SPOTLIGHT April 2026: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Film Critic & Historian, Filmmaker, Horror Nonna

For film female critics, it can sometimes be a challenge, but for female filmmakers, saying their careers and getting films made is a challenge is an understatement. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas has fearlessly chose to do both. She has carved out an award-winning career as an author, historian, and film critic. She is now adding credits in the film industry to those successes, and is poised to balance all that as part of a full creative life. Her neurodiversity is part of what makes her so good in so many aspects of her career. We can’t wait to see what she does next, and will celebrate each new project, as it will no doubt offer new insight and add new context to whatever she finds fascinating enough to filter through that her own unique lens.

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MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 20, 2026: 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR

Whether you’re someone who can’t get enough of movies overflowing with blood and guts or have to hide your face behind your hands whenever anything scary is about to happen on screen, chances are you’ll get a kick out of director Donna Davies’ brisk documentary 1000 Women in Horror. Based on the book by horror expert (and AWFJ member!) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, it’s a smart, thought-provoking look at the way the genre both impacts and is impacted by women.

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1000 WOMEN IN HORROR – Review by Jennifer Merin

1000 Women in Horror is a fascinating feminist primer and analysis of the horror genre, chronicling its evolution from the earliest days of cinema to the present — 1895 to 2018, to be exact. The enlightening documentary covers the impressive history of women creatives who’ve focused on horror and have fully developed female-centered subgenres such as those base in experiences of abuse and rape revenge, challenging postpartem psysiological and psychological conditions, coming of age and dealing with aging, along with others that storytell about strictly female issues.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas is MIFF 2025’s Horror Maven – Jennifer Merin reports

Melbourne-based film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ engagement at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival firmly establishes her as the queen of horror genre commentators. MIFF 2025 is premiering of Canadian filmmaker Donna Davies’ 1000 Women in Horror, inspired by Heller-Nicholas’s eponymous book. Heller-Nicholas wrote the documentary and is one of its principal interview subjects. Additionally, Heller-Nicholas appears alongside horror luminaries Stephen King, Patton Oswalt, Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike and American director Karyn Kusama in Alexandre O. Philippe’s Chain Reactions. Programmed at MIFF 2025, the documentary marks the 50th anniversary of the 1974 American horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR: 1895-2018 (Exclusive Excerpt)

For myself and so many of my women friends – those when I was a kid, and those today – horror spoke to us on what was often a primal level about living in a world where physical threat is a constantly present reality, where danger quite possibly is hiding just around the corner. In this context, pretending the world is all sunshine and rainbows just doesn’t cut it. Any woman who has walked home alone in the dark at night and even once looked behind her or quickened her step has first-hand experience of the fears and anxieties that horror often speaks to, whether they personally enjoy horror movies or not.

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AWFJ MEMBER NEWS July 2024 – Wendy Mitchell reports

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists brings together some of the world’s leading female film critics, writers and journalists, and we’re always amazed at the scope and breadth of our colleagues’ creative talents and achievements. Our Member News column spotlights these amazing women and their latest achievements in their professional and personal lives. Help us celebrate our members’ latest successes and milestones. Read on for news about Beth Accomando, Margaret Barton-Fumo, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, MaryAnn Johanson and Wendy Mitchell. Congrats to all!

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study – Book Review by Marietta Steinhart (Guest Post)

To mark the ten-year anniversary of her compelling book Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study, Australian film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (who is a member of AWFJ) has released a seriously revised, second edition, including an exciting new chapter on women-directed rape-revenge films before and after the #MeToo Era. A lot has happened since 2011 and if the author sounds angry, she says, it’s because she is.

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Women’s History Month Watch List: REAL REEL WOMEN

Throughout cinema history, films by and about women have enthralled audiences, accrued awards and honors worldwide and scored at the box office while influencing out social social mores and enriching our cultural conversation. Although some Hollywood honchos and haters assert that female-centric movies are less likely to be commercial successes, our list proves them wrong. Movies that tell women’s stories have legs. Released to celebrate Women’s History Month, AWFJ’s REAL REEL WOMEN List is an annotated roster of 50 fascinating real women whose remarkable true stories have been told in narrative features since the earliest days of moviemaking.

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AWFJ’s Take on TIFF19 – An Index to AWFJ Members’ Coverage

With the Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ special focus on women’s representation in the industry and at highlighted industry events, we’re keen on presenting AWFJ members’ coverage of TIFF19. Seventeen AWFJ members were credentialed by TIFF this year. And, kudos to Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Loren King, Sarah Knight Adamson, Julide Tanriverdi, Brandy McDonnell and Lauren Bradshaw for their TIFF-related contributions to AWFJ.org. Read their brilliant commentaries…

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AWFJ ROUND TABLE: Defining Feminist Film Criticism

The term ‘feminism’ and the descriptor ‘feminist film critic’ are in frequent use these days, as the women in film movement stirs debate and demands change in the the movie industry. Women film critics are, like women working in all aspects of the industry, marginalized not only by disparity in employment opportunities, but also in the overall attitude — a lack of seriousness — with which our reviews and commentaries are evaluated. Reputable reports support this assertion with stats, and women film critics feel it in our guts 24365

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