This current roster of the distinguished members of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists is presented in alphabetical order, with convenient links to each member’s AWFJ archive.
To connect to an individual member’s AWFJ archive click on her name in red. You may also access her index of articles by typing her name in Search.
LOIS ALTER MARK
Lois Alter Mark is an award-winning writer who reviews films on Midlife at the Oasis. A former contributing writer for Entertainment Weekly for more than a decade, she also reviewed films for NickJr.com for many years. She is a member of San Diego Film Critics Society and tweets from @loisaltermark. She writes about travel for USA Today and Forbes.
CATE MARQUIS
Cate Marquis is a film critic and historian based in the St. Louis, MO area. She reviews film for the St. Louis Jewish Light weekly newspaper, Playback: stl website, and other publications. Her father, artist Paul Marquis, introduced her to classic and silent films, as well as art and theater. She lectures on film history, particularly the silent film era, has served on the board of the Meramec Classic Film Festival and is a long-time collaborator with St. Louis International Film Festival, serving on various juries.
KAREN MARTIN
Karen Martin
has an extensive background in reviewing, editing, and reporting on film, theater and other arts events for newspapers, magazines and websites. After a lengthy stint as MovieStyle editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, she’s now the editor and main writer for InArkansas.com (part of he Arkansas Business Publishing Group), covering movies and entertainment, among other lifestyle beats.
MAITLAND MCDONAGH
Maitland McDonagh
, formerly TVGuide.com’s senior movies editor/reviewer, has her own site, Miss FlickChick.com, and freelances for Film Comment and Time Out NY. She’s written four books — Broken Mirrors Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento, Filmmaking on the Fringe, The 50 Most Erotic Films of All Time and Movie Lust — and contributed to others, including Film Out of Bounds, Fantasy Females, The Last Great American Picture Show and Exile Cinema.
BRANDY MCDONNELL
Brandy McDonnell writes reviews and writes features for The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com. She started journalism in seventh grade, submitting stories to local weeklies through high school. She wrote for The Daily O’Collegian at Oklahoma State, earning a journalism degree with honors. She worked at Oklahoma dailies, joined The Oklahoman, moving to the entertainment desk in 2007. A founding member of Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, she writes AWFJ.org’s THE WEEK IN WOMEN.
JENNIFER MERIN
Jennifer Merin
, AWFJ President and AWFJ.org Editor-in-Chief, writes the CINEMA CITIZEN blog. She’s covered film for NY Press, About.com, Women’s eNews, USA Today, L.A. Times, Christian Science Monitor, US, Ms., Daily News, NY Post, SoHo News and others. A Tisch SOA grad, she acted Off-Broadway, in regional theaters and Tokyo, where she belonged to the famed Tenjo Sajiki company and acted in films. She taught at U of Wisconsin and URI, reported for ABC, NBC CBS Radio and Westwood One. She’s a member of Critics Choice Association and a voting member of the Black Reel Awards. Her syndicated culturally-oriented travel column began in 1984.
NELL MINOW
Nell Minow is assistant editor at rogerebert.com. She reviews each week’s releases on radio stations across the country and her reviews and interviews are also found at moviemom.com, thecredits.org, and medium.com. She is the author of several books, including The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies and 101 Must-See Movie Moments.
WENDY MITCHELL
Wendy Mitchell is Editor of Screen International and ScreenDaily.com, the global film business publications headquartered in London. Mitchell previously worked as staff news editor for Entertainment Weekly in New York and as Managing Editor at indieWIRE. She has also written about the entertainment business for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Variety, Rolling Stone, the Dow Jones News Service, Time Out New York, Billboard, and the New York Daily News.
REBECCA MURRAY
Rebecca Murray
is Editor in Chief at Showbiz Junkies.com, an online site covering films, TV, music and other entertainment-related news, reviews and recaps. Murray founded the comprehensive and well trafficked entertainment site after 13 years helming the Hollywood Movies channel for About.com, consistently one of that network’s top-rated sites. Murray is also an obsessed Corgi mom.
APRIL NEALE
April Neale covers TV entertainment, culture and food, documentaries, and film. She is a member of many professional entertainment associations, including AWFJ. Neale has read original work on NPR and is the TV Columnist and entertainment reporter for The Idaho Press. She’s editor of IdaHome FLAVOR, Entertainment Editor for IdaHome Magazine, and freelances for NPR Marketplace, MSN, Boise Weekly, Idaho Capital Sun, Yahoo, AOL, MSN Canada, TV Shows Ace, and AWFJ.org.
PERRI NEMIROFF
Perri Nemiroff graduated from NYU to become the content producer of the movie review show Reel Talk. It was there that she began to recognize her love for film criticism and reporting. In addition to writing for Shockya.com, CinemaBlend.com, Cinematical.com and ComingSoon.net, she’s also pursuing an MFA in Columbia University’s Film program.
LYNNETTE NICHOLAS
Lynnette Nicholas graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in English Literature with an emphasis on Theater Studies and Africana Studies. Lynnette reviews films for Moms.com, Common Sense Media and other outlets. She has several years of experience as an educator, and works as a NYC-based freelance writer covering entertainment, culture, women, black women, faith and millennial parenting.
SHERIN NICOLE
Sherin Nicole is the chief creative & chief marketing officer [read: agent provocateur] at idobi Network, where she is also the executive editor and writes film/television reviews. Her musings on film have appeared on The Blcklst.com and RogerEbert.com. Additionally, Sherin is a frequent contributor to several radio shows on which she gets nerdy about film and entertainment. This is includes Geek Girl Riot, the radio show she created and produces.
SANDRA OLMSTED
Sandra Olmsted has reviewed films and written about film since 1990, She runs a screenwriting contest and workshop and is on the boards of directors for several film and media organizations. Olmsted co-writes screenplays with Renee Riffle. She’s made several award-winning short films and works on documentary and narrative projects. She serves St. Louis International Film Festival juries. Olmsted, an adjunct, teaches film studies and film production at St. Louis area colleges and universities.
ASHANTI OMKAR
Ashanti OMkar is a London-based broadcaster who;s worked with the BBC for a decade. She contributes to Total Film Magazine & Podcast, Guardian, TimeOut, and Metro, commenting on films, music and representation matters. She’s a voting member of the UK Film Critics’ Circle in film and music sections, and is on the awards and inclusion committee. She’s a BRIT Awards, BIFA, Sundance voter.
JANICE PAGE
Janice Page is film editor for the Washington Post.
KRISTEN PAGE-KIRBY
Kristen Page-Kirby
is a freelance film journalist whose reviews and other writings can be found in the Washington Post, the Washington Post Express, the Washington Post Magazine and on AWFJ.org. Her column The Reelist, which used contemporary film to explore topics of race, gender and other social issues, ran in the Washington Post Express for nine years. She has also moderated panels on film and television at the Washington Jewish Film Festival, the Middleburg Festival, and Awesome Con.
REBECCA PAHLE
Rebecca Pahle
is a North Carolina-born, Brooklyn-based entertainment journalist with a particular fondness for science fiction, early film history, and female-directed film. She is the associate editor at Boxoffice, the premier trade magazine for the film exhibition market; other credits include Film Journal International, Syfy, Pajiba, and Vulture. You can reach her on Twitter @RebeccaPahle.
KAREN PETERSON
Karen Peterson
is a Los Angeles-based film critic and Awards Editor for We Live Entertainment. Prior to joining We Live, she began her career in film criticism and awards coverage as a writer and assistant editor at AwardsCircuit.com. She is also one half of the podcasting team at Citizen Dame, a feminist film podcast dedicated to celebrating the work of women onscreen and behind the scenes. She is also a member of the Hollywood Critics Association.
BETSY PICKLE
Betsy Pickle is a freelance film critic and journalist. She was Knoxville News Sentinel film critic from 1985 to 2008. A Knoxville native, she graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in communications. In 1992, she co-founded the Southeastern Film Critics Association, and was its president from 2001-04. She was a member of the advisory council of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission and has juried at the Nashville Film Festival, Asheville Film Festival and Valleyfest Film Festival. Her reviews and features have appeared in newspapers nationwide.
PAMELA POWELL
Pamela Powell
, a New York native and graduate of Northwestern University, writes for The Daily Journal and co-hosts a movie segment on WCIA TV, a CBS affiliate. Residing near Chicago, she and her film partner also have a podcast, Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam.
MARINA RICHTER
Marina D. Richter is a Vienna-based freelance film critic who regularly contributes reviews, interviews and film industry news to Cineuropa. She’s also a prolific contributor to the daily Balkans newspaper ‘Politika’ and to the weekly ‘Vreme. Her texts are published in the Estonian cultural weekly SIRP, the Slovak film journal, Austria’s Artmagazine & Morgen and diverse Croatian outlets.
KAT SACHS
Kat Sachs is a freelance film critic and programmer based in Chicago. She’s the co-managing editor of Cine-File Chicago with her husband, Ben Sachs. In addition to Cine-File, she writes for the Chicago Reader, has contributed several pieces to MUBI and programs screening series in Chicago.
JOHANNA SCHNELLER
Johanna Schneller
specializes in entertainment features. She’s profiled Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Diane Keaton, Brad Pitt, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Robert Downey, Jr. and Nicole Kidman. Her cover stories have appeared in In Style, Premiere, Vanity Fair, Ladies Home Journal and More. She was senior writer in GQ’s LA bureau from 1990-94. She writes the Fame Game column in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, and hosts TVO’s Saturday Night at the Movies. She lives in Toronto with her husband, the writer and broadcaster Ian Brown, and their two children.
SERENA SEGHEDONI
Serena Seghedoni is a film critic, a film studies graduate, and the Editor-in-Chief at Loud and Clear Reviews. She has written a dissertation on Joker and is currently interested in queer stories, films made by women, virtual reality, and the representation of mental health in film and TV.
FELIPA SOLIS
Felipa Solis Felipa Solis has more than 30 years of broadcast experience, having worked at KTSM TV Newschannel Nine, the NBC affiliate in El Paso, Texas, as film critic and cultural reporter. Additionally, she is Executive Director of El Paso Pro-Musica. where she has worked for 10 years alongside Grammy Award winning cellist and Artistic Director Zuill Bailey, as well as world class musical artists.
DANIELLE SOLZMAN
Danielle Solzman
writes for Solzy at the Movies, Above the Line, and Below the Line. When not writing about film, Solzman can be found using her free time for writing feature film screenplays, reading a book, watching TV, or just discussing film on social media.
SHELLI SONSTEIN
Shelli Sonstein
reviews films for Clear Channel online.
MOIRA SULLIVAN
Moira Sullivan
is a San Francisco-based film critic, scholar, lecturer, promoter and experimental filmmaker. She’s a member of FIPRESCI and has a PhD in cinema studies. A leading expert on filmmaker Maya Deren, Sullivan’s doctoral thesis and subsequent book were on Deren’s avantgarde ethnographic filmmaking. She’s lectured on Deren in universities and art schools in Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and the US. She’s staff writer for Movie Magazine International, does weekly radio reports on film, and writes from agnesfilms.com named for Agnès Varda.
JULIA SWIFT
Julia Swift can be seen weekly reviewing movies on on FOX44/ABC22 and read on Rotten Tomatoes. After writing for network television and directing award winning shorts, she realized her favorite part of working in media was talking about film with people as obsessed as she is, and made the switch to reviewing. She is also an assistant professor at Champlain College in Vermont.
JAZZ TANGCAY
Jazz Tangcay grew up with a love for film. Her early recollections include Kramer V Kramer, The King and I and Sleeping Beauty. She started writing for So So Gay in the UK. When she moved to LA, Jazz wrote for Awards Daily, covering interviews, awards season and writing FYC pieces. Jazz recently joined Variety where she is Artisans Editor.
JULIDE TANRIVERDI
Julide Tanriverdi is a Turkish-German journalist residing in NYC, relocating from Berlin in 1996 to be NY correspondent for Axel Springer. She then became NY Bureau Chief for Gala, Germany’s popular entertainment weekly. She’s covered Berlinale, Sundance, Toronto Film Festival, Tribeca and NY Film Festivals. She freelances for leading international magazines: Germany’s Geek!, GQ, Glamour, Freundin, Austria’s Die Wienerin and Canada’s Cineplex . She’s a freelance broadcast producer, executive produced Cathryne Czubek’s documentary A Girl and A Gun, scripted the short film Hotel Terminus and is working on two feature films. She’s Vice President of AWFJ.
ERIN TRAHAN
Erin Trahan
edits The Independent, where she’s overseen publication of books on film distribution and spearheaded preservation of the Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers’ archive. She contributes to WBUR (Boston’s NPR station) and has written about movies for The Boston Globe, MovieMaker Magazine, NewEnglandFilm.com and other outlets. She’s served as panel moderator for The DocYard and at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Public Library, and film festivals, where she’s served on juries. She’s past president of Women in Film & Video/New England.
LAUREN VENEZIANI
Lauren Veneziani
is a film critic in the Washington, DC metro area and Baltimore, MD. Lauren’s reviews can currently be seen on WBAL-TV every Saturday morning. She has also been featured on Fox 5 WTTG’s Good Day DC, Sirius Patriot channel, WUSA 9, 98 Rock, WMAL Radio, 106.7 The Fan and Reelz Channel. Lauren is a voting member in both the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Film Critics Association.
LYNN VENHAUS
Lynn Venhaus
is the St. Louis-based film critic for the Belleville News-Democrat.
SARAH WARD
Sarah Ward is a freelance film critic and writer. She is the Australian-based critic for Screen International, and writes for ArtsHub, Concrete Playground, Goethe-Institut Australien, SBS, SBS Movies and Flicks Australia. She has also contributed to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Junkee, FilmInk, Birth.Movies.Death, Lumina, Senses of Cinema, Metro Magazine, Screen Education and the World Film Locations book series.
RACHEL WEST
Rachel West Based in Toronto, Rachel is a Senior Film Critic at ThatShelf.com. She has interviewed everyone from Michael Fassbender to Miss Piggy and has reported live from TIFF, the SAG Awards, Comic-Con, and the Golden Globes, among other events, and has contributed film writing and content to outlets including ET Canada, Telefilm, Global News, The National Post, Cineplex Magazine, and Letterboxd, among others. She is a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association.
NADINE WHITNEY
Nadine Whitney is a seasoned film critic and scholar. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Nadine contributes regularly to FILMINK, The Curb, and Mr Movies Film Blog. She holds a degree in cinema theory and cultural studies. Her specialty is surrealism in cinema. She is as passionate about cats as she is about film. She is co-chair of the Australian Film Critics Association and a member of FIPRESCI.
LIZ WHITTEMORE
Liz Whittemore
authors AWFJ’s I SCREAM YOU SCREAM blog. She’s Co-Managing Editor and writes for www.ReelNewsDaily.com, hosts Girls On Film podcast, contributes to Cinemit.com and The ArtsWireWeekly. Now NY-based, she hails from northern Connecticut. She’s a graduate of American Musical & Dramatic Academy, has performed at Disneyland, Hartford Children’s Theater, NYC’s Boomerang Theater, Connecticut’s Simsbury Summer Theater and Virginia’s Offstage Theatre, where she also directed. Film credits include Suburban Skies and Surrender. Liz still directs and choreographs children’s theatre. She’s working on an updated adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and a series of children’s books.
SUSAN WLOSZCZYNA
Susan Wloszczyna
is a Contributor to Gold Derby and an Oscar expert at RogerEbert.com. In nearly 30 years at USA Today, she interviewed everyone from Vincent Price and Shirley Temple to Julia Roberts and Will Smith. Her specialties include animation, musicals, comedies and films starring Hayley Mills, Sandy Dennis or hobbits. Her crowning career achievements so far, besides having Terence Stamp place his bare feet in her lap during an interview for The Limey, is convincing the paper to send her to New Zealand for set visits to The Return of the King, The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong, and getting to be a zombie extra and interview George Romero on the set for Land of the Dead. Though not impressive enough for Pulitzer consideration, she also can be blamed for coining the moniker “Frat Pack,” used to describe the comedy clique that includes Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell. As a freelance film reporter and critic, she’s written for MPAA’s The Credits, Washington Post, AARP, and Indiewire, A Buffalo native, she earned her BA in English at Canisius College and an MA in journalism from Syracuse University.
JEANNE WOLF
Jeanne Wolf
covers film and entertainment for the Saturday Evening Post and Jeanne Wolf’s Hollywood. She has served as West Coast Editor for PARADE and written ”Celebrity Parade,” a daily column on Parade.com. Recent cover stories for PARADE include Charlize Theron and Whoopie Goldberg. She appears on radio and television, reporting on annual surveys including What America Eats, What America Earns and Pop Culture. Over the years, Wolf has covered every aspect of show business for television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet. She was awarded the Publicists Guild Press Award for outstanding show business reporting, and is known for being first with inside scoops On radio, she hosts the daily syndicated ’Jeanne Wolf’s Hollywood,’ and created the ”Inside Entertainment Report” for Entertainment Tonight. She’s also reported for ABC’s ’Nightline’ and ’Good Morning America,’ and has hosted ’Jeanne Wolf With’ on PBS. She has been contributor/editor for Ladies Home Journal, TV Guide, Town and Country, and Redbook, and writes regularly for Ocean Drive and Vegas Magazines.
JESSICA ZACK
Jessica Zack
is a San Francisco Bay Area-based freelance journalist who has been writing about film for the San Francisco Chronicle since 2004. She also covers visual arts, books and general culture for the Chronicle, and contributes regularly to San Francisco Magazine and other publications. She is a graduate of Stanford University and got her start writing for the Palo Alto Weekly. Can be found on Twitter: @jwzack
Also see the roster of AWFJ MEMBERS A TO L