku – SINNERS
BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Joel Edgerton – TRAIN DREAMS
Ethan Hawke – BLUE MOON
Michael B. Jordan – SINNERS
Wagner Moura – THE SECRET AGENT
BEST ACTOR, SUPPORTING
Benicio Del Toro – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Jacob Elordi – FRANKENSTEIN
Paul Mescal – HAMNET
Sean Penn – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Stellan Skarsgård – SENTIMENTAL VALUE
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST & CASTING DIRECTOR
HAMNET – Nina Gold & Lucy Amos
MARTY SUPREME – Jennifer Venditti
NOUVELLE VAGUE – Stéphane Batut
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Cassandra Kulukundis
SINNERS – Francine Maisler
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
FRANKENSTEIN – Dan Laustsen
HAMNET – Łukasz Żal
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Michael Bauman
SINNERS – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
TRAIN DREAMS – Adolpho Veloso
BEST EDITING
F1: THE MOVIE – Stephen Mirrione & Patrick J. Smith
HAMNET – Affonso Gonçalves & Chloe Zhao
MARTY SUPREME – Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – Andy Jurgensen
SINNERS – Michael P. Shawver
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT – Jafar Panahi
NO OTHER CHOICE – Park Chan-wook
SENTIMENTAL VALUE – Joachim Trier
SIRÂT – Oliver Laxe
THE SECRET AGENT – Kleber Mendonça Filho
FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
Presented Only to Women
FEMALE FOCUS: BEST FEMALE DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow – A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE
Mary Bronstein – IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
Mona Fastvold – THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
Eva Victor – SORRY, BABY
Chloe Zhao – HAMNET
FEMALE FOCUS: BEST FEMALE WRITER
Mary Bronstein – IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
Nia DaCosta – HEDDA
Hikari & Stephen Blahut – RENTAL FAMILY
Eva Victor – SORRY, BABY
Chloe Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell – HAMNET
FEMALE FOCUS: BEST VOICED PERFORMANCE IN ANIMATED FILM
Ginnifer Goodwin – ZOOTOPIA 2
Loïse Charpentier – LITTLE AMELIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN
Arden Cho – KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
Fortune Feimster – ZOOTOPIA 2
Zoë Saldaña – ELIO
FEMALE FOCUS: BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Odessa A’Zion – MARTY SUPREME
Chase Infiniti – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Teyana Taylor – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Wunmi Mosaku – SINNERS
Eva Victor – SORRY, BABY
FEMALE FOCUS: BEST STUNTS PERFORMANCE
Ana de Armas – BALLERINA
Hayley Atwell – MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING
Chase Infiniti – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Teyana Taylor – ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Pom Klementieff – MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING
What do you think of the winners? Please let us know your thoughts on our X account. Click here for more upcoming awards season dates, here for the most recent tally of awards season winners, here for our precursor tracker, and here for our current Oscar predictions.
