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Read our most recent issue with stories that validate, inspire, and change the way we see— and make — film.
About a year ago, I sat down for what was probably my sixth movie of the day at the 2025...
As I spent twelve hours in the hospital last week, waiting for my dad to recover from his long-belated knee...
As someone who was born four decades ago, any fragments of home movie footage that exist from my childhood—most of...
This is a living record of underrepresented brilliance in film. Dive into our archive of stories and hear from bold voices that paving the industry forward.
7 min read
by Emily Jacobson
March 20, 2026
About a year ago, I sat down for what was probably my sixth movie of the day at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. My eyes were burning, my brain was
22 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
March 13, 2026
As I spent twelve hours in the hospital last week, waiting for my dad to recover from his long-belated knee replacement surgery, I found a liberating mode of escapism in
14 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
March 9, 2026
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
9 min read
by Rebecca Martin
March 8, 2026
For me, movies and meaning are inseparable; I process my daily life through this art form. The cinema is not just entertainment—it’s a vital lens through which I understand the
17 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
March 8, 2026
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
14 min read
by Rebecca Martin
March 3, 2026
In conversation with Elizabeth Stam, Wendy Robie, Brookelyn Hebert, Mary Tilden, and Heather Kuhlmann. Some films move like a straight line. “Hekla doesn’t. It rushes, swerves, collides—then bursts into color
8 min read
by Davide Abbatescianni
February 22, 2026
Premiering in the Big Screen Competition at IFFR (29 January–8 February), “Butterfly” marks Itonje Søimer Guttormsen’s return to feature filmmaking five years after “Gritt.” Set in Gran Canaria, the film
6 min read
by Anna Pattison
February 20, 2026
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
17 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
February 19, 2026
The sun is just beginning to set as the twenty-something characters in Jessica’s Barr’s mesmerizing new film, “The Plan,” start to congregate in an East LA apartment. The calmness of
7 min read
by Emily Jacobson
March 20, 2026
About a year ago, I sat down for what was probably my sixth movie of the day at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. My eyes were burning, my brain was
22 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
March 13, 2026
As I spent twelve hours in the hospital last week, waiting for my dad to recover from his long-belated knee replacement surgery, I found a liberating mode of escapism in
14 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
March 9, 2026
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
17 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
March 8, 2026
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
14 min read
by Rebecca Martin
March 3, 2026
In conversation with Elizabeth Stam, Wendy Robie, Brookelyn Hebert, Mary Tilden, and Heather Kuhlmann. Some films move like a straight line. “Hekla doesn’t. It rushes, swerves, collides—then bursts into color
17 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
February 19, 2026
The sun is just beginning to set as the twenty-something characters in Jessica’s Barr’s mesmerizing new film, “The Plan,” start to congregate in an East LA apartment. The calmness of
8 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 10, 2026
“The Way of the Whale” tells the untold story of an extraordinary interspecies bond — a connection so profound it feels like love — between humans and gray whales in
10 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 10, 2026
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
7 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 9, 2026
Cinema Femme is thrilled to reconnect with director, writer, and actress Gabriela Ortega on the occasion of her latest short film, “Marga en el DF”, which makes its World Premiere
6 min read
by Davide Abbatescianni
March 6, 2025
After a successful festival run kicked off at San Sebastian and BFI London last year, Sylvia Le Fanu’s debut, titled “My Eternal Summer,” heads to the Göteborg Film Festival, one
6 min read
by Davide Abbatescianni
March 5, 2025
In her latest endeavor, “White Roses Fall!” (in Spanish: “¡Caigan las rosas blancas!”), Argentinian filmmaker Albertina Carri follows Violeta, a director known for her breakout amateur lesbian porn hit, as
29 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
February 24, 2025
One of my favorite films I saw in 2024 is finally kicking off its limited theatrical run before arriving on VOD. Last year, I had the privilege of serving on
23 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
February 21, 2025
I have always had a fondness for coming of age films that vividly recall how intense our emotions are during pivotal moments of growth and transition. In many ways, we
8 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
October 18, 2024
Valeria Golino was 18 years old when she filmed Italian director Francesco Maselli’s “Storia d’amore,” the movie that would make her an international star. She earned the Best Actress prize
7 min read
by Rebecca Martin
November 15, 2022
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
3 min read
by Rebecca Martin
October 11, 2022
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
10 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
August 11, 2022
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,
7 min read
by Rebecca Martin
May 20, 2022
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
14 min read
by Rebecca Martin
May 6, 2022
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
15 min read
by Rebecca Martin
March 16, 2022
For Women’s History Month and Trans Visibility Day approaching on March 31, we bring back our interview from the Chicago International Film Festival in October 2020. We are proud to
5 min read
by Rebecca Martin
December 30, 2021
Watching “New Flesh for the Old Ceremony”, the Audience Award-winner for narrative shorts at this year’s Reeling Film Festival, I was pleasantly surprised that it opened with a passionate love
6 min read
by Rebecca Martin
December 28, 2021
Following The Chicago LGBTQ+ Reeling International Film Festival in October 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with three female filmmakers behind three selections in the Revolutions of the Heart
1 min read
by Rebecca Martin
December 14, 2021
Cinema Femme “The Novice” interview with star Isabelle Fuhrman and director Lauren Hadaway “The Novice” comes to digital and theaters Friday, December 17th! Moderated by Cinema Femme managing editor Rebecca
7 min read
by Rebecca Martin
June 8, 2023
Filmmaker Celine Song had a unique moment when her childhood sweetheart and her husband met. This moment was very significant to her, and it became the seed of her film,
3 min read
by Peyton Robinson
May 9, 2023
Juli Del Prete and her short film “Caroline” was awarded the Critics’ Choice award for the 2023 Cinema Femme Short Film Festival. With their award recognition a review was written
10 min read
by Elena Rubashevskaja
February 14, 2023
The festival year started for me in a most unexpected way, on January 14, 2023, I landed in Bangladesh, a place I’d never been before and would not have normally
13 min read
by cinemafemme
February 1, 2023
Words from Managing Editor Rebecca Martin Fagerholm: When we watch films, we desire a connection that enlightens and represents who we really are as people. This year at Sundance, I
4 min read
by Peyton Robinson
January 29, 2023
A.V. Rockwell’s debut feature “A Thousand and One” is an earth-shattering revelation. Taking place in Harlem from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, the film is not only a document of a
4 min read
by Peyton Robinson
January 28, 2023
One day every mother must come to terms with the fact that their little girls will grow into women. As those changes begin to take place, so does the realization
4 min read
by Peyton Robinson
January 27, 2023
An inherent part of female existence is the eventual realization that in most social contexts, you and your body are viewed as a resource and commodity. The consequential aspect of
5 min read
by Peyton Robinson
January 25, 2023
Alice Englert’s directorial debut, “Bad Behaviour,” walks a tightrope, for its almost two hour long runtime. Lucy (Jennifer Connelly) is pursuing enlightenment while her daughter, Dylan (director Alice Englert), is
4 min read
by Peyton Robinson
January 22, 2023
What is a woman? There are countless amounts of social qualifications ranging from personality to action to life trajectory that shift and alter with both time and culture. Does the
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About a year ago, I sat down for what was probably my sixth movie of the day at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. My eyes
As I spent twelve hours in the hospital last week, waiting for my dad to recover from his long-belated knee replacement surgery, I found a
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
For me, movies and meaning are inseparable; I process my daily life through this art form. The cinema is not just entertainment—it’s a vital lens
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
In conversation with Elizabeth Stam, Wendy Robie, Brookelyn Hebert, Mary Tilden, and Heather Kuhlmann. Some films move like a straight line. “Hekla doesn’t. It rushes,
About a year ago, I sat down for what was probably my sixth movie of the day at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. My eyes
As I spent twelve hours in the hospital last week, waiting for my dad to recover from his long-belated knee replacement surgery, I found a
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
For me, movies and meaning are inseparable; I process my daily life through this art form. The cinema is not just entertainment—it’s a vital lens
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
In conversation with Elizabeth Stam, Wendy Robie, Brookelyn Hebert, Mary Tilden, and Heather Kuhlmann. Some films move like a straight line. “Hekla doesn’t. It rushes,
About a year ago, I sat down for what was probably my sixth movie of the day at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. My eyes
As I spent twelve hours in the hospital last week, waiting for my dad to recover from his long-belated knee replacement surgery, I found a
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
For me, movies and meaning are inseparable; I process my daily life through this art form. The cinema is not just entertainment—it’s a vital lens
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
In conversation with Elizabeth Stam, Wendy Robie, Brookelyn Hebert, Mary Tilden, and Heather Kuhlmann. Some films move like a straight line. “Hekla doesn’t. It rushes,
