Welcome to the inaugural issue of Cinema Femme magazine, the voice of the female film experience! Cinema Femme is a digital magazine that voices the female film experience through personal essays and interviews, accompanied by illustration and design.

But we’re more than a magazine — we are a movement.

Our movement’s mission is to support and contribute to an increase in diverse, female representation in film criticism, which will result in bringing female-directed and diverse films to the forefront.

Every Cinema Femme issue will focus on a single film. This issue focuses on Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides” (1999), which was adapted from the book by Jeffrey Eugenides. “The Virgin Suicides” was Sofia’s first feature film, following her short “Lick the Star” (1998). A young Kirsten Dunst stars as Lux, one of the teenage Lisbon sisters. The Virgin Suicides was Dunst’s first collaboration with Sofia Coppola and led to “Marie Antoinette” (2006) and “The Beguiled” (2017).

Sofia made a name for herself directing “The Virgin Suicides,” which brought her out of her famous father’s shadow (director Francis Ford Coppola, who directed “The Godfather” films and “Apocalypse Now”). Sofia separated herself by her style, eye for detail, and way of creating an atmosphere of beauty that elevated the story and took your breath away. I know not everyone agrees with my admiration for her work, as you’ll read in this issue, but that is what makes Cinema Femme great: featuring female writers with diverse and unique voices.

I want to give a special thank-you to our team:

• Marjorie Morgan, contributing writer. Marjorie has written for a number of national and international publications, such as The Guardian and Reader’s Digest.
• Amy Wasney, contributing writer. Amy is a passionate writer and feminist.
• Stephanie Dykes, contributing writer. Stephanie is a passionate film lover and member of the meetup group Chicago Film Lover Exchange.
• Laurine Cornuéjols, illustrator. Laurine is a French, London-based illustrator who illustrated the inaugural issue cover. Thank you for capturing the film in the most perfect way.
• Jennifer Jenkins, designer. Thank you, Jennifer, for bringing life, beauty, and style to our pages.

Inaugural Issue Interviews

As well as our personal essays, please check out our conversation with Pamela Powell, film critic, writer for The Daily Journal, and cohost of “Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam.” I also had the honor of speaking with Laura Moss, filmmaker and director of the short “Fry Day,” which was featured at forty different film festivals and awarded the Student Visionary Award at SXSW. Be on the lookout for Laura’s feature film “After Birth,” currently in development.

We look forward to sharing our Cinema Femme journey with you.