Loosening the Knots: Madison Young on “By the Roots”
After seeing Chicago’s BDSM community turn out in huge numbers for a euphoric preview screening of Harry Lighton’s acclaimed movie “Pillion” earlier this year, it’s clear that Madison Young’s equally riveting film, “By the Roots,” is destined to be embraced by audiences in the Windy City. On the heels of her own brilliant debut feature, […]
Transitioning Together: Amy Jenkins and Adam Sieswerda on “Adam’s Apple”
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 aunt—are priceless. Thanks to the new millennium’s technological advancements, people born within the past quarter century can have the entirety of their evolution from child […]
Berlinale 2026: “Mouse” Destined to be Hailed Among the Year’s Best Films
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 starring O’Sullivan as a thirty-something nanny with an unwanted pregnancy, who forges a bond with the six-year-old she looks after. O’Sullivan brought her next script, […]
Sundancing on My Own: My Four Extraordinary Days in Park City
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 four decades had always left me in awe. So many of my favorite films had premiered at Redford’s festival nestled in the snow-capped mountains of […]
Look for the Signs: Christy Salters Martin and Lisa Holewyne on “Christy”
I went into David Michôd’s biopic “Christy” knowing nothing about its titular boxer. I knew I would be interviewing the film’s real-life subject, Christy Salters Martin, the following morning, and was delighted to see her in attendance at the press screening. She was accompanied by her wife, Lisa Holewyne, who had formerly been her adversary […]
Hannah Welever on shaking things up with her sex positive short “Soirée”
Hannah Welever is a queer filmmaker based in New York, but her roots are Midwestern. In her newest short, “Soirée,” Welever creatively holds space for women’s bodies, and how often they are misunderstood. After an unfortunately awkward hookup gone awry, Reed (Naomi Walley) takes a literal trip inside her body, and meets the personification of […]
Florence Bouvy on examining themes of human connection, pain, loss, and love, in “Where We Stay”
From writer and director Florence Bouvy, “Where We Stay” is a beautiful and touching examination of human connection and unspoken truths. The film was partially inspired by Florence’s own story of loss, when her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the period of pain, grief, and love that followed. She noticed how in those […]
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 […]
Sav Rodgers elevates the film that saved his life in “Chasing Chasing Amy”
“This movie that saved my life also holds a complicated and controversial history in the queer film canon. I’m not seeking to change anyone’s mind with this film, but to recognize the importance of engaging in dialogue around different perspectives and understanding where and why they come about–be it personal, cultural, or historical.” Sav Rodgers, […]
Filmmaker Jac Cron on her feature debut “Chestnut”
I had the opportunity to speak with Jac Cron about her feature debut “Chestnut.” We talked about how she came to this project, and how her time after college was very pivotal for her. We talk about her star Natalia Dyer (Stranger Things), and how perfectly, authentically, and vulnerably she played the main character Annie. […]
Femme Film Friday (Pride Month Edition): “Cora Bora,” “Fancy Dance,” “Am I OK?”, and “Inside Out 2”
Cora Bora – Hannah Utt (script written by Rhianon Jones) Catch the NYC and LA premieres this weekend! Megan Stalter reminds me of Catherine O’Hara when she was getting started in films like “After Hours,” and “Heartburn.” You saw this spark in her as a character actor, and knew there was a lot beneath the […]
Uniquely Euphoric: Bridget Frances Harris and Virginia Alonso-Luis on “Places of Worship”
Every once in a while, I come across a film that feels as if it has been made especially for me. That happened most recently at this year’s joyous in-person installment of my wife Rebecca Martin Fagerholm’s Cinema Femme Short Film Festival held at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. As soon as Bridget Frances Harris’ […]