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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.
14 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
November 4, 2025
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
14 min read
by Anna Pattison
November 1, 2025
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,
7 min read
by Rebecca Martin
October 31, 2025
Italian filmmaker Carolina Cavalli has quickly emerged as one of the most original voices in contemporary cinema. Born in Milan, Cavalli made her feature debut with “Amanda” (2022), which premiered
14 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
October 25, 2025
With the 61st Chicago International Film Festival nearly in the rearview mirror, there are so many memories from the past several days that I know I will be cherishing for
7 min read
by Rebecca Martin
October 24, 2025
Set against the vivid backdrop of 1931 French-colonized Martinique, “Sugar Cane Alley” (“Rue Cases-Nègres”) stands as one of cinema’s most tender and politically charged coming-of-age stories. The film follows eleven-year-old
3 min read
by cinemafemme
October 21, 2025
Rental Family, directed by Hikari Set in modern-day Tokyo, “Rental Family” follows an American actor (Brendan Fraser) who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for
7 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
October 21, 2025
The Girl in the Snow One of the great discoveries I made at CIFF ten years ago was the talent of young Galatéa Bellugi. As a pregnant teen in the
10 min read
by Rebecca Martin
October 20, 2025
Mary Bronstein is a writer/director based in New York City, known for her raw style, auteurist approach, and unflinching focus on stories about complicated women. Her best-known work, the cult-classic
10 min read
by Rebecca Martin
October 18, 2025
In 2018, filmmaker Emily Mkrtichian began work on what she envisioned as a quiet, contemplative documentary—a portrait of women in Artsakh, the ethnically Armenian region nestled in the South Caucasus,
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
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
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
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
4 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
February 13, 2026
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
21 min read
by Veronica Miles
February 12, 2026
Yes, you can just go to Sundance. Yes, you will definitely have fun. Yes, you will see celebrities. Yes, you will see movies that may win Oscars or launch the
16 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
January 28, 2026
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
13 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
November 17, 2025
As I sat in my favorite movie palace, the Music Box Theatre, waiting for my wife—Cinema Femme founder Rebecca Martin—to arrive for that evening’s eagerly awaited Chicago International Film Festival
14 min read
by Anna Pattison
November 1, 2025
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,
14 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
October 25, 2025
With the 61st Chicago International Film Festival nearly in the rearview mirror, there are so many memories from the past several days that I know I will be cherishing for
6 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 28, 2021
Amina Maher is brave. Her short film “Letter to My Mother” is a triumph and a courageous way for the filmmaker to break her silence about the abuse she endured
12 min read
by Rebecca Martin
February 15, 2021
I am in love. I’m in love with Marion Hill’s ‘Ma Belle, My Beauty.’ This film is a romance that involves many people, but at the heart of it is
9 min read
by Rebecca Martin
August 28, 2020
“Every image or sound is a vessel for emotion: rapture, despair, sensuousness, fury, a combination of these. That makes cinema a kind of legerdemain: the art of sculpting such seemingly
13 min read
by Matt Fagerholm
June 29, 2020
“For many years, I had to confront the cruel system in my home country that does not tolerate people with a different mindset. People judged me for my ideas as
13 min read
Filmmaker Anna Kerrigan takes us on the heartfelt journey of a father and his trans son in “Cowboys”
by Rebecca Martin
May 6, 2020
I like that idea that when you’re in nature you can be your true self, and not influenced by the constructs of your society. It’s a really interesting way to
10 min read
by Rebecca Martin
December 5, 2019
5 min read
by Rebecca Martin
July 19, 2019
I am ready to share with the world that I am a freaky queer femme sex worker domme and I am also a fucking filmmaker. —Molly Hewitt/Glamhag June, 2019 Molly
16 min read
by Rebecca Martin
July 15, 2019
13 min read
by Rebecca Martin
May 28, 2019
I met filmmaker and Seed&Spark’s head of education and outreach Christina Raia in March at the 2019 Girl Power Film + Media Summit, where she gave a presentation about film
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,
