GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Announces its 2019 DORIAN AWARDS for Film and TV

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, comprised of 260 mainly U.S. journalists covering film and television, has named its final-round choics for 2019’s finest movies, performances and more across a host of mainstream and LGBTQ-focused categories. 

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite gobbled up five wins, including Film of the Year, Director and Screenplay. Renée Zellweger took Performance of the Year—Actress for Judy), with Antonio Banderas the top choice in the Actor race. The Society’s Rising Star of the year: Florence Pugh (Little Women).

“GALECA members strive to determine the best cinematic experiences through the distinct LGBTQ lens, and this year was particularly rich in options,” said GALECA President Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director of The Advocate. “Yet when director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite practically swept our awards roster with five wins, I was not surprised. The dynamic, darkly comic drama about a poor family conniving to live the good life speaks to the times we live in, with vivid commentary on class, inequity and even climate change. Parasite is a perfect film for the Trump era.”

Among the professional LGBTQ journalists group’s trademark categories, Booksmart scored as Unsung Film of the Year, while Cats took the group’s semi-dubious, if affectionate, Campy Flick of the Year category. 

With the Society’s recent move to spin off its television categories with a separate ceremony starting this August, the Dorians’ TV categories came with a somewhat truncated eligibility window of January 1 through November 1. 

FX’s Pose again won TV Drama of the Year and LGBTQ TV Drama for the second year—and its star Billy Porter took another Dorian win as well—while Comedy Central’s The Other Two was named best Unsung TV Show. Amazon’s Fleabag was anointed TV Comedy of the Year, with star-creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge reigning as TV Performance of the Year—Actress and Wilde Wit of the Year. 

Lady Gaga wowed GALECA’s members in a special vote as Wilde Artist of the Decade. Gaga’s duet with Bradley Cooper on “Shallow” at last year’s Oscars also counted with the group as the TV Musical Performance of the Year.

As previously announced, Olivia Wilde, the first-time director of Booksmart, will be receiving a special honor at the group’s Dorian Awards Winners Toast, which will be held brunchtime Sunday, February 2, in Los Angeles, before football fever kicks in. The invitation-only event will include a raise of the glass to Wilde, named GALECA’s Wilde Artist of the Year. 

GALECA, formed in 2009, aims to generate camaraderie and solidarity in an unsettling media environment, champion constructive film and television criticism and elevate the craft of entertainment journalism. Via panels, screenings and our annual Dorian Awards, GALECA also strives to remind at-risk youth, bullies and bigots that the world looks to the Q eye for leads on great, unique movies and TV. And how would the world fare without knowing what’s campy? 

GALECA is a proud core member of CGEM: Critics Groups for Equality in Media.  

FULL LIST OF 11TH DORIAN AWARD WINNERS (noted in bold and with an asterisk)

Film of the Year

Hustlers 
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood
Pain and Glory
*Parasite 
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Director of the Year 

Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory 
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
*Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Celine Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Film Performance of the Year — Actress 

Awkwafina, The Farewell
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Alfre Woodard, Clemency
*Renée Zellweger, Judy

Film Performance of the Year — Actor

*Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Taron Egerton, Rocketman

Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actress 

Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Florence Pugh, Little Women
*Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell

Film Performance of the Year — Supporting Actor

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Al Pacino, The Irishman 
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood
*Song Kang-ho, Parasite

LGBTQ Film of the Year 

Booksmart 
End of the Century 
Pain and Glory
*Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rocketman

Foreign Language Film of the Year

The Atlantics 
Pain and Glory 
*Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Farewell

Screenplay of the Year

Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
*Bong Joon-ho, Han Jin-won, Parasite
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rian Johnson, Knives Out

Documentary of the Year 

American Factory
Apollo 11
For Sama
*Honeyland
One Child Nation

LGBTQ Documentary of the Year 

Circus of Books 
Gay Chorus Deep South
The Gospel of Eureka
5B
*Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street

Visually Striking Film of the Year ** TIE

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Midsommar
1917
The Lighthouse
Parasite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Unsung Film of the Year

*Booksmart
Her Smell
Gloria Bell
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Waves

Campy Flick of the Year 

*Cats
Greta
Knives Out
Ma
Serenity

TV Drama of the Year

Chernobyl
Euphoria
*Pose
Succession
Unbelievable

TV Comedy of the Year

*Fleabag
The Other Two 
PEN15
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek

TV Performance of the Year — Actor 

Bill Hader, Barry
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
*Billy Porter, Pose 
Jeremy Strong, Succession

TV Performance of the Year — Actress 

Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Mj Rodriguez, Pose
*Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon

LGBTQ TV Show of the Year 

Euphoria
The Other Two
*Pose
Schitt’s Creek
Tales of the City 

Unsung TV Show of the Year

Gentleman Jack
On Becoming a God in Central Florida
*The Other Two
PEN15
Years and Years

TV Current Affairs Show of the Year

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About the author: Tim Baros

Tim Baros writes film and theatre articles/ reviews for Pride Life and The American magazines and websites, as well as for Hereisthecity.com, Blu-RayDefinition.com and TheGayUK.com. He has also written for In Touch and TNT Magazines, SquareMile.com and LatinoLife.co.uk. He is a voting member for the UK Regional Critics Circle and the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA – of which he is the UK representative). In addition, he has produced and directed two films: The Shirt and Rex Melville Desire: The Musical.