Jennifer Merin
Jennifer Merin interviews directors, reviews films and DVDs for New York Press, covers nonfiction film for Documentaries.About.com and is the Film Critic for Womens eNews. She edits Women On Film, the online magazine of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is President. She has written about entertainment for USA Today, US Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Endless Vacation Magazine, Daily News, New York Post, SoHo News and other publications.
After receiving her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts (Grad Acting), Jennifer performed at the O'Neill Theater Center's Playwrights Conference, Long Wharf Theater, American Place Theatre and LaMamma, where she worked with renown Japanese director, Shuji Terayama. She subsequently joined Terayama's theater company in Tokyo, where she also acted in films.
Her journalism career began when she was asked to write about Terayama for The Drama Review. She became a regular contributor to the Christian Science Monitor after writing an article about Marketta Kimbrell's Theater For The Forgotten, with which she was performing at the time. She was an O'Neill Theater Center National Critics' Institute Fellow, and the institute's Coordinator.
While teaching at the Universities of Wisconsin and Rhode Island, she wrote "A Directory of Festivals of Theater, Dance and Folklore Around the World," published by the International Theater Institute.
Denmark's Odin Teatret's director, Eugenio Barba, wrote his manifesto in the form of a letter to "Dear Jennifer Merin," which has been published around the world, in languages as diverse as Farsi and Romanian.
Jennifer's culturally-oriented travel column began in the LA Times in 1984, then moved to The Associated Press, LA Times Syndicate, Tribune Media, Creators Syndicate and (currently) Arcamax Publishing. She's been news writer/editor for ABC Radio Networks, on-air reporter for NBC, CBS Radio and, currently, for Westwood One's America In the Morning.
Read Merin's recent articles below. For her complete archive, type "Jennifer Merin" in the Search Box (upper right corner of screen).
Articles by Jennifer Merin
Happy endings in documentary films are rare, but this story of empowerment is certainly one of them. In fact, it’s pure inspiration. Rafea is a very engaging leading lady, and her personal story provides the perfect foil for penetrating the issues of women’s rights in the Middle East, and leading in to the larger story of how the solar panel school in India, and other such projects, are liberating women social and economic repression and servitude around the world. Read more>>
General Archives,
Reviews and Criticism,
The EDA Awards,
Women on Film
During June, 2013, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, a nonprofit association of leading professional critics and feature writers who work in print, broadcast and online media in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, has presented four EDA Awards to women directors for their outstanding achievements in documentary filmmaking. Read more>>
Commentaries,
General Archives,
News and Previews,
The EDA Awards,
Women on Film
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists announced seven nominees for a special EDA award, created to celebrate POV’s 25th anniversary. The winner will be announced at POV’s 26th-season launch party at its headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Thursday, June 6, 2013.
With this EDA award, the AWFJ will honor the best female-directed film from the curated program MoMA Selects: POV, a 25th Anniversary Retrospective, presented at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in February and March of 2013. A jury of five AWFJ members selected the nominees. Read more>>.
Commentaries,
General Archives,
Member News,
The EDA Awards,
Women on Film
At Salem Film Fest 2013 (March 7 to 14 in Salem, Massachusetts), the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) has presented EDA Awards to two superb films directed by women. Read more>>
General Archives,
News and Previews,
Women on Film
In “Tchoupitoulas,” three African-American youngsters — the Zanders brothers — leave their home in the low income suburbs of New Orleans, hop aboard a ferry and head for the Big Easy’s French Quarter to experience their first night out on the town. Read more>>
General Archives,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Famous filmmaker Werner Herzog dwells on the lives of subsistence hunter-fishermen and their families in the isolated village of Bakhta, in the remote and pristine Siberian wilderness. Read more>>
General Archives,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Three-term Mayor Ed Koch ran NYC from 1978-1989, revitalizing the city and stirring up a lot of controversy. Love him or hate him, Koch still commands a lot of attention. This fine biodoc by Neil Barsky gives him his due, past and present. Read more>>
General Archives,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
56 UP is the latest chapter in Michael Apted’s epic multi-episode UP Series, following the lives of fourteen British citizens since 1963, when they were seven year old boys and girls living in very different circumstances in diverse regions of the United Kingdom. For those who followed the series, this is a great catch up with old friends. It’s also fascinating for those who are just becoming acquainted. Read more>>
General Archives,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
Here’s a cheat sheet for the roster of female directors who should have made the 2013 list of Oscar nominations, starting with Kathryn Bigelow, whose latest military film is clouded by controversy over its depiction of torture. Read more>>
Commentaries,
General Archives,
News and Previews,
Women on Film
Assorted real world influencers, including journalists, filmmakers and public officials, are giving unusual scrutiny to Zero Dark Thirty, asking the question “How much truth is too much truth in a fiction film — especially when the film purports to be truth-based?” Read more>>
Commentaries,
General Archives,
Reviews and Criticism,
Women on Film
