Guest Posts – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

On Career Longevity and Receiving a Retrospective – Julie Carmen comments (Exclusive Guest Post)

June 6, 2026June 7, 2026 Guest Post Arrow Films, Balboa Theater, career retrospective, CinemaSFbay, Fogcutter Film Series, kino lorber, Redshirt Pictures, Robert Mailer Anderson, SONY Pictures Entertainment, Synapse Films, the female gaze, universal pictures, Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging

As an actress, I have not been hot news for decades, so you can imagine my surprise when CinemaSFbay proposed a three night Julie Carmen retrospective to take place July 7, 8, 9th at the newly refurbished nonprofit Balboa Theater with Fogcutter Film Series Q&As moderated by author-filmmaker Robert Mailer Anderson and an after party. To be treated as relevant because I played the female lead in a catalogue of titles that were influential back in the day feels like I walked into a bright interrogation room. Suddenly people want to know Regine Dandridge’s back story and whether Linda Styles is real.

Guest Posts Reviews

ROOMMATES – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

April 21, 2026April 26, 2026 Guest Post AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Chandler Levack, Chloe East, guest post, Mentorship Program Critic, roommates, Sadie Sandler, walker conger

Even if you had a wonderful freshman year roommate, I’m sure the “what-if” questions have crossed your mind as you’re settling into your new shared space. “What if we have nothing in common?” “What if they take my stuff?” “What if they expose my secrets?” “What if they set my things on fire?” In Chandler Levack’s Roommates, you will see all of these “what-ifs” play out in wildly unexpected ways.

Guest Posts Reviews

SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN – Review by Abby Perkins (Mentorship Program Critic)

April 6, 2026 Guest Post abby perkins, Adam DiMarco, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Camila Morrone, Gus Briney, Haley Z. Boston, horror, jennifer jason leigh, Kate Trefry, netflix, series, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, Victoria Pedretti

Are you sure he’s the one? Before you walk down that aisle, make sure you know the answer – the wrong choice could be your doom. Through eight episodes of unexpected twists and gory surprises, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen leaves you leaping for that next episode button. It’s original and clever, while also taking inspiration from what works in horror – relying on atmospheric creepiness without the overuse of jump scares, found footage, through-the-lens point-of-view, and an unanticipated betrayal that shakes everything up. The success of the show lies in its ability to remain engaging even when the hide-behind-the-blanket moments take the backseat.

Guest Posts Reviews

JULIE & JULIA – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

March 23, 2026March 24, 2026 Guest Post amy adams, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, guest post, ju;ie powell, Julia Childs, julie & julia, Mentorship Program Critic, meryl streep, nora ephron, stanley tucci, walker conger

Nora Ephron said in a 2009 NPR interview that she “…learned to cook from that cookbook [Mastering the Art of French Cooking], and, what’s more, became completely infatuated with the person who’d written it.” Food was a very important part of Ephron’s life and her cinematic career, so it’s fitting that her final film would cover a woman and a topic that has been with her nearly her entire life.

Guest Posts Reviews

ROOSTER – Review by Abby Perkins (Mentorship Program Critic)

March 10, 2026March 15, 2026 Guest Post abby perkins, Ali Greer, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Charly Clive, Danielle Deadwyler, Dylan Shepard, hbo max, limited series, Rooster, Steve Carell

Parents are supposed to help their children through all of life’s struggles, especially the struggles they’ve been through themselves. However, what do you do when your child faces their biggest obstacle but you have no advice for them, since you aren’t close to getting over the same obstacle you’ve faced yourself? Rooster follows beach-read author Greg Russo (Steve Carrell), who is spending time at his alma mater after Katie, his daughter and a professor at the college, is left by her grad-student-banging husband. The HBO series’ pilot, shows a father and daughter, riddled with their own insecurities and personal issues, realizing that they are both hot messes. Rooster reminds us that everyone is living life for the first time.

Guest Posts Reviews

THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY – Review by Walker Conger (Mentorship Program Critic)

March 2, 2026March 8, 2026 Guest Post Anthony Minghella, AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, cate blanchett, gwyneth paltrow, Jack Davenport, jude law, matt damon, Patricia Highsmith, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Talented Mr. Ripley, walker conger

When Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) first plays the piano while wearing a borrowed Princeton jacket, there’s no way to expect what a thrilling ride director Anthony Minghella will take you on for the next two hours in his 1999 adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, this underrated entry of Damon’s extensive filmography captures the beautiful Italian scenery of small, tight-knit towns and the expansiveness of Rome and Venice. Aided by the heavy use of jazz throughout the score, the film paints a picture of a carefree, “la dolce vita” post-war lifestyle that would be very enticing to a struggling New York restroom attendant like Tom Ripley.

Guest Posts Reviews

LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLYN BESSETTE – Review by Abby Perkins (Mentorship Program Critic)

February 25, 2026February 26, 2026 Guest Post AWFJ/UNCSA MENTORSHIP PROGRAM, Carolyn Bessette, hulu, John F. Kennedy Jr., Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, Paul Anthony Kelly, ryan murphy, Sarah Pidgeon, series

Spanning over seven years, Love Story follows John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) from their first meeting to the day they tragically lost their lives. Kelly has come out of nowhere, quickly making a name for himself with an emotionally grounded performance and electrifying chemistry with Pidgeon – you may recognize her from last year’s I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot and her Tony-nominated performance in Stereophonic in 2024.

Commentaries Guest Posts

BROWNSVILLE BRED: Crafting Authentic Music – Elaine Del Valle comments

December 9, 2025December 9, 2025 Guest Post Brownsville Bred, budgeting music, Eddie Frente, Edward James Olmos, Edwin Vázquez, Javier Muñoz, latinx, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Nathalia Lares, Puerto Rican artists, Seed of Faith, Semilla de Fe, the female gaze

Independent filmmakers rarely have the resources to buy the music their stories deserve. Yet music often carries the emotional weight of our films — especially when the work is autobiographical, culturally specific, or rooted in family memory. As the writer and director of Brownsville Bred — an auteur, coming-of-age, music-driven story based on my own childhood in Brownsville, Brooklyn — I learned early that music wouldn’t be an accessory. It would be the heartbeat.

Guest Posts

LICO JIMENEZ THE EBONY LISZT: Building An Audience – Julie Carmen comments

November 26, 2025November 29, 2025 Guest Post Chucho Valdes, cuban music, documentary, Father of Cuban Art Song, Isidro Betancourt, José Manuel “Lico” Jiménez Berroa, Julie Carmen, Lico Jiménez the Ebony Liszt, personal documentary

When you’re a first time documentary filmmaker whose passion project revolves around a fascinating but relatively unknown subject, how do you cut through all the current media noise to get recognition and support for your work? How do you create enough interest in your story to inspire hoards to leave the comfort of their cocoons and show up at your screenings? This awards season, there are 90 international Oscar contenders and almost as many studio films. all with recognizable names, as well as innumerable indie films made by friends and family. How can your passion project make a mark?

Guest Posts Reviews

ANXIETY CLUB – Review by Yael Friedman (Guest Post)

July 28, 2025August 10, 2025 Guest Post Anxiety Club, Aparna Nancherla, Baron Vaughn, comedians, documentaries, Eva Victor, guest post, Joe List, marc maron, Mark Normand, Tiffany Jenkins, Wendy Lobel, Yael Friedman

At first blush, Wendy Lobel’s Anxiety Club may seem like another straightforward exploration of individual comics battling their demons amid the broader questions about comedy and mental illness. Even Marc Maron, the OG of digging through emotional muck together, is on hand. Yet he is there as a sort of founding father passing on the torch to a new generation who have already internalized the power of vulnerability as critical to both their well-being and their comedy. They are so fluent and self-aware, seamlessly capturing their generation’s earnestness and their own keen ability for expression.

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