motw – Page 4 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOTW January 16, 2026: A PRIVATE LIFE

January 11, 2026January 13, 2026 Jennifer Merin A Private Life, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Daniel Auteuil, jennifer merin, jodie foster, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, mathieu Amalric, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Rebecca Zlotowski, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, Simon Cohen-Solal, Virginie Efira

A psychiatrist’s personal and professional insecurities come together to send her spiraling in the wake of her long-time patient’s death in director Rebecca Zlotowski’s engrossing mystery/thriller A Private Life. Starring Jodie Foster in her French-language feature debut, the film follows Dr. Lilian Steiner (Foster) as she gets caught up in trying to prove that the engimatic Paula Cohen-Solal (Virginie Efira) didn’t die by suicide but, in fact, was murdered.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 9, 2026: Team MOTW’s Favorite Oscar Contenders

January 4, 2026January 15, 2026 Jennifer Merin Belén, BLUE MOON, Hamnet, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Left-Handed Girl, motw, Movie of the Week, One Battle After Another, oscar contenders, Rental Family, Sinners, Weapons

Movie awards presentation is an industry unto itself. Awards season has expanded in duration to include more than the entire year. It starts in January with awards buzz erupting out of Sundance Film Festival — even before the previous year’s awards season has culminated with the Oscars gala presentation that’s staged in early March. It’s truly a challenge to keep up with the countless award-eligible movies that are released throughout the year or seen at film festivals, and for awards voters, making lists, discussing and advocating for award-worthy titles is a year round preoccupation. At AWFJ, determining our EDA Awards nominees involves elimination of titles in order to reach consensus. But even after consensus is reached, everyone has personal favorites that may or may not have landed on our official list of nominees. This week, Team MOTW members recommend their favorite award contenders for your watch list. Click film titles for links to full reviews.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 2, 2025: Team #MOTW’s Favorite #MOTWs of 2025

December 27, 2025December 28, 2025 Jennifer Merin Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Familiar Touch, Little Amelie or The Character of Rain, motw, Prime Minister, The Librarians, The Ugly Stepsister, TIME STALKER, We Strangers

Team #MOTW looks back at the films we featured during 2025 and highlights our favorites. There are many things about 2025 that we want to forget, but these fine femme-helmed/femme centric films that brought inspiration, understanding, compassion, and respite replete with laughter are not among them. Each is a gem. Their themes, topics and genres are diverse. Add them to your must watch list or watch again list. Share titles with friends. To read full #MOTW coverage, click on the highlighted title. Enjoy!

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Kate Winslet’s GOODBYE JUNE plays Christmas Day – Brandy McDonnell reports

December 18, 2025December 21, 2025 Brandy McDonnell Andrea Riseborough, Goodbye June, helen mirren, Joe Anders, Johnny Flynn, motw, netflix, Timothy Spall, toni colette

Academy Award–winning actor Kate Winslet’s (The Reader, Titanic, Mare of Easttown) star-studded directorial debut Goodbye June is heading to Netflix.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 19, 2025: THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB

December 14, 2025December 15, 2025 Jennifer Merin Amer Hlehel, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Gaza, Hind Rajab, israel, jennifer merin, Kaouther Ben Hania, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, Motaz Malhees, motw, Palestine, Red Crescent, Red Cross, Saja Kilani, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, The Voice of Hind Rajab

A mix of heartbreaking reality and dramatic reenactments, Kaouther Ben Hania’s intense The Voice of Hind Rajab humanizes — in a horribly tragic way — the impact of the deadly conflict between Israel and Palestine. It’s impossible not to be moved as the film tells the true story of a young girl trapped in a bullet-riddled vehicle while aid workers desperately try to overcome the odds to rescue her. This would be a harrowing story in any circumstances, but the fact that Ben Hania uses the actual recordings of Hind’s conversations with the Red Crescent staff members makes it nearly unbearably distressing. She is vulnerable, bewildered, frightened, demanding — in other words, she is a very real, very traumatized child, and your heart shatters for her, as well as for those who are trying so hard to help her.

Reviews

THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB – Review by Leslie Combemale

December 8, 2025December 13, 2025 Leslie Combemale Amer Hlehel, Clara Khoury, Gaza, Hind Rajab, israel, Kaouther Ben Hania, Motaz Malhees, motw, Palestine, Red Crescent, Red Cross, Saja Kilani, The Voice of Hind Rajab

The Voice of Hind Rajab is a docudrama that dramatizes the true story of the Red Crescent (a humanitarian force that works to prevent and alleviate human suffering and is there in crisis situations, including wars) that on January 29th, 2024, tried to rescue a six year old Palestinian girl trapped in a car in Gaza. All members of her family that were in the car were killed when the Israeli Defense Forces opened fire, and she alone survived. She calls the emergency line, and Red Crescent volunteers keep her on the line while they try to get an ambulance to her, which is a complicated and dangerous proposition.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 12, 2025: GOODBYE JUNE

December 7, 2025December 8, 2025 Jennifer Merin Andrea Riseborough, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Goodbye June, helen mirren, jennifer merin, Joe Anders, Johnny Flynn, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, Timothy Spall, toni colette

Humor and pathos go hand in hand in Kate Winslet’s moving directorial debut Goodbye June. As the film — written by Winslet’s son, Joe Anders — follows a boisterous British family preparing to say a final goodbye to their beloved wife/mother/grandmother, it reminds viewers that death is an inevitable part of life, something to be planned for and accepted with grace and love, if not necessarily welcomed with open arms.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 5, 2025: ADRIANNE & THE CASTLE

November 30, 2025December 10, 2025 Jennifer Merin Adrianne & the Castle, Adrianne Blue Wakefield St. George, Alan St. George, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentary, Filmhub, Havencrest Castle, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, Savanna Illinois, Shannon Walsh, sherin nicole

A tale of powerful true love with shades of Grey Gardens and Winchester, Shannon Walsh’s documentary Adrianne & the Castle introduces viewers to Alan St. George and his beloved wife, Adrianne Blue Wakefield St. George. The film shares the fascinating story of how, in their years together before her premature death, the couple transformed an Illinois home into an elaborate, 63-room sanctuary where their every artistic whim could be indulged.

Reviews

ADRIANNE & THE CASTLE – Review by Jennifer Merin

November 24, 2025November 30, 2025 Jennifer Merin Adrianne & the Castle, Adrianne Blue Wakefield St. George, Alan St. George, documentary, Havencrest Castle, motw, Savanna Illinois, Shannon Walsh

Adrianne & the Castle is n heartwarming tribute documentary about an exquisitely eccentric woman who believed that life should be lived as art and crafted everything in her life to do just that. She wasn’t a celebrity and she didn’t crave fame, so it’s no surprise if you’ve never heard of Adrianne Blue Wakefield St. George. But after seeing director Shannon Walsh’s documentary, you will never forget her.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK November 28, 2025: THE TALE OF SILYAN

November 23, 2025November 25, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Macedonian films, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, Tamara Kotevska, The Tale of Silyan

A stoic Macedonian farmer finds himself face to face with a changing world in Tamara Kotevska’s sobering but also hopeful documentary The Tale of Silyan. As the story of Nikola and his unexpected bond with an injured stork unfolds, Kotevska draws parallels to a traditional Macedonian myth in which a young man is cursed by his father to become a stork after refusing to help on the family farm.