With the Academy Award Nominations two days away, the Alliance of Women Films Journalist (AWFJ) announced the winners of its 7th Annual EDA Awards that includes some potential names and titles we expect to hear come Thursday morning. Also, named were winners of the EDA Female Focus Awards that honor women only.

The winners of the EDA Female Focus Awards include some geektastic women including Jennifer Lawrence, who was named “Kick Ass Award for Best Female Action Star” for her portrayal of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name.

Also, Disney’s Brave’s Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) was named Best Animated Female.

Skyfall’s the ever awesome Judi Dench was named Actress Defying Age and Ageism.

As mentioned the AWFJ’s 2012 EDA Awards Winners are names that have been honoured by critic association and they include:

Best Film: “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow – “Zero Dark Thirty” – Also named Best Woman Director

Best Screenplay, Original: Mark Boal – “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Screenplay, Adapted: Chris Terrio – “Argo”

Best Documentary: “Searching For Sugar Man”

Best Animated Film: “ParaNorman”

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain – “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway – “Les Miserables”

Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis – “Lincoln”

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Phillip Seymour Hoffman – “The Master”

Best Ensemble Cast: “Silver Linings Playbook”

The AWFJ also presented their own version of the Razzies with its EDA Special Mention Awards. Categories include: “Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest,” which went to Denzel Washington and Kelly Reilly…and Nadine Velazquez, for “Flight“; and a tie for Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent, between Katherine Heigl for “One For The Money”  and Reese Witherspoon for “This Means War.”

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists, a not-for-profit corporation, is an association of professional female movie critics, reporters, and feature writers working in print, broadcast, and online media. AWFJ is dedicated to raising awareness about women’s perspectives on film and to supporting work by and about women — both in front of and behind the cameras — through intra-group promotional activities, outreach programs, and by presenting the annual EDA Awards in recognition of outstanding accomplishments (the best and worst) by and about women in the movies. In 2012, AWFJ launched a new program to present EDA Awards to women filmmakers in partnership with select film festivals, in addition to the annual year end awards.  The 2012 EDA Awards is the seventh annual presentation. awfj.org