Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced 2025 recipients for the Gold Fellowship for Women on Monday. These selected individuals will be introduced into a specialized one -year program from the academy, giving them mentoring and networking with women in the film industry.
Alina Simone and Marlén Viñayo were named 2025 Gold Fellowship for Women receivers. Two women are presented in collaboration with Chanel and are elected annually for Community-a filmmaker based in the United States and a non-US-based filmmaker.
“Approaching and inspiring new generations of global filmmakers is the essence of the Academy’s mission, and we are pleased to continue this work through the Gold Fellowship for Women,” said Kim Taylor-Coleman, Academy’s governor and president of the Academy Foundation Board, in a statement. “We are extremely grateful for the generous support from our partner Chanel, who shares our commitment to nurturing talented female filmmakers and open doors for meaningful opportunities in the film industry.”
Simone, an Ukrans -born journalist and filmmaker, released his debut documentary “Black Snow” 2024 at Film Festival Circuit. The film, executive produced by Erin Brockovich, has since been picked up to be released in the United States as part of the 2025-2026 season by PBS “POV.” Simone’s reporting has been presented in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic and NPR, among other publications. Her previous awards include Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award, F: Act Award at CPH: Dox, Sustainable Future Award at the Sydney Film Festival and International Green Film Award from Cinema for Peace.
Viñayo, which is based in El Salvador, founded the production company La Jula Abierta films. She has won awards for both her feature film “Cachada: The Opportunity” and her short film “Unwergable”, which was nominated for an international documentary award. In 2019, Viñayo was nominated for a news and documentary Emmy for his work with the documentary “Frontline” “Sepered: Children at the Border.” Her work has brought her many awards at film festivals, including SXSW, IDFA, Hot Docs, Slamdance, Palm Springs Shortfest, Guanajuato International Film Festival, Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival and Docsbarcelona. At the Latin American documentary competition Poy Latam 2021, Viñayo won the Gabo Award and was named Ibero -American filmmaker of the Year.
Simone and Viñayo were selected from a field by six finalists, including Coleen Baik, Jasmín Mara López, Zaynê Akyol and Mother Israeli.
