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AWFJ Women on Film – Releasing June 24 and 28, 2009

Jennifer Merin , , , ,
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AWFJ highlights films made by and about women

Wednesday, June 24

  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – DreamWorks,

Friday, June 26

  • Cheri – Miramax Films, 100 mins, limited – Stephen Frears directs Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates and Rupert Friend in this Christopher Hampton adaptation of the novels of Colette
  • The Hurt Locker – Summit Entertainment, 131 mins. – Kathryn Bigelow directs this drama/thriller about the war in Iraq.
  • My Sister’s Keeper – New Line Cinema, 109 mins. – Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz star in this drama about a little girl who was conceived to help save her ailing sister and seeks medical emancipation from her parents.
  • Surveillance – Arclight, 97 mins. – Jennifer Chambers Lynch co-wrote and directs this mystery about an FBI agent tracking a serial killer with the help would-be victims.
  • Afghan Star – Zeitgeist Films, 87 mins. – Havana Marking directs this documentary about leading contestants, two of whom are women, in Afghanistan’s version of American Idol
  • The Stoning of Soraya M. – Roadside Attractions, 116 mins. – Shorheh Aghdashloo stars in this harrowing feature based on the true story of a women who was stoned to death in rural Iran, after her husband falsely accused her of adultry–because he wanted to marry a younger woman.
  • The Girl from Monaco (La Fille de Monaco) – Magnolia Pictures, 95 mins. – Anne Fontaine co-wrote and directs this French comedy-drama about sexual attractions and how they play.
  • Quiet Chaos (Caos calmo) – Fandango, 105 mins.
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Jennifer Merin

Jennifer Merin is the Film Critic for Womens eNews and contributes the CINEMA CITIZEN blog for and is managing editor for Women on Film, the online magazine of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, of which she is President. She has served as a regular critic and film-related interviewer for The New York Press and About.com. She has written about entertainment for USA Today, The L.A. Times, 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 then became 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. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association in the Film, Documentary and TV branches and a voting member of the Black Reel Awards. For her AWFJ archive, type "Jennifer Merin" in the Search Box (upper right corner of screen).