Friends and fellow authors have spoken out on Salman Rushdie's behalf during a rally on the steps of the main branch of the New York Public Library.

FILE - Julie Dash attends the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on Jan. 3, 2017, in New York. Dash's work will be featured in Turner Classic Movies' four-month Women Make Film series, airing every Tuesday night through December. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)Associated Press Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle pick some programming highlights from Turner Classic Movies' four-month Women Make Film series, airing every Tuesday night through December. In her 1976 film (airing Sept. 15 on TCM), Kopple intimately documents a grueling, 13-month coal miner's strike in a small Kentucky town. They just thought I was a funny little girl who carried a tape recorder and a camera. The film won Kopple her first Oscar.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored each screenwriter at the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting awards and presentation on Thursday night. "If it wasn't for the academy and my friends, I wouldn't be here," she said. Winners will receive guidance from academy members as they complete a feature-length screenplay during their fellowship year. Since 1986, the competition has awarded hundreds of fellowships, aiming to identify and encourage talented new screenwriters. The academy says it doesn't acquire rights to screenwriters' work and doesn't involve itself commercially in the completion of scripts.