Female critics pick favorites

and its director, Barry Jenkins, have been voted Best Film and Best Director for 2016 by members of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.

AWFJ was founded in 2006 by Jennifer Merin, Maitland McDonagh, Joanna Langfield and Jenny Halper. Its members, of which I am one, are professional female movie critics, reporters and feature writers working in print, broadcast and online media.

The organization’s annual EDA Awards recognize the work done by and about women in front of and behind the camera.

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. EDA is also an acronym for Excellent Dynamic Activism.