Releasing March 1 to 5, 2021 – Margaret Barton-Fumo previews

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. Our members are feature writers, columnists and regular contributors to a variety of media outlets and many of us publish regularly on the festival circuit. Our critical voices are widespread and diverse. We invite you to join us in tracking weekly releases of particular interest. And we welcome information about new films that will help us to keep our records updated and our critics alert.

Below is a concise list of new releases set for March 1 to 5 that are of particular interest:

Monday, March 1
 

• The Stylist – Arrow Films (VOD, Arrow streaming service) – USA – Female-directed, female-centric horror about a lonely hair stylist who becomes obsessed with the lives of her clients and descends into murderous madness.

 
Tuesday, March 2
 

• The Orphanage – 1844 Entertainment (Prime) – Female director / writer, cinematographer, editor – First female-directed film from Afghanistan. Set during the late Soviet-era, a 15-year-old ticket scalper in Kabul dreams of Bollywood until the Soviets force him into a state facility.

 

• Sophie Jones – Oscilloscope (VOD, virtual cinemas) – USA – Female-directed, coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl coming to terms with her mother’s death.

 

• The World to Come – Bleecker Street Media (VOD) – USA – Female-directed drama/lesbian love story set in upstate New York in the 1850s. Directed by Mona Fastvold (The Sleepwalker).

 
Wednesday, March 3
 

• Moxie – Netflix – USA – Comedy directed by Amy Poehler about a Texas teenager who organizes a feminist revolution at her high school.

Friday, March 5
 

• Lost Course – Icarus Films (virtual cinemas) – Hong Kong – Female-directed documentary chronicling a grassroots democratic movement in the Southern Chinese village of Wukan.
   

• My Salinger Year – IFC (VOD, virtual cinemas) – USA – Drama starring Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver about a college grad who takes a clerical job working for J.D. Salinger’s literary agent.

 

• Pixie – Paramount Pictures UK (VOD, virtual cinemas) – UK – Comedy/thriller about a young Irish woman who masterminds a heist but must flee across the country from gangsters.

 

• Quo vadis, Aida? – (virtual cinemas; Mar. 15 VOD release) – Bosnia and Herzegovinia – Bosnian drama set in 1995. Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp. Written and directed by Jasmila Zbanic

 

• Raya and the Last Dragon – Disney (Disney+, virtual cinemas) – USA – Disney animated film starring Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina.

 

• Stray – Magnolia Pictures (VOD, virtual cinemas) – Turkey – Female-directed documentary about Zeytin, a stray dog living on the streets of Istanbul.

Stay tuned in for next week’s releases! Contact us if we’ve overlooked anything.