“Year One” Brings a Spotlight on Mental Health on College Campuses: A Conversation with Filmmaker Lauren Loesberg and Producer Imani Davis
I had the opportunity to speak with filmmaker Lauren Loesberg and producer Imani Davis about their film “Year One,” which explores mental health challenges that college students face in their freshman year of college. This theme resonated with another film where I interviewed, director Alex Heller, about her film “The Year Between.” I could relate […]
Salute Your Shorts 2024: Conversation with directors Renée Felice Smith and Chris Gabriel about their short film “Hoodie”
Mental health and how it is reflected onscreen has always been something I’ve been passionate about elevating. I wrote about my own personal journey with mental health in 2019 with Not just Gilda, but Rita too and covered films that have portrayed women onscreen with mental illness in a real way as in “Pink Skies […]
A Different Conversation: Maia Scalia on Her Stunning Directorial Debut, “His Mother”
If only people had listened to her. She saw the warning signs while others kept repeatedly turning a blind eye, and now her only child is on the brink of committing an unspeakable act. For thirteen agonizing minutes, Julie (played by a shattering Bethany Anne Lind), races through traffic, frantically making calls that she hopes […]
Tribeca 2022: Cinema Femme interviews Alex Heller about her feature debut “The Year Between”
*The interview starts 10 minutes in. Rebecca Martin, Managing Editor of Cinema Femme talks to Alex Heller about her feature film debut “The Year Between” and how it’s so important for representation of this mental illness onscreen. Make sure to catch the final screening of this film or watch online: https://tribecafilm.com/films/year-between-2022 Alex Heller is a […]
Kelly Oxford’s feature debut “Pink Skies Ahead” changes the game for mental health representation onscreen
“Breakdown, breakthrough,” Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) says in Cameron Crowe’s film of the same name, in a very cliche way, in a very cookie cutter scenario. Jerry gets inspired to change his life after he has a bad pizza. He wakes up with the sweats as it hits him he needs to make a change, […]
A mental breakdown breaks through stigmas in Maria Judice’s feature debut, “Elephant”
We had the opportunity to speak with activist and filmmaker Maria Judice about her directorial feature debut “Elephant,” which will have its in-person premiere at the Ann Arbor Film Festival on Sunday, 3/27 at 3:15 PM ET. You can watch it at the fest virtually now. Buy tickets here. It all started four years ago, around the […]
Breaking through the cliché of Poly Styrene: An examination of Celeste Bell’s documentary on her mother
Punk, also called punk rock, is an aggressive form of rock music that coalesced into an international (though predominantly Anglo-American) movement in 1975–80. Often politicized and full of vital energy beneath a sarcastic, hostile facade, punk spread as an ideology and an aesthetic approach, becoming an archetype of teen rebellion and alienation. -Britannica The documentary […]
“Withdrawals” director Jorja Hudson and producer Kelly Stier talk mental health, comedy, and creating on screen magic
When “Bridesmaids” came to the screen in 2011, I was floored by its all-women ensemble. I had not seen a female comedy like that before in that way, and I wanted to see more of it. When I watched “Withdrawals” for the first time, I felt the same way. Like “Bridesmaids”, the short film is […]
Kate Marie Smith and team bring her solo show to the screen with “One Woman Hamlet”
When people collaborate, it’s a beautiful thing, especially when it’s a team of people who are passionate about the same cause. In this case, it’s bringing an awareness to mental illness on the screen in a real and creative way. I share this passion with the team behind Kate Marie Smith’s solo show, “One Woman […]
Elliot Frances Flynn and Elizabeth Mehling spotlight queer mental health in “Memories of Rain”
Actor/writer Elliot Frances Flynn (“Shoplifters of the World”, “Mare of Easttown”), is an emerging talent who has been a strong supporter of Cinema Femme over the past year, and I’ve gotten to know her more through our social media and virtual events. This year, she made her feature debut in the dramedy “Shoplifters of the […]
Look back: Not just Gilda, but Rita too
“Every man I knew went to bed with Gilda . . . and woke up with me.” -Rita Hayworth The following personal essay was posted in November 2019. We’re bringing it back for Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s powerful when you see yourself represented in a real way onscreen for the very first time. I’m […]
Julia Kots and Tawny Cypress on their film “Inez & Doug & Kira”
“Mental illness is very prevalent in our society and it is not spoken about enough. It’s still very very taboo, and it is understandable, because it can be embarrassing and difficult. Talking to these people and hearing a variety of different stories encouraged me to first of all to put this on the screen, and […]