betsy bozdech – Page 3 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 17, 2026: STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE

April 12, 2026April 12, 2026 Jennifer Merin Amy Goodman, betsy bozdech, Carl Deal, Cate Marquis, Democracy Now, documentary, jennifer merin, juan gonzales, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, monique jones, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Steal This Story Please, Tia Lessin

Name any major U.S. news story that’s dominated the headlines since the late 1980s/early 1990s, and chances are Amy Goodman was on the front lines with a microphone and a camera, reporting the hell out of it. The founder of progressive journalism institution Democracy Now!, Goodman is tireless and fearless in her pursuit of the unvarnished truth, as documented in Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s timely documentary Steal This Story, Please!. The documentary makes it abundantly clear that, while a reporter like Goodman is rare enough to warrant a film about her, the world would be a far better place if she were just one of many.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 3, 2026: THE BLUE TRAIL

March 28, 2026April 4, 2026 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, brazilian films, Cate Marquis, Denise Weinberg, Gabriel Mascaro, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, magical realism, Miriam Socarras, monique jones, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Rodrigo Santoro, sandie angulo chen, the blue trail

The film takes place in a near-future Brazil in which senior citizens are removed from their jobs and homes and relocated to the mysterious “colony” when they reach a certain age, to make more opportunities and resources available for younger people. Older folks are promised the chance to rest and be taken care of … but no one ever seems to see them again once they’ve been moved. Tereza (Weinberg), at 77, is self-sufficient and still working every day at her factory job when she learns that her number is up, and she’ll be colony-bound in just a few days. The deadline spurs her to take action, using her savings in pursuit of checking one item off of her very modest bucket list: She’d like to fly in an airplane.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 27, 2026: FORBIDDEN FRUITS

March 22, 2026April 22, 2026 Jennifer Merin Alexandra Shipp, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Forbidden Fruits, horror comedy, ifc films, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, lili reinhart, Lily Houghton, liz whittemore, Lola Tung, loren king, Meredith Alloway, Movie of the Week, sandie angulo chen, Victoria Pedretti

Like Mean Girls by way of Heathers, Jawbreaker, and The Craft, Meredith Alloway’s stylish, buzzy dark horror comedy Forbidden Fruits takes a critical look at the power dynamics of female friendship — with healthy doses of witchcraft and gore tossed in for good measure. Taking place almost entirely in a Texas mall, it also skewers the impact of influencer culture on everything from fashion trends to slang to coffee orders.

Movie of the Week

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

March 15, 2026March 21, 2026 Jennifer Merin 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR, alexandra heller-nicholas, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentaries, Donna Davies, History of cinema, horror genre, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, sandie angulo chen

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.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 13, 2026: SPACEWOMAN

March 8, 2026March 9, 2026 Jennifer Merin austronaut, betsy bozdech, Bridget Youngs, documentary, eileen collins, hannah berryman, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nasa, nell minow, Pat Youngs, sandie angulo chen, space shuttle, spacewoman

Looking at Eileen Collins — and hearing her talk in such an unassuming, approachable way, with a cadence that really sounds more Midwestern than southern New York, where she grew up — you’d be forgiven for not immediately recognizing her as the barrier-busting astronaut who, in 1999, became the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission for NASA. But Hannah Berryman’s compelling documentary Spacewoman aims to make sure everyone knows exactly who Collins is.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 6, 2026: SILVER STAR

March 1, 2026March 1, 2026 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Grace Van Dien, indican, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, Lola Bessis, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Ruben Amar, sandie angulo chen, Silver Star, Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson

Like a younger version of Thelma and Louise — had Thelma been a troubled, formerly incarcerated Civil War re-enactor and Louise an impulsive, very pregnant teen with a motor mouth and a penchant for dramatics — the main characters in Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar’s Silver Star find themselves on the road while running from the law. But, also like Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon’s iconic duo, they develop a powerful bond in the process.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 27, 2026: THE INQUISITOR

February 22, 2026March 13, 2026 Jennifer Merin alfre woodard, Angela Lynn Tucker, Angela Tucker, Barbara Jordan, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, dan rather, independent lens, jasmine crockett, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, pbs, PBS’ Independent Lens, sandie angulo chen, The Inquisitor

Trailblazers don’t come much more blazing than Barbara Jordan, the groundbreaking Texas politician/lawyer/all-around bad-ass who’s the subject of director Angela Lynn Tucker’s illuminating documentary The Inquisitor. As the first Black woman to be elected to her home state’s Senate since the Civil War — not to mention the first southern Black woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives — Jordan made an indelible mark on U.S. politics in her all-too-brief time in Washington, D.C.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 20, 2026: BEAM ME UP, SULU

February 15, 2026February 15, 2026 Jennifer Merin Beam Me Up Sulu, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentary, George Takei, James Shigeta, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Nichelle Nichols, sandie angulo chen, Sasha Schneider, stan woo, star trek, Timour Gregory, trekkies, Yorktown: A Time to Heal

The enduring appeal and positive messages of Star Trek are at the heart of Timour Gregory and Sasha Schneider’s heartfelt documentary Beam Me Up, Sulu. As it tells the decades-long story of making the Star Trek-inspired fan film Yorktown: A Time to Heal, it touches on everything from cosplay and conventions to prejudice and internment camps, always bringing it back to the power of the world of Klingons, Vulcans, and the starship Enterprise.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 13, 2026: AN AMERICAN PASTORAL

February 8, 2026 Jennifer Merin An American Pastoral, Auberi Edler, betsy bozdech, book banning, Cate Marquis, documentary, jennifer merin, Kristy Moore, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, school board election

Raw and revealing while remaining fastidiously observational, French documentarian Auberi Edler’s An American Pastoral is about the tense 2023 school board race in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, following as moderate candidates go up against a slate of far-right conservatives. In telling the story of that election, it lays bare the deep, painful divides that plague virtually every aspect of life in the United States. Edler’s camera is in the room as candidates and others express opinions on which books are and aren’t (mostly aren’t) appropriate to have in school libraries. She follows candidates as they canvas their neighbors, hoping to earn votes, and as they attend church services and other community events. She captures their (very) honest thoughts on Covid, January 6th, transgender people, the Constitution, handguns, and more. What emerges is the portrait of a town that, like the country it belongs to, is sharply split along ideological lines.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 6, 2026: INVISIBLE WARRIORS: AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN WORLD WAR II

January 31, 2026February 1, 2026 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole

Part Hidden Figures, part A League of Their Own, part The Tuskegee Airmen, director Gregory Cooke’s compelling documentary Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II tells the story of the more than 600,000 Black women who helped keep the United States’ home fires (and forges) burning during WWII but have never received much in the way of thanks — or credit — for their contributions to the country’s war efforts.