Pam Grady – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK May 30, 2025: Team MOTW’S Summer Watch List

May 25, 2025June 4, 2025 Jennifer Merin Being Maria, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, Jazzy, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Pam Grady, Pangolin: Kulu's Journey, Sabdue Angulo Chen, sherin nicole, STORY $ PICTURES BY, The Assessment, The President’s Wife, There’s Still Tomorrow, Timestalker, We Were Dangerous

If you’re looking forward to some summer cinema chilling with some hot movies, here’s AWFJ’s list of ten must see femme-directed femme-centric films for your June-July-August viewing pleasure. Each of the films on this watch list was featured on AWFJ.org as one of our previous 2025 Movies of the Week.For our summer 2025 watch list, each member of Team MOTW selected her favorite of 2025’s featured MOTWs to recommend to you. Representing the diverse preferences and perspectives of Team MOTW members, the list includes titles ranging from romcoms to thrillers to documentaries, each with a compelling new story or a fascinating twist on a classic, a timely and relatably relevant theme, and exceptional artisanship by female creatives. We suggest that you read the original MOTW post for each (the links are included) to get the full array of Team MOTW’s takes on the film.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK May 16, 2025: JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE

May 11, 2025May 12, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Camille Rutherford, Cate Marquis, Charlie Anson, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, jennifer merin, Laura Piani, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Pablo Pauly, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any story with ties to the witty, wistful brand of romance associated with author Jane Austen must be in want of a swoon-ready audience. And writer/director Laura Piani’s Jane Austen Wrecked My Life — starring Camille Rutherford as an aspiring writer struggling with both past trauma and present imposter syndrome — is no exception, putting a contemporary French spin on the work of arguably the most English of English storytellers.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 25, 2024: PANGOLIN: KULU’S JOURNEY

April 20, 2025May 24, 2025 Jennifer Merin African Pangolin Working Group, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentary, Gareth Thomas, Gijima, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Pam Grady, Pangolin: Kulu's Journey, Pippa Ehrlich, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, south africa

Imagine a little anteater covered in armored scales that look a bit like artichoke leaves, running around on its hind feet looking for tasty ants to slurp with its prehensile tongue, only to curl up like a pill bug when it encounters a threat, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what a pangolin looks like. And once you watch director Pippa Ehrlich’s documentary Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, you’re likely to find yourself a staunch advocate of these endearing creatures.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 21, 2025: THE ASSESSMENT

March 16, 2025May 24, 2025 Jennifer Merin alicia vikander, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Elisabeth Olsen, Fleur Fortune, Himesh Patel, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Minnie Driver, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, sci fi, sherin nicole, The Assessment

Director Fleur Fortune’s somber sci-fi drama The Assessment puts a bleakly dystopian spin on the old saying that “if you wait for the perfect time to have a baby, you’ll never have one.” With unsettling keenness, it explores the psychological stress that a couple (played by Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel) undergoes while being evaluated for their potential as parents in a world where parenthood is strictly regulated by the government.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 14, 2025: BEING MARIA

March 9, 2025March 13, 2025 Jennifer Merin Anamaria Vartolomei, Being Maria, Bernardo Bertolucci, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Céleste Brunnquell, Giuseppe Maggio, jennifer merin, Jessica Palud, Last Tango in Paris, Laurette Polmanss, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Marie Gillain, marlon brando, Matt Dillon, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, Tu t'appelais Maria Schneider, Vanessa Schneider

The impact of the male gaze on women in film is a subject that’s been documented and debated for decades. But Jessica Palud’s drama Being Maria viscerally reminds us of just how damaging that gaze can be as it tells the true story of Maria Schneider, the young French actress whose career — and life — were derailed by the men who manipulated her while making the controversial classic Last Tango in Paris.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 7, 2025: THERE’S STILL TOMORROW

March 1, 2025March 3, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, nell minow, Pam Grady, Paola Cortelessi, Romana Maggiora Vergano, sherin nicole, THERE'S SILL TOMORROW, Valerio Mastandrea

Paola Cortellesi proves that she’s a formidable, talented triple threat with There’s Still Tomorrow. As the director, star, and co-writer of this compelling Italian dramedy — the winner of six David di Donatello Awards (the Italian equivalent of the Oscars) — she deftly blends pathos, humor, and social commentary to tell the story of Delia, a long-suffering housewife and mother who’s struggling to get by in post-World War II Rome.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 21, 2024: UNBROKEN

February 16, 2025February 18, 2025 Jennifer Merin autobiographical, Beth Lane, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, documentary, holocaust survivor, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, nell minow, Pam Grady, righteous gentiles, sandie angulo chen, UnBroken, Weber family

The strength of family ties reaches across generations in director Beth Lane’s powerful, personal documentary UnBroken. As she chronicles the incredible story of her mother’s, aunts’, and uncle’s odds-defying escape from the Holocaust in 1940s Nazi Germany and revisits the locations that shaped their fate, Lane helps fills in essential gaps in her own personal history, strengthening connections with a network of relatives who came close to being lost to her forever.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 14, 2025: TIMESTALKER

February 9, 2025February 9, 2025 Jennifer Merin Alice Lowe, Aneurin Barnard, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, Level 33 Entertainment, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, scifi, sherin nicole, Tanya Reynolds, Timestalker

Writer/director/star Alice Lowe explores the intersection of love, obsession, desire, and destiny in the beguilingly quirky Timestalker. Incorporating elements of comedy, drama, romance, and sci-fi, Lowe bends genres with glee as she follows main character Agnes (whom she plays herself) through the centuries as she tries to connect with her beloved … and dodge her own violent death, succeeding at neither until she’s ready for some genuine introspection.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 7, 2025: JAZZY

February 2, 2025February 2, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Jasmine Bearkiller Shangreaux, Jazzy, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, Lily Gladstone, liz whittemore, loren king, Morrisa Maltz, nell minow, Oglala Lakota, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, Spearfish South Dakota, Syriah Fool Head Means, Vertical Entertainment

As it follows Jasmine “Jazzy” Bearkiller Shangreaux (playing herself), a young Oglala Lakota girl growing up in rural Spearfish, South Dakota, the film — a follow-up to Morrisa Maltz’ The Unknown Country — puts a fresh spin on familiar topics like friendship ups and downs, first crushes, and family dynamics. Filmed over a span of six years as its main characters navigate the transition from childhood to adolescence, Jazzy is made up of beautifully everyday moments in the lives of Jazzy and Syriah (Syriah Fool Head Means), Jazzy’s best friend in both the movie and in real life. The girls ride to school together on the bus, giggle about class gossip, play with favorite stuffed animals, talk about how they wish they could stay kids forever, and generally stay glued to each other’s side. Until Syriah’s family ends up moving away.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 31, 2024: STORY & PICTURES BY

January 26, 2025May 24, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, CHILDREN'S BOOKS, Christian Robinson, Ezra Jack Keats, jennifer merin, Joanna Rudnick, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Mac Barnett, Margaret Wise Brown, maurice sendak, motw, nell minow, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, Wanda Gág, Yuyi Morales

Goodnight Moon. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Monster at the End of This Book. If just reading the titles of these all-time-classic picture books makes you smile, then watching director Joanna Rudnick’s charming documentary Story & Pictures By — which examines the power and long-lasting impact of children’s literature — will be as appealing as curling up with a stack of your own favorites and settling in for story hour.

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