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Women In Film Fete Oscar Nominees
Octavia Spencer and Cathy Schulman of Women In Film Fete Oscar Nominees, including Jessica Chastain, Quvenzhane Wallis, Jacki Weaver, David O. Russell and Others
Jessica Chastain arrived at the Women In Film celebration of the female Oscar nominees, charming and gracious as always, despite the even-worse-than-usual pre-Oscar party traffic.
“It took us two hours to get here,” said the Best Actress nominee for “Zero Dark Thirty,” heading into the Fig & Olive restaurant Feb. 22 with boyfriend Gian Luca Passe de Preposulo. There they joined, among others, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis and Ahna O’Reilly, Chastain’s sister cast members from “The Help.”
The Academy Award-winning Spencer served as the night’s co-host, along with Cathy Schulman, president of Women In Film.
Ascending the podium, Schulman cited statistics about the disproportionate number of women to men in the entertainment industry, which is caused, according to a recent study, to lack of financing. Of the 1,100 top films of the past 11 years, she said a mere 41 were directed by women.
On the bright side, however, Schulman said that this year there are 45 female nominees, the all-time highest number of women nominated for Academy Awards. That list included not just movie stars, but the filmmakers behind-the-scenes as well.
Spencer said, “If it weren’t for so many women paving the way for a little black girl with funny teeth and a cute little round body dreaming differently, I wouldn’t be here.” She then thanked the women in the crowd for being “trailblazers” and “pioneers.”
Never mind that they were competing for Oscars, a spirit of camaraderie prevailed. Seated together on a banquette, documentary producers Robin Honan of “Mondays at Racine” and Cori Shepherd Stern of “Open Heart” said they met at a nominees event and have become friends since.
The star-studded guest list included Daniel Radcliffe of the “Harry Potter” films, Kate Walsh of “Private Practice,” Jenna Elfman of “Dharma and Greg,” Molly Sims of “Vegas,” Paz Vega of “Spanglish,” Sharon Lawrence of “Middle of Nowhere,” and Louise Roe of “Perfect Catch.”
Plus there were Best Supporting Actress nominee Jacki Weaver and Best Director nominee David O. Russell of “Silver Livings Playbook,” and Best Actress nominee Quvenzhane Wallis of “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Nominated producers also included Pilar Savone and Stacey Sher of “Django Unchained,” Philippa Kowarsky and Estelle Fialon of “The Gatekeepers,” Amy Ziering of “The Invisible War;” Cynthia Wade of “Mondays at Racine,” Kief Davison for “Open Heart” and Sari Gilman for “Kings Point.”
More nominees were sound editor Karen Baker Landers for “Skyfall,” writer Lucy Alibar of “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” and production designers Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer for “Anna Karenina.”
Jane Fleming and Estee Lauder Group President John Dempsey served as event co-chairs.
Event sponsors were Perrier-Jouet, MAC Cosmetics and MaxMara.
(Check the photo gallery below for more party pictures)
Top photo: Women in Film fete Oscar nominees, including Jessica Chastain, seen here talking with Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter (Photo by John Sciulli/ Getty Images for WIF)
Center photo: Group President of Estee Lauder John Demsey is joined by event co-hosts Octavia Spencer and Women In Film president Cathy Schulman, when Women In Film fete Oscar nominees (Photo by John Sciulli/ Getty Images for WIF)
Bottom photo: Kate Walsh of “Private Practice” joins the party when Women in Film fete Oscar nominees at the Fig & Olive restaurant in Los Angeles (Photo by Craig Barritt/ Getty Images for WIF)
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Women In Film Fete Oscar Nominees
Published Feb. 25, 2013 – Ellen Olivier, Society News LA
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