Cinema Femme Short Film Festival Announces 2026 Dates, Opens Film Submissions, and Welcomes New Festival Director
Submissions Link: filmfreeway.com/CinemaFemme 🎬 Cinema Femme Short Film Festival Returns to the Music Box Theatre and New Festival Director Announced Cinema Femme Short Film Festival Announces 2026 Dates, Opens Film Submissions, and Welcomes New Festival Director Chicago, IL — April 6, 2026 — The Cinema Femme Short Film Festival is thrilled to announce that film […]
Pushing the Boundaries: Emily Robinson on “Ugly Cry” and “Consumed”
If she could, Amber would be a wall painted nondescript grey. Paint isn’t like wallpaper. It can’t be removed completely. No matter how much sanding down, they would still be forced to cover her with white to clear the slate before the next shade splayed atop her. She would haunt the walls and infuse the […]
Sundance 2026: Lindsey Normington on Role in Short “Together Forever”
The logline, “A Mormon couple ties the knot,” already had me invested but reading the synopsis sealed the deal: “It’s wedding day at the Mormon Temple. For wide-eyed Sydney, it’s a dream come true to marry her best friend. But for the cherub-faced groom, Caleb, his life has never been more of a lie. In […]
Sundance 2026: Hannah Schierbeek on Survival, Isolation, and Unexpected Friendship in her Short Film “Radiant Frost”
Chicago-based writer-director Hannah Schierbeek continues her exploration of intimate human stories set against vast socioecological backdrops with her latest short film. Written, directed, and produced by Schierbeek, the film follows a lone drifter whose isolated existence is disrupted when he discovers a young escapee from a survivalist cult hiding in his truck. What unfolds is […]
Sundance 2026: Walking Through the In-Between — Malin Barr on “Sauna Sickness” and the Quiet Violence of Emotional Manipulation
My discussion with Swedish-native Malin Barr at Sundance quickly evolved beyond a standard interview. By the time we secured coffee amidst the festival’s intensity, the conversation felt like a continuation of an already established, deeply considered thought. Rather than a conventional, seated Q&A, this piece is a dynamic, walking dialogue. We moved through Park City’s […]
Sundance 2026: How Inuk filmmaker Lindsay Aksarniq McIntyre Made a Sundance Film From Caribou and Lichen
Lindsay Aksarniq McIntyre is an Indigenous experimental filmmaker based in Canada with a filmography spanning over 40 short films almost exclusively shot on 16mm film. Her work is deeply personal, giving her an artistic pathway to deal with struggles, learn new ways of being, and experiment with ways to connect to her land and ancestors. […]
Finding Humor and Hope in “4th Dementia”
The short film “4th Dementia” manages to do something incredible: make a film about Alzheimer’s Disease that is funny. It may seem like an unlikely premise, but this 16-minute short film manages to bring humor and dignity to a topic that is often portrayed as tragic and depressing. The film starts with a more typical […]
EXCLUSIVE: Love, Paralysis and Control: Boni Mata, Karim Saleh and Andrea Riseborough on Crafting Their New Short “Mariposa Traicionera”
“Mariposa Traicionera” (“Treacherous Butterfly”) marks one of the most arresting and mysterious short films currently seeking a world premiere on the 2026 festival circuit. Shot in Spain and distributed worldwide by Italian outfit Allegorie, the 20-minute chamber piece is produced by John Henry Hinkel and Zico Judge for Liaison Pictures and Blur Films. As intimate […]
“Holding Two Truths at Once”: A Conversation with Lauren Melinda on “Before You” and the Mission of Simbelle Productions
In the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (June 2022) decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Lauren Melinda’s “Before You” emerges as an intimate, unflinching, and profoundly human film. Drawing from her own experience, Melinda tells a story of love, loss, and the complexities of women’s health with both cinematic elegance and […]
Cinema Femme presents F*CK THAT GUY Short Film Virtual Premiere
F*CK THAT GUY stars Carys Douglas in her breakout role, alongside Victoria Pedretti (YOU, Origin, Ponyboi) and Micheál Neeson (Somewhere Quiet, On Our Way), and Dagmara Dominczyk (Priscilla, Bottoms, Succession) with Sydney Lemmon (Succession, TÁR) F*CK THAT GUY stars Carys Douglas in her breakout role, alongside Victoria Pedretti (YOU, Origin, Ponyboi) and Micheál Neeson (Somewhere Quiet, […]
Interview with John J. Budion and Elizabeth K. Budion on their animated short film “you.matter”
“you.matter” is an animated sci-fi drama about an astronaut dislodged from her mothership, left with only her final thoughts as she grapples with why this has happened to her. The film, created by John J. Budion and Elizabeth K. Budion, blends hand-drawn animation with photo-real visual effects to tell a story that feels both intimate […]
First Look: Tiffany Tenille’s “A Woman’s Body” Confronts Love, Faith, and the Silence Around Female Pain
“What happens when love meets the limits of the body?” That’s the quietly devastating question at the center of “A Woman’s Body,” the new short film from writer-director Tiffany Tenille. Set on a single wedding night, the film follows newlyweds Jolene and Clyde as their joyful celebration gives way to an unexpected reckoning: Jolene, suffering […]