okja – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

AWFJ’s High School Mentorship Program – Cortland Jacoby reports

November 4, 2025January 14, 2026 Cortland Jacoby Abby Borgeson, Amarie Nguyen, Cat Boyett, Drew Marvin, High School Mentorship Program, lady bird, Mia Ramos, Nara Ekhsigian, Nicolas Rios, okja, Petite Maman, the farewell, THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, Woodson High School

As 2025 winds down, we want to report on the film critic mentorship program AWFJ piloted in partnership with my former high school teacher, Drew Marvin, at Woodson High School in Northern Virginia. Students aged 15 through 18 in grades nine through 12 participated in Mr. Marvin’s after school film club which convened every other week or so.

Reviews

OKJA — Review by Susan Granger

July 7, 2017August 9, 2023 Susan Granger 0 Comments An Seo Hyun, Bong Joon-ho, Korean films, lily collins, okja, paul dano, Steven Yeun, Tilda Switon

Inventive director Bong Joon Ho (“Snowpiercer,” “The Host”) has concocted a satirical action-comedy, blended with a controversial, socially-conscious allegorical fable. The prologue introduces Lucy Mirando (Tilda Switon), the ethically-challenged CEO of a powerful, multi-national, agrochemical corporation. She announces that her company will breed a new pig-like creature, a gigantic mammal, to solve the world’s hunger problem, distributing 26 genetically modified super-piglets to locations around the world to be raised by local farmers within their own “eco-friendly” culture.