Kerry Washington, Kate Winslet, Joey King, and More Were Recognized at the 2024 WIF Honors

For obvious reasons, it’s no easy feat to gather a number of the most in-demand women in film in a room all at once (such is a scheduling nightmare), but when the occasion is the WIF Honors, the annual event presented by fashion partner Max Mara which brings together among the top women professionals in Hollywood, the seemingly impossible inevitably becomes doable.

Hosted, as customary, at The Beverly Hilton, the event is always a spectacle, with onlookers lining the outdoor entrance for a glimpse of the arrivals of the likes of Jane Fonda, Kerry Washington, Kate Winslet, and more. A cocktail hour allowed for all the VIP attendees to make it down the red carpet in their gala-ready gowns, before heading in for the seated ceremony alongside dinner.

With the evening’s theme set as The Power of the Collective in celebration of the strength of collaboration and inclusion in the industry, WIF landed on an impressive roundup of industry leaders to honor, each taking to the stage with a few words, some for an entire sit-down panel.

With her usual crowd-moving charm, Jane Fonda kicked off the evening by presenting Annette Bening with the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award, honoring Bening’s advocacy for reproductive and trans rights and cancer research. “I so appreciate the theme of this evening around celebrating our collective strength—something that resonates with all of us here, I’m sure, as anyone who’s ever been involved in a production knows all great change and growth comes from the merging of talent of skills, talent, minds, and souls.”

Then came a panel conversation between Kate Winslet and director Ellen Kuras, who were honored with the Crystal Award for Advocacy in Film in celebration of their film Lee, which chronicles female photographer Lee Miller on her quest to document World War II for Vogue. On stage, Winslet spoke about the difficulty of getting a film about a woman-backed, sharing that at one point, a potential financier asked Winslet about the film’s subject, “Why should I like this woman?” “When you can get to the end of [an incredibly difficult] day and smile, and hug it out, and know that the blood, sweat, and tears were all female-driven — I want to be on that set,” Winslet said. “And also,” she laughed, “I want to know that I can turn to the person next to me and say, ‘Have you got a spare tampon?’ and know that they probably have one in their back pocket.”