Aging punk diva Vera V. (Geraldine Chaplin) arrives in Santo Domingo to direct a musical as a cinematic tribute to her mentor, the late filmmaker Jean-Louis Jorge. Welcoming her are two old friends, the producer Victor (Jaime Pina) and cinematographer Martin (Luis Ospina), with whom Vera spent th...

Five-year-old Vitka and her teenage cousin Larysa both yearn for a life beyond the archaic rules and restricting confines of their small, godforsaken Ukrainian village. Despite her family's staunch objections, Larysa falls wildly in love with Scar, a handsome ex-convict. Hoping to leave their tro...

Since their parents split up, Sara and her younger sister live with their mother, whose new partner is a woman. Everyday life for the four of them is very similar to any other family. While the situation is perfectly fine with Sara, not everyone sees it the same way. Her father, in particular, ha...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Margaret Barton Fumo's AWFJ review: "Cathy Yan’s 2018 film DEAD PIGS is a dazzling debut ahead of her better-known followup, the blockbuster superhero film BIRDS OF PREY (2020). DEAD PIGS premiered at Sundance, where it won a Spec...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Leslie Combemale's AWFJ review: "With ANTONIA'S LINE, writer/director Marleen Gorris created a film that is a celebration of life and an unflinching look at the challenges intergenerational women faced throughout the 20th century....

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Liz Whittemore's AWFJ review: "At the suggestion of her niece, lonely middle-aged Setsuko takes English lessons. When her plucky teacher John goes missing, Setsuko gets on a plane to California in search of love and a life-changin...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Marilyn Ferdinand's AWFJ review: "The careful framing, gorgeous period settings, brilliantly orchestrated set-pieces, and vibrant colors of this film are a feast for the eyes, and I admired the subtle performances of this uniforml...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Jennifer Merin's AWFJ review: "I AM NOT A WITCH is the beautifully crafted, profoundly provocative first feature from writer/director Rungaro Nyoni. The movie is set in rural Zambia, where Shula, a naive eight year old orphaned gi...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Valerie Kalfrin's AWFJ review: "Based on a novel by French author Anne-Sophie Brasme, director Mélanie Laurent's BREATHE is a story propelled by the mercurial friendships of teenage girls. The drama rises on the rich performances ...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Joan Amenn's AWFJ review: "Anyone who found themselves uninspired by their high school English classes might remember that there was a small spark of fun to look forward to, if they were lucky. Should your instructor assign you to...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Marilyn Ferdinand's AWFJ review: "As citizens in several parts of the world (among them, Italy, Sweden, and the United States) toy with the idea of authoritarianism as a way to bring order and stability to the frequent messiness o...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Erin Trahan's AWFJ review: "If a cinematic canon were to prioritize an adolescent girl’s point of view, Alice Rohrwacher’s CORPO CELESTE from 2011 would top the list. The first of Rohrwacher’s several features as writer-director o...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Jeanne Wolf's AWFJ review: "Valeria Sarmiento's LINES OF WELLINGTON is an historical epic in the most sweeping sense, yet it includes stories (vignettes) of ordinary people that give the drama of war a very human dimension. Perha...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Lonita Cook's AWFJ review: "When we try to create perfection, something gruesome might emerge instead. Unyielding, unforgiving. This is certainly the dystopian nature of THE WHITE KING's fictitious Homeland where Djata and his mot...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Diane Carson's AWFJ review: "In SONG WITHOUT A NAME, Peruvian director Melina León with tender compassion tells a tragic tale of abducted newborns. Never hurried, the story, inspired by actual events, unfolds at a measured pace wi...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Betsy Bozdech's AWFJ review: "You've likely heard of artisanal bread, heirloom vegetables, and bespoke clothing – but odds are you've rarely given a thought to another carefully crafted legacy product: hand-painted advertising sig...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Nell Minow's AWFJ review: "'Victims or vanguards?' That is the challenge faced by the artists in REVOLUTION: NEW ART FOR A NEW WORLD, a documentary about the freedom-seeking artists who helped overthrow Russia’s repressive tsarist...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Liz Braun's AWFJ review: "QUEEN OF HEARTS: AUDREY FLACK is a love letter to the artist and a mini-lesson in 20th Century gender politics and American art history. Lauded as a pioneer of photorealism, Flack was famous in the 1970s ...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Sherin Nicole's AWFJ review: "The sudden death of a loved one has a way of exposing our secrets—everything we’ve held on to comes pouring out. In grief, we are as vulnerable as when faced with our mortality and that need for heali...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Sandie Angulo Chen's AWFJ review: "Directors Diane Crespo and Stefan C. Schaefer’s short-and-sweet film captures the joy of the two women bonding against the odds. Their blossoming friendship overcomes obstacles, including their p...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Pam Grady's AWFJ review: "Punk rock met political activism when Rock Against Racism rose up in Britain, pushing back at the rise of racism, xenophobia, and the far-right National Front movement in the 1970s. It might seem like anc...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Beth Accomando's AWFJ review: "Lucia Puenzo's directing debut is a coming of age film with a twist. XXY is about a teenager who was born with both male and female genitalia. Alex has been raised as a girl but at fifteen, she’s sta...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Jennifer Green's AWFJ review: "It is only when he's dancing that Brazilian teen Irlan Santos da Silva says he feels like himself. Born and raised in one of Rio de Janeiro's impoverished favelas, ballet has offered Irlan an escape ...

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Lois Alter Mark's AWFJ review: "The opening of Una Lorenzen’s YARN reminds us that the word doesn’t just refer to the stuff of scarves and mittens but is also 'A long, often elaborate narrative of real or fictitious adventures; an...