pbs – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Debbie Horsfield’s THE FORSYTES comes to MASTERPIECE on PBS – Brandy McDonnell reports

March 13, 2026March 20, 2026 Brandy McDonnell Danny Griffin, Debbie Horsfield, Eleanor Tomlinson, Francesca Annis, Jack Davenport, Jamie Flatters, John Galsworthy, Josette Simon, Joshua Orpin, Masterpiece, Millie Gibson, Owen Igiehon, pbs, Stephen Moyer, Susan Hampshire, The Forsytes, the week in women, Tom Durant Pritchard, Tuppence Middleton, twiw

Two-time BAFTA nominee Debbie Horsfield’s “The Forsytes, a new reimagining of John Galsworthy’s Forsyte is coming to “Masterpiece” on PBS. The first season of six episodes, all penned by Horsfield, follows the lives of the wealthy Forsyte family in 1880s London and is based on Galsworthy’s Nobel Prize-winning tale of love, loyalty, ambition and betrayal. The U.S. premiere of The Forsytes” is set for 9 p.m. Eastern Time/8 p.m. Central Time Sunday, March 22, only on “Masterpiece” on PBS.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 27, 2026: THE INQUISITOR

February 22, 2026March 13, 2026 Jennifer Merin alfre woodard, Angela Lynn Tucker, Angela Tucker, Barbara Jordan, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, dan rather, independent lens, jasmine crockett, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, pbs, PBS’ Independent Lens, sandie angulo chen, The Inquisitor

Trailblazers don’t come much more blazing than Barbara Jordan, the groundbreaking Texas politician/lawyer/all-around bad-ass who’s the subject of director Angela Lynn Tucker’s illuminating documentary The Inquisitor. As the first Black woman to be elected to her home state’s Senate since the Civil War — not to mention the first southern Black woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives — Jordan made an indelible mark on U.S. politics in her all-too-brief time in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

THE INQUISITOR – Review by Loren King

February 17, 2026February 22, 2026 Loren King alfre woodard, Angela Lynn Tucker, Angela Tucker, Barbara Jordan, dan rather, independent lens, pbs, The Inquisitor

Fimmaker Angela Tucker’s astute documentary portrays Barbara Jordan in all her complexity and as a woman of her time. She got things done by compromising with the white men who made up nearly all of Congress in the 1970s yet she fearlessly used her intellect and oratory skills at key moments when democracy itself was on the line. Such moments included the impeachment hearings of President Richard Nixon. This film is a much-needed portrait of political leadership, intellectual curiosity and backbone.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK October 24, 2025: RATIFIED

October 19, 2025October 28, 2025 Jennifer Merin Andrea Miller, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Deborah Riley Draper, documentary, Eileen Davis, Equal Rights Amendment, ERA, Jennifer Carroll Foy, Jennifer McClellan, jennifer merin, Kati Horning, leslie combemale, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, pbs, phyllis schlafly, Ratified, Sabaah Folayan, sherin nicole, Ting Ting Cheng

More than 100 years after it was initially introduced, the fierce fight for the Equal Rights Amendment wages on…and on…and on. The persistence and determination of the dedicated people — mostly women, naturally — who are committed to making the ERA part of the U.S. Constitution is thoroughly captured in Sabaah Folayan and Deborah Riley Draper’s documentary Ratified, which is ultimately as frustrating as it is compelling and informative.

Reviews

RATIFIED – Review by Loren King

October 5, 2025October 19, 2025 Loren King Andrea Miller, Deborah Riley Draper, documentary, Eileen Davis, Equal Rights Amendment, ERA, Jennifer Carroll Foy, Jennifer McClellan, Kati Horning, pbs, phyllis schlafly, Ratified, Sabaah Folayan, Ting Ting Cheng

Kudos to directors Deborah Riley Draper and Sabaah Folayan for bringing, with vitality and a razor sharp perspective, 100 years of history up to the present and making it fascinating, relevant and, yes, infuriating. Ratified succinctly traces the the birth of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the year 1924 through gains and losses, always with a focus on the pivotal but, unsurprisingly, neglected role unfailingly played by women of color.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Aisling Walsh’s MISS AUSTEN streams on PBS’ Masterpiece – Brandy McDonnell reports

May 6, 2025May 9, 2025 Brandy McDonnell aisling walsh, Cassandra Austen, Christine Langan, Gill Hornby, jane austen, Keeley Hawes, Miss Austen, pbs, the week in women, twiw

BAFTA-winning filmmaker Aisling Walsh helms Miss Austen, the new series premiering on Masterpiece on PBS. The four-part series reimagines a truth-based historic femme-centric literary mystery — about why Cassandra Austen (Keeley Hawes) notoriously burned her famous sister Jane Austen’s letters — and turns it into a fascinating, witty and heartbreaking story of sisterly love. The series premiered on May 4, and is currently available to stream via the PBS app, pbs.org and PBS Masterpiece on Prime Video.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: LUCY WORSLEY INVESTIGATES Season 2 on PBS – Brandy McDonnell reports

January 7, 2025January 10, 2025 Brandy McDonnell british histpry, lucy worsley, Lucy Worsley investigates, pbs, the week in women, twiw

Lucy Worsley is back on the case with a sophomore season of Lucy Worsley Investigates airing on PBS. Examining four new cases in forensic detail, Worsley follows the evidence to explore how some of the most dramatic and brutal chapters in British history unlock issues that speak to modern audiences, including the media treatment and scandalization of female victims, the vulnerabilities of the poorest in society and the political radicalization of young people. The first three episodes of Season 2 of “Lucy Worsley Investigates” premiere Tuesdays, Jan. 7-21, with the finale scheduled on Sunday, March 23. In the new season’s first episode, debuting Jan. 7, Lucy tackles one of the greatest unsolved crimes of the 19th century: the case of Jack the Ripper, Britain’s most notorious serial killer. She investigates how this serial murder case set the template for a new kind of ‘entertainment’ and even today fuels our fascination with true crime.

Reviews

STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET- Review by Liz Braun

April 15, 2021April 22, 2021 Liz Braun documentaries, hbo, jim henson, Joan Ganz Cooney, Joe Raposo, Jon Stone, Lloyd Morrisett, Marilyn Agrelo, muppets, pbs, Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

One doesn’t expect to need a hanky watching a documentary about a kids’ TV show. Yet here we are. The engrossing and surprisingly moving Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street is all about the inception and first 20 years of the game-changing children’s television show.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: PBS marks 19th Amendment 100 anniversary with AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE VOTE

August 11, 2020August 16, 2020 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments 19th ammendment, documentaries, Michelle Ferrari, pbs, twiw, vote, week in women

PBS is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with the release on DVD and digital of American Experience: The Vote, a documentary about the crusade waged by American women for their right to vote.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: PBS launches female trailblazer series with TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM – Brandy McDonnell reports

June 19, 2020June 21, 2020 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments american masters, Movie of the Week, pbs, the week in women, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, toni morrison the pieces i am

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, a compelling documentary about the legendary Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will have its U.S. broadcast premiere at 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 23 on PBS (check local listings), as part of PBS’ summer-long celebration of women trailblazers.

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