Anna Hints on the power of Southern Estonia women in their feature debut, “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood”

This interview was originally posted on January 20th, 2023 for our 2023 Sundance coverage. We feature it again with the anticipated November 24 US theatrical release. See link to find showtimes in your area. The film comes to digital on 01/23/2024. This film is quoted […]

NOFF 2023 Interview: Michéle Stephenson’s “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” illuminates a reimagined future

I’m going to keep my intro brief because I feel filmmaker Michéle Stephenson speaks to the truth of her film “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” which she co-directed with Joe Brewster, in more of an eloquent way than I could. So this interview […]

NOFF 2023 Interview: Nailah Jefferson on Her Empowering Documentary, “Commuted”

In 1993, Danielle Metz, a first-time nonviolent offender, was sentenced to triple-life plus twenty years. In 2016, she was granted clemency by the Obama Administration. Nailah Jefferson, a storyteller and documentarian, has now made the film “Commuted,” which chronicles Danielle’s life post-prison. I was fortunate […]

CIFF 2023 Review: “Paradise is Burning,” (“Paradiset Brinner”) directed by Mika Gustafson

“Paradise is Burning” screened as part of The 59th Chicago International Film Festival on October 18, 2023, as part of the International Competition. Writer-director Mika Gustafson’s “Paradise is Burning” is a union of debuts. It’s her narrative feature film debut, and the three actresses at […]

CIFF 2023 Interview: Haroula Rose on her wonderfully cast family dramedy “All Happy Families”

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy Haroula Rose’s sophomore feature “All Happy Families” starts with the above quote, which is resonant for most people. The family dramedy is her follow-up feature to the powerful “Once […]

CIFF 2023 Review: “Sisterhood,” (“HLM Pussy”) directed by Nora El Hourch

“Sisterhood” screened as part of The 59th Chicago International Film Festival, learn more about this film! Nora El Hourch’s feature debut “Sisterhood” (french title: “HLM Pussy”) is an emboldened dossier of how girlhood prematurely, and often violently, transitions into womanhood. Amina (Leah Aubet), Djeneba (Médina […]