AFT Awards: Best Breakthrough Performance

This is the nineteenth category of the 2nd Annual AFT Film Awards to be announced. The AFT Awards are my own personal choices for the best in film of each year and the best in television of each season. The AFT Film Awards include the traditional Oscar categories and a number of additional specific honors. Nominees are pictured in the order I’ve ranked them.

The winner:
Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) had an insanely big debut in the (arguably) most popular movie of the year and hopefully we’ll see a lot more of her soon.

Other nominees:
AnnaSophia Robb (Sleepwalking) was a revelation in a devastatingly poor movie, and at only fifteen years old, I hope we haven’t seen the last of her. Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (Slumdog Millionaire) was one of the youngest players in his cast, and was just as terrific as all the older ones. Summer Bishil (Towelhead) took on a lead role in a heavyweight cast and stood her own ground; I’m curious to see her play her own age in future films. Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) shed all of the goofiness accumulated on “That 70s Show” and delivered a truly surprising adult performance.