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, […]
Sundance 2026: Finding Barbara Hammer—A Late Awakening to Queer Experimentation
Barbara Hammer once said, “If we’re experimenting with our lives and the way we’re going to live, our film and our art should also be experimental. It breaks tradition, and makes you think in a broader way. It’s the way I experience the world.” I’ve been carrying that quote with me lately, especially as I […]
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 […]
Daviel Shy on Creating and Starring in Series “The Lovers”
When a laid-off sex worker falls for a mail carrier in a world frozen by pandemic unknowns, it will take the help of an astrologer, cinema guru, cam model, retired dungeon owner, porn star, and an infected host of the supernatural, to discover a new way of loving. A dreamy soft sci-fi romance. Cinema Femme sat down with Daviel […]
A Profound Experience of Rewriting: Eva Victor on “Sorry, Baby”
As annoyed as I was about Barry Jenkins, one of the greatest filmmakers working today, recently helming a prequel to the worst Disney remake in history, the Oscar-winning director of “Moonlight” has also been helping launch some of the most exciting careers in modern cinema over the past few years. I’m thinking specifically of Charlotte […]
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 […]
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’ […]
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 […]