Zoey Martinson – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SPOTLIGHT October 2026: Zoey Martinson, Writer, Director, THE FISHERMAN

October 1, 2026October 1, 2026 Leslie Combemale Adam Carboni, Ghana's Volta region, griot, magical realism, Menominee Nation, spotlight, The Fisherman, Zoey Martinson

Zoey Martinson refuses to believe a story about hardship has to look or sound like hardship. Her feature debut, The Fisherman, is a magical-realist comedy shot in Ghana, with a wisecracking talking fish, a riot of color, and a fishing community facing displacement — and that story gets to be funny, vibrant, and fully human. Martinson goes to the places the Hollywood gatekeepers write off and finds the wit, the warmth, and the beauty that were already there. Then she turns the volume up loud enough for movie honchos to hear. She’s built her career on her own storytelling. The Fisherman is the proof. Now we can’t wait to see what she does next.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK September 18, 2026: THE FISHERMAN

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 Jennifer Merin Abdulazeem Dulo Harris, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Endurance Dedzo, Ghanaian films, jennifer merin, Kiki-Romi, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, monique jones, Ricky Adelayitar, sandie angulo chen, Smoke & Mirrors, William Lamptey, Zoey Martinson

A tradition-loving Ghanaian fisherman who scoffs at the idea of electronic fish finders and turns up his nose at social media and smartphones learns that the modern world isn’t all bad in writer-director Zoey Martinson’s charming feature debut The Fisherman. And the fact that he does it with the help of a cheeky talking fish and a trio of energetic and aspiring young people makes his journey all the more whimsical.