criterion collection – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Lisa Cholodenko’s HIGH ART gets Criterion Collection Blu-ray – Brandy McDonnell reports

June 19, 2026 Brandy McDonnell Ally Sheedy, blu-ray, criterion collection, High Art, lgbtq, lisa cholodenko, patricia clarkson, Radha Mitchell, twiw, week in women

Lisa Cholodenko’s acclaimed 1998 debut feature High Art is getting a Blu-ray release this month via The Criterion Collection. The queer romantic drama follows Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy), a once-prominent photographer who has retreated into a life of heroin abuse with her faded-actress lover (Patricia Clarkson). When Lucy is rediscovered by Syd (Radha Mitchell), an up-and-coming editor at a photography magazine, professional ambition and personal attraction become dangerously entwined. Cholodenko was still a student in Columbia University’s master of fine arts film program when she wrote High Art, which won numerous awards.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Lynne Littman’s TESTAMENT on Blu-ray from Criterion Collection – Brandy McDonnell reports

March 12, 2026March 12, 2026 Brandy McDonnell 4K restoration, Barbara Myerhoff, criterion collection, Jane Alexander, Lynne Littman, oscar winner, Testament

Oscar-winning filmmaker Lynne Littman’s powerful 1983 drama Testament is getting a Blu-ray release of its new 4K digital restoration courtesy of The Criterion Collection. The shockingly intimate Testament chronicles the everyday life of a family and community following a devastating nuclear attack. Littman made her feature film directorial debut with Testament, which was adapted from a short story by Carol Amen. Originally produced for PBS’ American Playhouse series, the film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, screened at the Berlin Film Festival and was distributed theatrically by Paramount Pictures.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Martha Coolidge’s NOT A PRETTY PICTURE on 4K Criterion Collection – Brandy McDonnell reports

August 15, 2024August 13, 2024 Brandy McDonnell 4K digital restoration, criterion collection, docudrama, Martha Coolidge, Michele Manenti, Not a Pretty Picture, the week in women, twiw

The Criterion Collection is releasing trailblazing filmmaker Martha Coolidge’s feature film debut, the autobiographical docudrama “Not a Pretty Picture,” in August. In 1962, as a 16-year-old boarding school student, Coolidge was date raped. A dozen years later, she worked through the experience in her unflinchingly personal hybrid of documentary and fiction. A high-stakes experiment in metacinema that broke new ground with its uncompromising examination of date rape, Not a Pretty Picture delves into questions about the on-screen representation of sexual violence and the limits of artistic catharsis.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Nancy Savoca’s DOGFIGHT releases on Criterion Collection – Brandy McDonnell reports

April 17, 2024April 16, 2024 Brandy McDonnell bob dylan, Brendan Fraser, criterion collection, dog fight, Joan Baez, lili taylor, Nancy Savoca, river phoenix, the week in women, twiw

Nancy Savoca’s 1991 coming-of-age drama Dogfight, starring Lili Taylor and the late River Phoenix (1970-1993), will be released on April 30 through The Criterion Collection. Written by Bob Comfort (1940-2010), the film is set in 1963 and stars Phoenix as Eddie, a hotheaded young Marine on his way to fight in the war in Vietnam. On leave for 24 hours in San Francisco before shipping out, he and three of his buddies plan on attending a “dogfight,” a cruelly misogynistic party where Marines compete to bring the ugliest date, unbeknownst to the girls.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Dee Rees’ MUDBOUND gets Criterion Blu-ray/DVD release – Brandy McDonnell reports

January 25, 2024January 26, 2024 Brandy McDonnell Carey Mulligan, criterion collection, dee rees, garrett hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, mudbound, rachel morrison, rob morgan

Writer-director Dee Rees‘ groundbreaking 2017 Oscar-nominated drama Mudbound is getting a new Blu-ray and DVD release through The Criterion Collection. Although it didn’t win any Oscars, Mudbound achieved multiple breakthrough nominations for the 90th Academy Awards.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Chantal Akerman Masterpieces 1968-1978 Collection released by Criterion – Brandy McDonnell reports

January 10, 2024January 10, 2024 Brandy McDonnell chantal akerman, criterion collection, Jeanne Dielman, the week in women, twiw

The late Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) is to be honored this month with The Criterion Collection release of Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968–1978, a three-disc set chronicling her trailblazing and prolific first decade of work. After briefly attending the Belgian Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle et des Techniques de Diffusion, Akerman made her first film at the age of 18: Saute ma ville / Blow Up My Town premiered at the renowned Oberhausen short film festival in 1971. It is the first film in the new box set.

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT April 2022: Maya Cade, Journalist and Curator

April 3, 2022April 3, 2022 Marilyn Ferdinand (Archived Contributor) BFA, Black Film Archive, criterion collection, Maya Cade, spotlight, truthbetold.news

Maya Cade is an accomplished, articulate communicator whose invaluable resource and audience development work broaden our understanding of the Black experience and film culture. Her Black Film Archive not only reveals white representations of Blackness, but also how the Black community has seen itself in feature films, shorts, documentaries, and other media. We believe this greater understanding will result in more nuanced, informed films that can help hasten the cause of equality for all people.

Commentaries Reviews

EASY RIDER — Revisited by Diane Carson

September 11, 2019September 13, 2019 awfj-admin 0 Comments criterion collection, dennis hopper, easy rider, jack nicholson, peter fonda

For all the information available about Easy Rider — the motorcycle builders, the heated arguments over the screenplay, the production conflicts and crises, the yin and yang of the meditative Wyatt and the volatile Billy, the improvised insults of the locals, and other incredible minutiae — to me what distinguishes and elevates the film is the visceral experience of it.