Tribeca 2025: Fredgy Noël Takes It All In: On her homey short “New York Day Women”
Fredgy Noël’s newest short, NEW YORK DAY WOMEN, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Based on Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat’s 1991 short story of the same name, the story follows young woman Suzette, as she unexpectedly sees her mother in Manhattan. Deciding to follow her around, Suzette learns sees her mother through a new light, and […]
A Conversation with Cheryl Dunye on “Stranger Inside”
Cheryl Dunye is best known for her iconic film “The Watermelon Woman” — a tale of an aspiring Black lesbian filmmaker (played by Dunye herself) who seeks to learn more about the actress behind a mammy figure in 1940s film, credited only as The Watermelon Woman. But “Stranger Inside,” which screened at Brooklyn Academy of […]
Sundance 2025: “Bunnylovr,” “Love, Brooklyn,” and “Atropia”
For my final dispatch of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, I’m covering three films that I watched virtually. Ironically, these films, while not all specifically tailoring their plots to location, firmly plant the roots of their filmmaking in the use of spaces for means of investigating ebbs and flows in ambition: “Bunnylovr,” “Love, Brooklyn,” and […]
Sundance 2025: “Dead Lover,” “Two Women,” and “The Virgin of the Quarry Lake”
The endeavors of love and lust can feel like matters of life and death, but the films which compose this dispatch also find the humor in these escapades. I was lucky enough to catch two of these three films at their premieres; to feel the laughter of identification sweep through the women in the audience. […]
Sundance 2025: An Interview with the Makers of “Are You Scared to Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?”
Park City is currently under an ambush of snow. As a born and bred Midwesterner, this is fine. As a creature of the flatlands, it’s the series of Utah inclines that I have to conquer. I’m hiking up Main Street, turning onto a long hilly road heading to the condo where I’ll be speaking with […]
Sundance 2025: “April,” “The Ugly Stepsister,” and “Are You Scared to Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?”
It’s Saturday, January 25th and today is my last day at my first in-person Sundance Film Festival. Writing from a sardined high top table at Atticus, where yesterday I met Conan O’Brien, the window’s view shows an endless barrage of snow accumulating outside. Skiers and film fans are trying not to slip. My salted maple […]
CIFF 2024: “Mistress Dispeller,” “Hard Truths,” “Rita,” and “My Stolen Planet”
I have always found that the Chicago International Film Festival is a formidable venue for riveting, empathetic tales about women and girls. Last year, “Paradise is Burning” was my favorite film of the fest, and one of my top five for the year. This year, I was glad to view more incredible narrative features that […]
“Desert Angel” elevates the American migrant community
You can see “Desert Angel” at the Austin Film Festival on Saturday October 26, 2024 6:45pm – 8:32pm CDT at the Galaxy 9 theater. Learn more here: https://2024austinfilmfestival.sched.com/event/1mKcL/desert-angel, keep up to date about the film here: https://www.desertangelfilm.com/ The names and faces of migrants who cross the US-Mexico border in search of a better life are […]
“Sweetheart Deal” is a rallying cry for care
Seattle’s Aurora Avenue is infamous for being an epicenter of prostitution. However, this generalized reputation fails to recognize the individuality and humanity of the sex workers who inhabit the area. This issue is a microcosm of the general ambivalence and disdain with which American society treats vulnerable communities. “Sweetheart Deal,” directed by Elisa Levine and […]
“[subtext]” spins the rom-com genre with refreshing tension
“[subtext]” is the recipient of the Critic’s Choice Award for the 2024 Cinema Femme Short Film Festival. This award is given by a film critic, and this year, the film was chosen by Peyton Robinson, film critic for RogerEbert.com, and contributor to Cinema Femme magazine. As innocuous as a first date may seem, there are […]
Sundance 40 Review: Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s “Tendaberry” is a Sacred Portrait of Personal Memory
Haley Elizabeth Anderson’s feature debut, “Tendaberry,” is a narrative document on change. Dakota (Kota Johan) is a 23 year old New York City transplant, somewhat estranged from her family, but passing the days with her boyfriend, Yuri (Yuri Pleskun). When he is called back to his native Ukraine to care for his sick father, Kota’s […]
Sundance 40 Review: Pathos lands poignantly in Alessandra Lacorraza’s “In the Summers”
“In the Summers” won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance 2024 film festival for Dramatic. Alessandra Lacorraza Samudio’s semi-autobiographical film, “In the Summers,” is a portrait of sisters Eva and Violeta through glimpses of their summertime visits to their father in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The film takes place over four summers […]