12 min read
by Rebecca Martin
May 15, 2026
Kate Cragg’s filmmaking begins with a refusal: a rejection of the “proper way” of doing things. Where conventional cinema prizes structure, coverage, and clarity, Cragg has built a practice grounded
10 min read
by Rebecca Martin
May 8, 2026
In “Magic Hour,” filmmaker and actor Katie Aselton returns to the intimate, emotionally raw storytelling that first defined her career. Premiering last year at the South by Southwest film festival,
12 min read
by Rebecca Martin
May 5, 2026
This month’s lineup leans heavily into documentaries, with “The Invite” as the lone outlier. Watching these films, I kept circling back to my own life—each one opening up a different
5 min read
by Rebecca Martin
April 23, 2026
In “Your Attention Please,” director Sara Robin explores one of today’s most pressing yet hard-to-define crises: the decline of human attention in a digital world built to capture it. What
8 min read
by Rebecca Martin
April 16, 2026
Some films invite passive observation; others refuse distance altogether, demanding a more intimate kind of surrender. The selections in the April 2026 Femme Film Series—”The Chronology of Water,” “My NDA,”
5 min read
by Rebecca Martin
April 1, 2026
Emmy-winning filmmaker Stephanie Laing has built a career on finding humanity in unlikely places—whether through the biting satire of Veep or the emotionally layered storytelling of Physical. Now, with her
9 min read
by Rebecca Martin
March 8, 2026
For me, movies and meaning are inseparable; I process my daily life through this art form. The cinema is not just entertainment—it’s a vital lens through which I understand the
14 min read
by Rebecca Martin
March 3, 2026
In conversation with Elizabeth Stam, Wendy Robie, Brookelyn Hebert, Mary Tilden, and Heather Kuhlmann. Some films move like a straight line. “Hekla doesn’t. It rushes, swerves, collides—then bursts into color
9 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 17, 2026
Every Sundance leaves an impression on me — no, more than that. It feels like a permanent mark etched into my soul. Of course, there’s the snow, the crowded Main
6 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 13, 2026
Chicago-based writer-director Hannah Schierbeek continues her exploration of intimate human stories set against vast socioecological backdrops with her latest short film. Written, directed, and produced by Schierbeek, the film follows
8 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 10, 2026
“The Way of the Whale” tells the untold story of an extraordinary interspecies bond — a connection so profound it feels like love — between humans and gray whales in
10 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 10, 2026
My discussion with Swedish-native Malin Barr at Sundance quickly evolved beyond a standard interview. By the time we secured coffee amidst the festival’s intensity, the conversation felt like a continuation
