Jennifer Green – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Marjorie David on Adapting READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN – Jennifer Green interviews

June 30, 2026July 5, 2026 Jennifer Green Arash Marandi, Azar Nafisi, Eran Riklis, Golshifteh Farahani, marjorie david, Reading Lolita in Tehran

A book both beloved (over 100 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list) and banned (in Iran), Iranian author Azar Nafisi’s memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran, was adapted to screen in 2023 by Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis based on a script he co-wrote with American Marjorie David. In 2024, it won the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize at the Rome Film Festival, the city where it was filmed. Reading Lolita in Tehran premieres in the US on July 10 through Greenwich Entertainment. The delay is curious considering the book’s popularity in the US. “It was hard to get an American distributor for some reason,” David admits. “It got European distribution immediately. I don’t know why nobody picked it up here for so long. It seems nuts! It’s of the moment, it’s of special interest to women. It’s of interest to anybody interested in Iran.” American interest in Iran could hit a new high this summer as a result of current events. Whether the ongoing US-Iran hostilities will help or hurt the film’s release is yet to be seen. One thing is for sure, though—Americans can and perhaps should gain insights into the people and culture of Iran from this story. And those who have read the book will appreciate how loyal the script stays to the true story at its core.

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READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN – Review by Jennifer Green

June 29, 2026July 15, 2026 Jennifer Green Arash Marandi, Azar Nafisi, Daisy Miller, Eran Riklis, Golshifteh Farahani, Pride & Prejudice, Reading Lolita in Tehran, The Great Gatsby, University of Allameh Tabatabei

The memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran has many, many fans, and they should be pleased by this faithful film adaptation. Staying very true to its source material, former English literature professor Azar Nafisi’s 2003 memoir about hosting a secret weekly book club with female students in post-revolutionary Iran, means the film can sometimes feel overly episodic, like chapters in a book rather than visual sequences in a narrative arc. But filmmaker Eran Riklis and team have succeeded in conveying the tale’s still-timely messages and capturing its tone.

Festivals Interviews

Maria Martínez Bayona talks THE END OF IT (Cannes 2026) – Jennifer Green interviews

May 16, 2026May 17, 2026 Jennifer Green Beanie Feldstein, Cannes 2026, catalan films, gael garcia bernal, Maria Martínez Bayona, noomi rapace, rebecca hall

For a young Spanish director to make her first feature film in English with a Euros 8 million ($9.4m) budget—more than double the Spanish average—and with internationally renowned actors like Rebecca Hall, Noomi Rapace, Gael García Bernal and Beanie Feldstein is unusual. For her film to be invited to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival is even more out of the ordinary.

Reviews

BITTER CHRISTMAS (AMARGA NAVIDAD) – Review by Jennifer Green

March 24, 2026March 30, 2026 Jennifer Green Aitana Sánchez-Gijon, Amarga Navidad, Bitter Christmas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Patrick Criado, pedro almodovar

Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas is widely expected to premiere internationally at Cannes, but since its March 20 release in Spain it has sparked debate about the role of autobiography in the director’s films – and creative works in general. That is entirely the movie’s point. It’s all very meta and diverting, if you’re willing to go along for the ride. The advanced-age audience at the Madrid theater where I saw the film at an early evening screening last Friday seemed to be enjoying the ride, though I was surprised by how little they laughed. This film is lighter than others in Almodóvar’s recent oeuvre and has some comedic moments that I found very funny. It’s meta and diverting, if you’re willing to go along for the ride.

Interviews

Maryam Touzani talks CALLE MALAGA, Aging with Spirit and Personal Storytelling – Jennifer Green interviews

March 3, 2026March 6, 2026 Jennifer Green Ahmed Boulane, calle malaga, Carmen Maura, international oscars, María Alfonsa Rosso, Marta Etura, Maryam Touzani, Moroccan films, Nabil Ayouch

Tangier-born writer-actor-director Maryam Touzani says that with her new film Calle Malaga, she wanted to “celebrate the beauty of aging and the freedom that can come with aging.” The story turns on a 70-something woman, played by Spanish veteran Carmen Maura, who insists on remaining in her home in Tangier—against all odds. In doing so, she remakes her life, finds new love and reinforces her connections with her Moroccan roots, the place where she was born and raised as part of a Spanish immigrant community. The subject was personal for Touzani, whose own blended Moroccan-Spanish family gave inspiration for Calle Málaga.

Reviews

SENTIMENTAL VALUE – Review by Jennifer Green

February 25, 2026March 1, 2026 Jennifer Green elle fanning, Eskil Vogt, Inga Ibsdotter Lillieas, Joachim Trier, Kasper Tuxen, Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value', Stellan Skarsgård

This complex psychological drama from Scandinavian filmmaker Joachim Trier has emerged as one the most prominent and award-winning films of the year. If you haven’t seen Sentimental Value before hearing all the hype, you may be surprised by its nuanced and unhurried take on very mature topics. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, swept the European Film Awards, topped critics lists and is now entering the Oscars with nine nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, International Film, Editing and acting nods for all four of its leads.

Reviews

CALLE MALAGA – Review by Jennifer Green

February 19, 2026February 20, 2026 Jennifer Green Ahmed Boulane, calle malaga, Carmen Maura, international oscars, María Alfonsa Rosso, Marta Etura, Maryam Touzani, Moroccan films, Nabil Ayouch

Calle Málaga is a warm and surprising tale about aging, family and sense of place. Veteran Carmen Maura stars as an elderly Spanish woman, raised as part of an immigrant community in Tangier, Morocco, who steadfastly refuses to spend her sunset years doing anything other than living the life she desires. She is a quiet yet determined 70-something heroine. Tangier-born director Maryam Touzani, who co-wrote the script with regular collaborator Nabil Ayouch, has constructed a nuanced and sensitive film that infuses its story, star and setting with layers of meaning.

Commentaries

OSCARS UPDATE: Expanding the International Market – Jennifer Green reports

January 28, 2026February 1, 2026 Jennifer Green Academy Awards, foreign language films, international film market, international oscars, oscars 2026

Non-English-language feature films received a record number of nominations to the Oscars this year. The nominations show the Academy is “Becoming a Citizen of the World,” The Hollywood Reporter proclaimed on Jan. 22, citing the #OscarsSoWhite backlash from a decade ago that prompted the Academy to diversity its membership, including now a full 25% of voting members from abroad. But there’s another way to look at this. This year’s international diversification might also reveal that the Academy is cognizant of two simultaneous trends that are likely to shape its future.

Reviews

THE SECRET AGENT – Review by Jennifer Green

January 1, 2026February 1, 2026 Jennifer Green brazilian film, fernanda torres, International Oscar, Kleber Mendonça Filho, The Secret Agent, Wagner Moura

Buoyed by a nuanced and captivating performance from Brazilian star Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent is a mystery that twists and simmers its way to its only possible, reality-based, heartrending closure. The film took home top awards from last May’s Cannes Film Festival and has rightfully landed on year-end “best of” lists. Now it’s a major season awards contender, making the shortlist for the International Oscar and landing three top Golden Globe nominations (for drama, foreign language and – a first for a Brazilian man – dramatic actor).

Reviews

ARMAND – Review by Jennifer Green

February 7, 2025February 8, 2025 Jennifer Green Armand, ellen dorrit petersen, Halfdan Ullmann Tondel, International Oscar category, norwegian films, Renate Reinsve, Thea Lambrechts

Featuring a sizzling central performance by The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve, this twisty Scandinavian character study marks the feature debut of writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel, the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. It won the Camera d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival for best first feature, and it represented Norway for this year’s International Oscar category, where it made the shortlist of 10 but not the final five.

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