Jaclyn Bethany and Greta Bellamacina on their masterfully crafted coming-of-age film, “Tell That to the Winter Sea”
“Tell That to the Winter Sea” is a masterfully crafted journey into womanhood, filled with captivating performances, stunning visuals and assured direction. The film brings me back to being a pre-teen and teenager by insightfully exploring the bond between girls when they are creating something in the world. “Tell that to the Winter Sea” brings […]
Sundance 40 Review: An Intersectional Exploration of Transmasculinity and Identity Makes “Desire Lines” A True Standout
On Friday, January 19th, the Utah House of Representatives voted to advance a restrictive anti-trans bill outlawing trans people from using bathrooms aligning with their gender identity. It will now go to the Republican controlled senate for approval. Three days after the advancement, Jules Rosskam’s film “Desire Lines” premiered in Park City, Utah. A multilayered […]
Guinevere Turner on her book ‘When the World Didn’t End: A Memoir’ and her groundbreaking indie “Go Fish”
Speaking with “American Psycho” screenwriter Guinevere Turner about her book When the World Didn’t End: A Memoir and her films that have changed the face of independent cinema, like “Go Fish” (1994), and “The Watermelon Woman” (1996), was an absolute dream to me. This year, Guinevere Turner came out with a book about growing up […]
Emma Seligman on her queer sex comedy “Bottoms,” starring Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri
“I feel like we’ve watched so many male anti-hero stories, whether they’re comedies or dramas or mysteries, and it’s crazy that in 2023, we’re still so hungry for shitty, flawed women on screen.” –Emma Seligman A film that changed the game in 2021 was writer/director Emma Seligman’s small independent film, “Shiva Baby,” a comedy about […]
New Zealand filmmaker Anna Rose Duckworth shares her love of the rom-com genre
We need authentic stories, even in the rom-com genre. New Zealand filmmaker Anna Rose Duckworth agrees with this! She beautifully paints the line between romantic comedy and elevating humanity within that. We did an interview in March of this year right before she had her second child with her partner. Since then, Anna and screenwriter […]
Megan Griffiths elevates an evocative conversation onscreen in “I’ll Show You Mine,” now in select theaters and VOD
Trauma and pleasure. Two things that are different, yet when it comes to sex, the one sometimes can bring shame to the other. One is not our fault, the trauma that happens to us, so why do we feel shame about feeling good when it comes to sex? Obviously, this isn’t the case for everyone, […]
Cannes 2023: Lillah Halla on her directorial debut “Levante (Power Alley)” and the beautiful team-process of filmmaking
I had the opportunity to speak with Lillah Halla (she/her/them) about her beautiful film “Levante,” which centers on a promising 17-year-old volleyball player named Sofia, who is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. The film takes place in Brazil where abortion is against the law. She seeks to have her pregnancy terminated, and becomes a target […]
Asian Pop-Up Cinema Film Fest Season 15: Hoi Yeung on Hong Kong’s “The First Girl I Loved,” co-directed with Candy Ng
Last week Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema Film Festival wrapped up its 15th season showing eight Hong Kong productions. I was fortunate to interview one of the filmmakers behind one of these movies, Hoi Yeung, about the coming-of-age gem “The First Girl I Loved”, which he co-directed with Candy Ng. Currently in its festival run, the […]
ChiFilmFest 2022: Interview with Mercedes Kane about her doc “Art and Pep” that elevates the Chicago LGBTQIA+ community
Buy your tickets: https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/art-and-pep/ Cinema Femme kicks off its 2022 ChiFilmFest coverage by speaking with filmmaker Mercedes Kane about her doc “Art and Pep”. We talked about why this film is so important, especially now as our government has been stripping away some of our progressive laws. Also, there has not been a lens like […]
Sundance 2022 Interview: Alli Haapasalo, Eleonoora Kauhanen, Linnea Leino and Aamu Milonoff on Girl Picture
Bringing back our Sundance interview for the film’s theater release today. One of my favorite movies I’ve seen at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is easily the Finnish coming-of-age drama, “Girl Picture,” directed by Alli Haapasalo. It is an unflinchingly honest, deeply moving and often laugh-out-loud funny exploration of three young women as they attempt […]
Interview: “Mijo” director Mazdey Snob, 2022 recipient of the Cinema Femme Short Film Fest Phenomenal Woman in Film award
As I watched the films for Short Block 3 at our virtual film festival a few weeks ago, we just finished Heidi Neff’s “The Long Goodbye”, an animated short film that explores the anxiety of the recent US election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, ending emotionally in a powerful and somber way. Following, like […]
Look back: Kelly O’Sullivan’s debut script ‘Saint Frances’ brings an authentic look into womanhood
With the recent news of the Supreme Court leak detailing their plan to overturn Roe vs. Wade, we wanted to bring back our interview with Kelly O’Sullivan about her film “Saint Frances”. At Cinema Femme, we stand for the human rights of women, and we fight an obvious violation of them. “Saint Frances” brings up […]