AFT Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role

This is the second category of the 5th 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 and drawn from a pool of approximately 138 Films. Click here to see previous years of this category.

Honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Jodie Foster (Carnage), Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy), Jessica Chastain (The Debt), Helen Mirren (The Debt), Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road), Viola Davis (The Help), Zana Marjanovic (In the Land of Blood and Honey), Judy Marte (Maria My Love), Alana Kearns-Green (Mary Marie), Alexandra Roxo (Mary Marie), Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia), Anne Hathaway (One Day), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In), Isabelle Huppert (Special Treatment), Yasmin Paige (Submarine), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower), Charlize Theron (Young Adult)

Runners-up:
Isabelle Carré (Romantics Anonymous), Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin (Incendies), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Leila Hatami (A Separation), Sibel Kekilli (When We Leave

The winner:
Agnes Kittelsen (Happy, Happy) projected an image of energetic joy in her portrayal of an unhappily married but perky woman.

Other nominees:
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) was firm, fiery, and fully immersed in her interpretation of Margaret Thatcher. Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) added an unexpected comic tone to her antisocial hacker protagonist. Helene Bergsholm (Turn Me On, Goddamit) was nuanced and subtle in her portrayal of a deeply rebellious teen. Charlize Theron (Young Adult) was hilarious as the world’s biggest bitch, never remotely ashamed in her delivery.