(Los Angeles, CA – February 15, 2024) – The Critics Choice Association (CCA) Women’s Committee is pleased to announce that “True Detective: Night Country” (HBO/Max) will receive the Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment. Called the “SOFEE,” the Seal recognizes outstanding new films and television series that illuminate the female experience and perspective through authentically told female-driven stories.
The fourth installment in HBO’s hit crime-thriller anthology, “True Detective: Night Country” is the first season to be led by female talent behind and in front of the camera. Showrunner Issa López’ “True Detective: Night Country” features female leads that are complex, compelling and multifaceted. Set in a secluded Alaskan community as the days turn completely to darkness, the series focuses on Detective Liz Danvers, played by Jodie Foster. She investigates the strange deaths of scientists who had been working at a nearby Arctic research station. With a history of clashes between the local Indigenous community and a shady mining corporation, as well as the suspicious death of a Native woman, the list of possible suspects is long. The plot of “True Detective: Night Country” is a powerful reminder of the real issues surrounding missing and murdered Native women, whose cases too often fail to garner the proper media or police attention.
“‘True Detective: Night Country’ is about the resilience of the female spirit in the face of the darkness surrounding us,” said López, the creator, producer, director, and writer of the fourth season. “It was made by women – Mari Jo Winkler, Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Francesca Orsi, Kathleen McCaffrey, Adele Romanski, Isabella Star LaBlanc, and many, many others. Latinas, Native, White, Black, queer and straight. Women coming together from vastly different places and times to tell a story about taking power into our hands, and changing the narrative. Changing the old stories. It means the world to us to be seen and celebrated by the SOFEE award, in the company of so many powerful storytellers.”
The series received a 10 out of 10 in the numerical formula that is used to determine if new titles, nominated by CCA Women’s Committee members, are eligible for a SOFEE. Qualifying projects will have a prominent female character arc, give female characters at least equal screen time to male characters, have female leaders behind the scenes, and pass elements highlighted in the Bechdel test. To be considered, new film and television releases must possess an artistic and storytelling value and exceptionality, and score at least 7 out of a possible 10 points in the SOFEE rubric, which can be found at CriticsChoice.com.
The Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment is issued by the CCA Women’s Committee. Members include Tara McNamara (Chair), Hillary Atkin, Semira Ben-Amor, Christina Birro, Lauren Bradshaw, Jamie Broadnax, TJ Callahan, Catalina Combs, Toni Gonzales, Teri Hart, Laura Hurley, Susan Kamyab, Destiny Jackson, Lilly Liu, Louisa Moore, Gayl Murphy, Mary Murphy, Sherin Nicole, Patricia Puentes, Christina Radish, Amanda Salas, Rachel Smith, Sammi Turano, and Lynn Venhaus, and Lauren Veneziani, as well as Board member Grae Drake.
Digital assets and artwork can be found HERE.
About the Critics Choice Association (CCA)
The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 600 media critics and entertainment journalists. It was established in 2019 with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, recognizing the intersection between film, television, and streaming content. For more information, visit: www.CriticsChoice.com.
CONTACTS:
Tara McNamara
Chair of the CCA Women’s Committee
310-486-6579
[email protected]
