Elle Magazine celebrated their 22 annual Women in Hollywood awards on October 20.
The awards were emceed by Joel McHale and celebrated women in hollywood for their creative contributions as actresses and their roles behind the camera. Elle’s Editor in Chief summed up the importance of the ceremony in her opening speech speaking against those who say there isn’t a need to women centric awards says,”as long as Women make up only 20 percent of Congress, as long as senior movie studio execs are 93 percent male, and only 4 percent of studio films are directed by women; as long as the President of the United States, the VP, the Speaker of the House … –you have to go 7 layers down to find a woman, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, on the succession plan, then I’d say yes, We need “women’s media.” We need as many “Women In” gatherings that we can dream up.”
Ava DuVernay, Salma Hayek, Carey Mulligan, Amy Schumer, Alicia Vikander and Kate Winslet were all honored during the night and many mentioned Meryl Streep’s contribution to trailblazing the roles of women in film in their speeches. Dakota Johnson was given the Calvin Klein Spotlight award and Gena Rowlands took home the L’Oreal Paris Legend Award as well.
With many notable women in hollywood presenting and in attendance, the night was a moment to celebrate all that women have done in the film industry as well as a time to look forward to what can be achieved in the future.