Search Results for “turbulence” – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

TURBULENCE – Review by Sarah Ward

January 8, 2026January 11, 2026 Sarah Ward anne aghion, cine-memoir, documentary, Turbulence

A rewarding pool of insights beckons via a window into its maker’s soul and a mirror held outwards. To filmmaker Anne Aghion’s success, sitting down to Turbulence does indeed mimic standing in her shoes or slipping inside her heart and mind, experiencing her sorrows and struggles, then gleaning her realisations and relishing her wins. Fashioning the film as a collage of so many different audio and visual materials helps. In splicing the movie together, editor Nadia Ben Rachid gives it the rhythm and flow of memories ebbing and flowing in and out, another key touch.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 19, 2026: GOAT GIRL (LA NINA DE LA CABRA)

June 14, 2026June 14, 2026 Jennifer Merin Alessandra González, Ana Asensio, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Goat Girl, jennifer merin, Juncal Fernández, La Niña de la Cabra, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Lorena López, monique jones, motw, Movie of the Week, sandie angulo chen

A young girl living in Madrid in the late 1980s learns a lot about life in writer/director Ana Asensio’s charmingly poignant Spanish drama Goat Girl (aka La Niña de la Cabra). Maintaining a child’s-eye view throughout, Asensio captures how challenging it can be to make sense of the world around you when you’re just 8 years old and beginning to understand that grownups don’t have all the right answers.

Reviews

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS – Review by T. J. Callahan

July 23, 2025July 24, 2025 T. J. Callahan Ebon Moss-Bacharach, joseph quinn, marvel, Matt Shakman, mcu, Pedro Pascal, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, vanessa kirby

When someone with superpowers says they’ll move the Earth for you, take them seriously.
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps that’s exactly what Reed Richards is trying to do…move the Earth to save the planet and its people…from the gargantuanly gluttonous Galactus…a being who needs to feed on other worlds with an appetite that is never satisfied.

Reviews

THE LEOPARD – Review by Susan Granger

June 18, 2025June 22, 2025 Susan Granger Giuseppe Capotondi, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Kim Rossi Stuart, Laura Luchetti, netflix, series, Sicily, The Leopard, Tom Shankland

With current global turbulence, it’s fitting to reflect on the strife that preceded the unification of Italy. That’s the background of Netflix’s “The Leopard,” a sumptuous, six-part period/political drama adapted from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s acclaimed 1958 novel. Scripted by Richard Warlow and directed by Tom Shankland, Giuseppe Capotondi & Laura Luchetti, the stunning, if slow-paced miniseries explores themes of power, romance, immorality, and societal change in Sicily.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK September 13, 2024: GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS

September 7, 2024September 13, 2024 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, coming of age, Girls will be Girls, indian films, jennifer merin, Juno Films, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, motw, nikki fowler, Pam Grady, Preeti Panigrahi, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, Shuchi Talati

Girls Will Be Girls isn’t the first movie to tackle the complexities of growing up, and it certainly won’t be the last. But writer/director Shuchi Talati approaches the ultra-relatable subject matter with such a delicate touch that it makes her story of a teen coming of age in 1990s India feel fresh and new. Simultaneously, it comments thoughtfully on the policing of girls and women who dare to flout convention and express themselves.

Festivals Reviews

REINAS (Melbourne IFF 2024) – Review by Nadine Whitney

August 20, 2024August 19, 2024 Nadine Whitney Abril Gjurinovic, Gonzalo Molina, Jimena Lindo, Klaudia Reynicke, Luana Vega, Melbourne IFF 2024, Reinas

In the early 1990s in Lima, Peru, the war between The Shining Path and Alberto Fujimori’s government sponsored Grupo Colina was on almost everyone’s doorsteps. Many felt the chaos of food shortages and constantly failing electricity. Then there was the curfew which kept people in their homes in fear of detainment and torture. Filmmaker Klaudia Reynicke takes the audience to a Lima which is part hazy fantastic memory (a place that no longer exists) and part harsh reality. Everyone in the film is indulging in some small or large fantasy.

Lists

Opening December 5 – 11, 2022 – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

December 3, 2022December 3, 2022 Margaret Barton-Fumo female centric films, female directed films, opening films

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists highlights movies made by and about women. With a vigilant eye toward current releases, we maintain an interactive record of films that are pertinent to our interests. Be they female-made or female-centric productions, they are films that represent a wide range of women’s stories and present complex female characters. As such, they are movies that will most likely be reviewed on AWFJ.org and will qualify for consideration for our annual EDA Awards, celebrating exceptional women working in film behind and in front of the camera.

Reviews

THE SWIMMERS – Review by Jennifer Green

November 11, 2022November 12, 2022 Jennifer Green Ali Suliman, Manal Issa, Nathalie Issa, Sally El Hosaini, Sara Mardini, Syria, the swimmers, Yusra Mardini

The Swimmers is an old-fashioned biopic, a roller coaster of emotions spread out over an unabashed 135 minutes. The storytelling forces viewers into the shoes of young refugees whose lives are torn apart by war and who in no way deserve the difficult twists of fate thrown at them. Whatever shortcomings viewers find with the film, the real-life story is impossible not to appreciate.

Reviews

VIOLET – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

October 21, 2021October 25, 2021 Valerie Kalfrin Justine Bateman, olivia munn, Violet

We’ve seen before how people who seem to have charmed lives can have a whole different view of themselves, but the drama Violet portrays this struggle for confidence in an experimental yet engrossing and sympathetic way.

Reviews

AILEY – Review by Loren King

July 22, 2021July 25, 2021 Loren King ailey, alvin ailey, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Bill T. Jones, documentaries, George Faison, Jamila Wignot, modern dance, motw, Movie of the Week

Director Jamila Wignot blends performance, poetry and social consciousness in her documentary Ailey, about modern dance legend Alvin Ailey. Wignot crafts an impressionistic portrait of the artist and his time that’s reminiscent of the revelatory I Am Not Your Negro, the 2016 film about iconic writer James Baldwin.

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