Coming of Age

2025 Films, Berlinale, Cinematographer, Comedy, Coming of Age, Directing, Drama, Film Editing, Film Festivals, Indie Films, Interviews, Now Playing, producer, Sexual Assault Awareness, Short Films

24 min read

Transcend the Trauma: Giovanna Molina on “Quaker,” “Hickey,” and Her Upcoming Film, “Kismet”

by Matt Fagerholm

April 29, 2026

It’s a special kind of thrill when the greatness of an emerging filmmaker’s work hits you like a thunderbolt. That’s precisely what happened to me upon discovering the sublimely nuanced

2026 Films, Coming of Age, Documentaries, Film Editing, Indie Films, Interviews, LGBTQ+, Queer Stories, SXSW, Transgender

14 min read

Transitioning Together: Amy Jenkins and Adam Sieswerda on “Adam’s Apple”

by Matt Fagerholm

March 9, 2026

As someone who was born four decades ago, any fragments of home movie footage that exist from my childhood—most of which was recorded on a cumbersome camcorder borrowed from my

2026 Films, Coming of Age, Directing, Film Editing, Film Festivals, Indie Films, Interviews, Now Playing, Screenwriting, Short Films, SXSW

17 min read

Pushing the Boundaries: Emily Robinson on “Ugly Cry” and “Consumed”

by Matt Fagerholm

March 8, 2026

If she could, Amber would be a wall painted nondescript grey. Paint isn’t like wallpaper. It can’t be removed completely. No matter how much sanding down, they would still be

2026 Films, Berlinale, Coming of Age, Directing, Drama, Indie Films, LGBTQ+, Queer Stories, reviews, Screenwriting

4 min read

Berlinale 2026: “Mouse” Destined to be Hailed Among the Year’s Best Films

by Matt Fagerholm

February 13, 2026

There is no filmmaking duo whose work I await with greater anticipation than Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson. In 2019, Thompson made his debut feature, “Saint Frances,” written by and

Coming of Age, Directing, Documentaries, Drama, Film Festivals, Horror, Indie Films, LGBTQ+, Queer Stories, reviews, Screenwriting, Sundance

16 min read

Sundancing on My Own: My Four Extraordinary Days in Park City

by Matt Fagerholm

January 28, 2026

Sundance has always been a festival I had admired at a distance. How Robert Redford had gone about using his platform to launch the careers of countless filmmakers for over

2025 Films, Awards, Coming of Age, Cult Classic, Directing, Drama, Horror, Indie Films, International Films, Interviews, Now Playing

11 min read

Attracted to Abstraction: Lucile Hadžihalilović on “The Ice Tower”

by Matt Fagerholm

September 30, 2025

“If you can’t play with the language, you are not reinventing the language.” This is what Argentine director Gaspar Noé told me when I interviewed him fifteen years ago about

2025 Films, Cinematographer, Coming of Age, Directing, Drama, Film Editing, Indie Films, Interviews, Now Playing, Screenwriting

12 min read

It Was All a Miracle: Embeth Davidtz on “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight”

by Matt Fagerholm

July 8, 2025

I was ten years old when Danny DeVito’s euphoric screen adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel Matilda arrived in theaters. I had read the book so many times that the

2025 Films, Coming of Age, Drama, Indie Films, Interviews, Sundance

13 min read

Disrupt the Dopamine: Lily McInerny on “Bonjour Tristesse”

by Matt Fagerholm

May 1, 2025

Throughout human history, few things have discomforted patriarchal societies quite like the candid thoughts of women. French author Françoise Sagan was only 18 when she published her wildly popular 1954

Coming of Age, Film Festivals, Interviews

10 min read

SXSW 2025: “Baba I’m Fine” explores the angst of an Arab teenage girl

by Rebecca Martin

March 16, 2025

I was fortunate to discover Karina Dandashi and her work at the Indy Shorts Film Festival in 2023. Her short film, “Cousins,” which screened at the festival, was about a

2024 Films, 2025 Films, Awards, Coming of Age, Directing, Documentaries, Film Editing, Film Festivals, Indie Films, Interviews, Now Playing, producer, Short Films

29 min read

This Was the Fight: Emily Sheskin on “JessZilla”

by Matt Fagerholm

February 24, 2025

One of my favorite films I saw in 2024 is finally kicking off its limited theatrical run before arriving on VOD. Last year, I had the privilege of serving on

2024 Films, Coming of Age, Directing, Film Festivals, Indie Films, International Films, Letterboxd

23 min read

An Aliveness Behind the Eyes: Shuchi Talati and Preeti Panigrahi on “Girls Will Be Girls”

by Matt Fagerholm

February 21, 2025

I have always had a fondness for coming of age films that vividly recall how intense our emotions are during pivotal moments of growth and transition. In many ways, we

Comedy, Coming of Age, Interviews, Television, TV

19 min read

A Sense of Authenticity: Olivia Edward on “Better Things”

by Rebecca Martin Fagerholm and Matt Fagerholm

October 21, 2024

When Pamela Adlon released her marvelous directorial feature debut, “Babes,” earlier this year, my husband Matt and I had not yet been acquainted with the filmmaker’s Peabody Award-winning FX series,