oscars – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SPOTLIGHT September 2026: SIAN HEDER, Filmmaker, Authenticity Avocate

August 28, 2026August 31, 2026 Leslie Combemale ampas, Being Heumann, coda, oscars, Quiver Distribution, Sian Heder, SPOTL[GHT, tallulah, TIFF 2026. Leslie Combemale

From a short film born out of a job she took just to get by, to an Oscar-winning family drama that reshaped what authentic representation could look like in Hollywood, to a biopic honoring one of the most consequential activists in American history, Siân Heder’s career has been one long argument that people deserve to tell their own stories. With her work, Heder has proved, in all the ways the industry measures success, that those stories are universal, commercial, and Oscar-worthy. We celebrate her commitment to inclusive, nuanced storytelling, and the path she is creating for aspiring female filmmakers who come along behind her.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Mira Nair’s SALAAM BOMBAY! to 4K UHD by Criterion – Brandy McDonnell reports

December 5, 2025December 5, 2025 Brandy McDonnell bafta, mira nair, oscars, Salaam Bombay!, the criterion collection, the week in women, twiw

Trailblazing filmmaker Mira Nair’s first narrative feature, the Oscar-nominated 1988 drama Salaam Bombay!, is getting a new director-approved 4K UHD and Blu-ray special edition release via The Criterion Collection. Born and raised in Rourkela, India, Nair went on to study at Delhi and Harvard universities and started her film career as an actress before shifting into documentary filmmaking. But her breakthrough came with her narrative feature debut, Salaam Bombay!, her gritty depiction of Mumbai street children in her home country that she made for only $450,000.

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT February 2025: Rachel Morrison, Director, THE FIRE INSIDE

January 30, 2025January 30, 2025 Leslie Combemale american sociey of cinematographers, asc, Cameraperson, cinematographer, dee rees, mudbound, oscars, rachel morrison, ryan coogler, the fire inside, women cinematographers. female directors

Cinematographer/director Rachel Morrison has the distinction of being the first female DP to be both nominated for an Academy Award, for the 2012 Dee Rees drama Mudbound, and lens a Marvel feature film, with 2018’s Black Panther. As an Oscar nominee, she broke a 90-year male monopoly on the category. Although she is a trailblazer and an outspoken advocate for women in film, she has said she wishes nothing better than for the screen industries to get beyond gender, and for women to be known simply for their work. Only through talented women like Rachel Morrison getting hired and recognized will that be achieved. When she was inducted as a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, only 18 out of the 390 members were women.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 7, 2025: FAVORITE 2024 OSCAR CONTENDERS

January 5, 2025January 6, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Conclave, Fancy Dance, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, movie awards, Movie of the Week, nell minow, oscars, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, September 5, sherin nicole, Sing Sing, sugarcane, The Brutalist, The Wild Robot, Wicked (Part One)

In recent years, the presentation of movie awards has grown into an industry unto itself. And, 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 a struggle to keep up with the countless award-eligible movies that are are released throughout the year or seen at film festivals, and awards voters list, discuss and advocate for the titles they think are award-worthy. But the biggest rush release of high profile potential awards contenders occurs in the Fall, accompanied by invitations to special screenings, distribution of FYC screeners, scripts, music scores and other collateral — not to mention swag — to give awards voters lead time to see films before they make their nominations. The infusion of new titles can cut consideration of earlier releases as contenders and indie films without award campaign budgets all but disappear from view. At the height of the season, viewing potential nominees becomes a temporary full time job for awards voters, including AWFJ members. At AWFJ, determining our EDA Awards nominees involves the 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 the list of nominees. This week, Team MOTW members recommend their favorite award contenders for your watch list.

News

International Oscar Race: Vulnerable Women Abound, Female Directors Do Not – Jennifer Green reports

December 18, 2024December 21, 2024 Jennifer Green ampas, Armand, dahomey, Emilia Perez, Flow, From Ground Zero, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, i'm still here, INTERNATIONAL OSCARS 2025, oscars, santosh, The Girl with the Needle, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Universal Language, Vermiglio

“Being a woman is beautiful,” says one of the elderly narrators of Costa Rica’s entry for the International Oscar, Memories of a Burning Body. “But there’s also an ugly side to it: you’re always vulnerable.” Judging by this year’s leading contenders for the International Oscar, the feeling is global. Countries around the world submitted female-centered stories for the global Oscar category this year, with women protagonists finding themselves in disadvantaged situations but also often discovering their own strength against all manner of obstacles.

Some of these films made the shortlist for the award, announced Tuesday, Dec. 17, such as Brazil’s I’m Still Here, France’s Emilia Pérez, Germany’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Palestine’s From Ground Zero and the UK’s Santosh. Many did not, including Burning Body.

Awards Intelligencer

AWARDS INTELLIGENCER: 2024 is an OPPENHEIMER and Shut Case – Thelma Adams reports

March 7, 2024February 1, 2026 Thelma Adams 20 days in mariupol, Academy Awards 2024, American Fiction, awards intelligencer, celine song, emma stone, juliette binoche, justine triet, Oppenheimer, oscars, the tasste of things

There was a hurly burly to this Oscars/Globes/SAGs season in the wake of the strikes. Tiaras could be worn again. No more Rosie the Riveter anti-glam jumpsuits. Men, like Rustin’s daring and dapper Colman Domingo, won the runway like they haven’t before. Chicken Little may moan that ‘the sky is falling’ in the wake of the pandemic, theatrical contraction, those gnarly but necessary strikes, and the ridiculous consolidation of the industry under men who know how to negotiate their golden parachutes but not how to tell stories or make art. Still, there are huge streaks of light. While four out of five of the Best Director nominees were (white) men, French film director Justine Triet made a nondogmatic domestic drama that was superbly directed – and colored outside the lines. Anatomy of a Fall, also nominated for a Best Picture, is a film recognized for being muscular, and challenging. It’s a movie that demands the theatrical experience because it needs to be seen and immediately discussed. It’s disruptive.

Awards Intelligencer

AWARDS INTELLIGENCER: The Snubs Heard Round the BARBIE Dreamhouse Bubble – Thelma Adams Reports

January 25, 2024January 26, 2024 Thelma Adams Ava DuVernay, awards intelligencer, Barbie, celine song, Christopher Nolan, greta gerwig, hilary clinton, justine triet, Margot Robbie, oscar snubs 2024, oscars, Ryan Gosling

I empathize with the director’s need to come from her heart. I honor the genuine disappointment that Gerwig and her star Robbie might have experienced after riding their wave of hype and success. Still, let’s insert a little context here. Barbie, despite its eight Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling) and Actress (America Ferrara), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and two Best Songs, is not your typical Oscar-winner.

Awards Intelligencer

AWARDS INTELLIGENCER: Five Female Contenders for Best Director! Who’s on the List? – Thelma Adams reports

January 5, 2024January 26, 2024 Thelma Adams A.V. Rockwell, Ava DuVernay, awards intelligencer, best director, celine song, emerald fennell, greta gerwig, justine triet, nancy buirski, oscars

Imagine there’s no bias. It isn’t hard to do. What if all five Best Director nominees were women? Who would they be? When we put together our AWFJ EDA Awards Nominations, we managed it. We had our ultimate winner, Barbie’s Greta Gerwig, who has gone from the female-driven indie Lady Bird to the female-driven literary adaptation of Little Women to the 2023 blockbuster inspired by the iconic Mattel doll.

Awards Intelligencer

AWARDS INTELLIGENCER: Oscar Best Picture Noms Are a Muddle – Thelma Adams reports

December 14, 2023February 1, 2026 Thelma Adams All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, awards intelligencer, barbenheimer, Barbie, best picture, fallen leaves, ferrari, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, oscars, past lives, Poor Things, the color purple, The Holdovers, the promised land, The Taste of Things, The Teachers’ Lounge, TÓTEM

The Golden Globe nominations are in, along with those of the National Board of Review winners and a host of critics’ groups – Why is Oscar’s Best Picture still in such a muddle? It seems to me that the potential winners have been split into distinct categories, like potential Jeopardy questions: Barbenheimer; All the Big Dudes; The Cool Kids; The Internationals; and Outlier Odds and Ends.

Awards Intelligencer Festivals

TIFF 2023: Mid-Fest Awards Watch – Thelma Adams reports

September 12, 2023November 30, 2023 Thelma Adams Academy Awards, awards intelligencer, Awards watch, oscars, Oscars 2024, TIFF 2023

The stars didn’t turn out for TIFF, but that didn’t stop the flow of stellar films that provide major alternatives to Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon and Barbie for the upcoming awards season. Here are a few of my floating predictions mid-week in Toronto, where every day I’m adding new TIFF-programmed films to the list. This is still the glorious brainstorming period before the long red carpet gets streaked with footprints and marijuana butts.

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