Journalists fired from TV Rain who fled Russia in part I still cover war in Ukraine in @mubi's #MyUndesirableFriendsPart2Exile: 6 hour doc from #JuliaLoktev & #AnnaNemzerv on repression of independent journalism in Putin’s Russia. @jennifermerin reviews: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/29/my-…

Auteur #HongSangsoo casts his muse Kim Min-hee in #NowhereToLayMyEyes. Experimental filmmaker visits her mother on Jeju Island; mom's partner is a director. Mother/daughter issues anchor gentle @CinemaGuild film about family. Margaret Barton-Fumo reviews: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/30/now…

Director #KasiaAdamik’s tense #WinteroftheCrow is a @CohenMediaGroup cold war thriller set in Warsaw in 1981. The brilliant Leslie Manville stars as a shrink visiting Poland as martial law is declared - suddenly she's in dangerous circumstances. Reviews: awfj.org/blog/2026/10/04/mov…

“My grandmother was one of my earliest introductions to storytelling. ... I learned early that truth and imagination didn’t have to be opposites." #TheFisherman director #ZoeyMartinson tells @womenrockfilm inspirations for her magical-realist comedy. awfj.org/blog/2026/10/01/spo…

#PedroAlmodóvar is an experimental filmmaker working in a narrative world. His #AmargaNavidadBitterChristmas blends both appetites masterfully in a semi-autobiographical, nonchronological exploration of creativity, says @dcarson_critic. More from #NYFF2026 awfj.org/blog/2026/09/30/ama…

A story about hardship doesn't have to look or sound like hardship for filmmaker #ZoeyMartinson, writer-director of the magical-surrealist comedy #TheFisherman, featured in our October Spotlight. @womenrockfilm has more. awfj.org/blog/2026/10/01/spo…

Set in the 16th century during the Thirty Years War, #Rose is an excellent showcase for the always impressive #SandraHüller, playing a world-weary woman who disguises herself as a male soldier to claim a fallen associate’s inheritance. @MarBarFu has more. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/30/ros…

#ZoeKazan’s seven-episode limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck's #EastofEden is on #Netflix today, starring #FlorencePugh as its "indelible, enigmatic antihero," says @BAMOK. More here. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/18/wee…

Oof. @susangranger was NOT a fan of Canadian thriller #Numb. Why? The characters are unlikeable, the plot is unbelievable, and it's hard to imagine viewers caring what happens. She gives it a 3/10. Read more about it here: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/29/num…

AWFJ critic @dcarson_critic takes a look at #NYFF release #PaperTiger, James Gray's Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller drama, saying despite good below-the-line work and performances, there are missed opportunities. Read about it here:

New this week: Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor co-direct investigative doc #Naza Writer/director Melody C. Roscher's wedding dramedy #BirdInHand Writer/director Lisa Jay's mystery/drama #TheCuckooClock Much more here: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/27/ope…

Middling film #AGoodlittleSoldier never gives the central character (Alba Rohrwacher) room to evolve. Usual career questions about ambition, corporate culture & sacrifices made – especially by women – for career, but ... meh. rachelwest.bsky.social review awfj.org/blog/2026/09/22/a-g…

A glimpse of hell. Directors #LauraPoitras’ and #RachelLaurenMueller’s short doc #TheyreHere shows ICE’s recent illegal, violent activity in Minneapolis. Horror film documenting ICE creepy activities and those bravely intervening. @dcarson_critic reviews: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/22/the…

An @mubi film about freedom from tyranny & the transformative power of art, #Fatherland from #PawelPawlikowski, follows Thomas Mann (Hanns Zischler) & daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller)as they drive thru post-WWII Germany. Grief; hope. @dcarson_critic reviews: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/22/fat…

From #AlisonReid, a delightful @gametheoryfilms portrait of famed Canadian naturalists Robert Bateman & Bristol Foster, lifelong friends whose epic '57 trek thru remote parts of the globe anchors #TheArtOfAdventure. Doc is @AWFJ #MovieOfTheWeek. Reviews: awfj.org/blog/2026/09/27/mov…

Although its pacing won't be for everyone, #WhatRemains (#Artakalan) features compelling central performances and a poetic rumination about how to balance the creative process with the demands of life in society, says @jen4green. More from #SSIFF2026. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/21/wha…

Daniel Monzon’s #PrayforUs (#RuegaPorNosotros) takes on a lesser-known chapter of Spanish history: state-backed Catholic reform schools for girls that institutionalized violence in the name of moral salvation. @jen4green has more from #SSIFF2026. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/21/pra…

Julianne Moore gives a stellar performance as a middle-aged woman who’s become invisible to even those closest to her in Jesse Eisenberg’s pitch-perfect comedy #TheDebut. More from @jen4green at #SSIFF2026. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/21/the…

Unfolding like a horror film, directors Laura Poitras’ and Rachel Lauren Mueller’s documentary #TheyreHere captures ICE’s illegal, combative activity in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this past winter. More on the #NYFF2026 film from @dcarson_critic here. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/22/the…

An always superb Sandra Hüller plays actress, writer, and rally driver Erika Mann, accompanying her father, Thomas Mann, through post-WWII Germany in the #NYFF2026 drama #Fatherland. @dcarson_critic has more. awfj.org/blog/2026/09/22/fat…