oprah winfrey – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

BARBARA WALTERS TELL ME EVERYTHING (Tribeca 2025) – Review by Leslie Combemale

June 16, 2025June 16, 2025 Leslie Combemale Anwar Sadat, Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything, bette midler, Bob Iger, Connie Chung, Diana Ross, Diane Sawyer, documentary, hulu, Jackie Jesko, Katie Couric, Monica Lewinsky, oprah winfrey, roy cohn, Tribeca 2025

Barbara Walters died in 2022, so it was time for a good survey of her importance to forwarding the path for working women, and her historic place in journalism. In Tell Me Everything, there are no deep insights, and the documentary isn’t breaking any new ground, unlike the woman herself. Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything still makes for compelling tv, and will likely inspire audiences who didn’t know just how important she was and is to American history. It’s a good thing it will stream on Hulu, where a wide audience will have access to it.

Reviews

THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT – Review by Susan Granger

December 31, 2024January 5, 2025 Susan Granger Ebony Obsidian, kerry washington, oprah winfrey, susan sarandon, The Six Triple Eight, truth-based, tyler perry, WACs, Women’s Army Corps, world war II

Like Hidden Figures, the 2016 film that heralded unsung Black female NASA mathematicians, The Six Triple Eight tells the true story of first and only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve overseas in World War II. Led by 26 year-old Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), their mission was not only important but seemingly impossible: the 855 Black women were given just six months to sift through 17 million pieces of undelivered letters – to soldiers and from them – which had been dumped in canvas bags stored in numerous airplane hangars in Glasgow, Scotland. “No mail, low morale” was their mantra.

Festivals Reviews

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: WOMAN IN CHARGE (Tribeca 2024) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

June 8, 2024October 11, 2024 Valerie Kalfrin Barry Diller, Diana Vreeland, Diane von Furstenberg, Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge, Egon von Furstenberg, Hillary Rodham Clinton, oprah winfrey, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Tribeca 2024, Trish Dalton

Fashion and feminist icon Diane von Furstenberg applies makeup sitting on the bathroom counter with her feet in the sink in the new documentary Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge. It’s a welcome grounding detail in a film where, within the first five minutes, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Gloria Steinem sing her praises. Yet it also fits with the designer’s frank and pragmatic demeanor. Opening the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge hits the major points of her life and work. While not as revealing in some aspects, with brief comments or observations regarding certain events, the film also avoids hagiography, crafting a fuller portrait between the lines. It airs on Hulu later this month.

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT March, 2023: Kai Bowe, Programming Director, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

March 1, 2023March 5, 2023 Leslie Combemale Africa Channel, ferguson rises, Kai Bowe, oprah winfrey, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, program director, reality tv, show runner, spike lee, spotlight, unscripted programming

Kai Bowe strives to create content and shepherd a variety of projects that entertain or comfort, as well as those that make change or impact the world for the better. She is someone who personally stands in her own power and walks the walk of striving to be better for herself, family, friends, and community. So many of the most influential Black creatives, including Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey, have incorporated “Each one Teach one”, and Kai continues to embrace that philosophy in all her projects. We at AWFJ so appreciate women who bring such positivity, talent, and inspiration to the world of film and TV!

Reviews

SIDNEY – Review by Martha K Baker

October 5, 2022October 9, 2022 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) barbra streisand, biodoc, Diahann Carroll, halle berry, Juanita Brady, lou gossett jr, Lulu, Morgan Freeman, oprah winfrey, richard hudlin, robert redford, sidney poitier

Sidney Poitier became a legend, as an actor, as an activist, as a Black man in racist America. He died in January, 2022, at age 94. This documentary honors him as that legend, avoiding hagiography but certainly raving about the contributions of one hard-working actor, the first Black man to win an Oscar. Within the adulation of the bio-doc, Poitier stands out from the many interviewees, who include his five daughters and two wives. His voice, largely from a 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey, remains quiet and sure, modest and cool. Winfrey produced the laudatory film of her friend, whom she called her “great Black Hope.”

Reviews

THE WATER MAN – Review by Susan Granger

September 1, 2021September 1, 2021 Susan Granger Alfred Molina, David Oyelowo, Emily A. Needell, Maria Bello, netflix, oprah winfrey, Rosario Dawson, The Water Man

When actor-turned-director David Oyelowo was growing up, he missed the sense of magic and wonder that he yearned to experience on-screen and was acutely aware of the lack of mid-budget family films featuring performers of color. Set in the Pacific Northwest, this story revolves around inquisitive 11 year-old Gunnar Boone , whose mother is dying of leukemia and military father, recently returned from Japan, just moved the family to the small logging town of Pine Mills.

Festivals Reviews

THE WATER MAN (TIFF20) – Review by Pam Grady

September 24, 2020September 25, 2020 Pam Grady 0 Comments David Oyelowo, oprah winfrey, Rosario Dawson

There was magic at the Toronto International Film Festival when actor David Oyelowo’s directing debut The Water Man made its world premiere. A family drama with a precocious young boy at its center, this Oprah Winfrey-executive produced film is full of equal parts of wonder, charm, and heart. Oyelowo has a sure touch with his actors, coaxing strong performances from all, but what is most impressive is his handling of The Water Man‘s visual elements.

Reviews

BECOMING – Review by Carol Cling

May 7, 2020May 8, 2020 Carol Cling 0 Comments becoming, documentaries, higher ground, michelle obama, Nadia Hallgren, netflix, oprah winfrey

The word “becoming” has two connotations. As a verb, it indicates the process of something (or someone) coming into existence. As an adjective, it describes something flattering. Both definitions apply to Becoming, the new Netflix documentary that follows former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Reviews

THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM – Brandy McDonnell reviews

July 11, 2019July 12, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments Avett Brothers, john chester, molly chester, oprah winfrey, the biggest little farm

The film started out as a collection of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Shorts about the farm’s animals, including the Daytime Emmy-winning Saving Emma, about their pregnant pig, which gave birth to an astonishing litter of 17 piglets and developed a potentially fatal infection. The feature-length documentary doesn’t stint on the gorgeously lit footage of precious piglets, shaggy calves and fluffy puppies, with heartwarming tales.

Reviews

TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM – Review by Sheila Roberts

June 6, 2019June 9, 2019 Sheila Roberts (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments documentaries, motw, Movie of the Week, oprah winfrey, sonia sanchez, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, toni morrison, toni morrison the pieces i am

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders inspiring biodoc, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, celebrates the life, career, and potent themes of a literary icon through intimate interviews with the artist herself and an array of distinguished scholars, writers, peers, critics and colleagues. Their collective and in-depth observations are fascinating.

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