A film lasting only a few minutes has the potential to impact viewers in a way that is tantamount to a feature, and that is certainly the case with “Young People,” which marks the directorial debut of Brooke Westphal, a student at the University of […]
This year, I’m seeing amazing first generation filmmakers bringing authentic stories about the immigrant experience to the screen. This is so important, as it was just a few years ago during the beginning of the Trump presidency that families who immigrated to the U.S. were […]
We need authentic stories, even in the rom-com genre. New Zealand filmmaker Anna Rose Duckworth agrees with this! She beautifully paints the line between romantic comedy and elevating humanity within that. We did an interview in March of this year right before she had her […]
I love road trip films, especially the ones that take place in the United States and showcase places that are not often seen in films. In 2020, when we all were stuck at home, Chloé Zhao’s film “Nomadland” was a breath of fresh air, enabling […]
WAR PONY WAR PONY follows the interlocking stories of two young Oglala Lakota men growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. At 23, Bill just wants to make something of himself. Whether it’s delivering goods or breeding Poodles, he is determined to hustle his way to the […]
“My poems and songs have no flavor without you.” The above quote comes from the end of the short documentary “Ayenda,” directed by Marie Margolius. A group of teenage Afghan girls sing this song about their homeland after they’ve been evacuated by a special mission […]
At the 2017 installment of Hot Docs in Toronto, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a documentary so devastating and essential that it made my top ten list of the year. Angelo Rallis’ “Shingal, Where Are You?” centers on a family of Yezidis who […]
Tiffany Tenille is a phenomenal woman. She is an actress (as displayed in Numa Perrier’s “Jezebel”), writer and an emerging filmmaker. We were so honored to host the Chicago premiere of her first film, “Albion Rose,” at our film festival this past spring. She was […]
Like “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Ghost World,” the Italian gem “Amanda” is unconventionally funny and dark. As in these films, there is a longing from the protagonist for a friendship that can fill the lonely void in their life, and together, these friendships add to their […]
“Numa was our choice and we went after her. She did this movie for Netflix called ‘Jezebel’ and I loved it. She was in it – she starred in it as well as directed it. And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, she can multitask and […]
On June 24th, 2022, the horrific news came out that Roe v. Wade had been overturned by the federal government. This was a landmark decision made by the Supreme Court in 1973, which gave women the right to decide what they wanted to do with […]
Cinema Femme caught up with Kate Stonehill, an award-winning director and DoP whose body of work explores power, identity and citizenship in the digital age. In her first documentary feature, titled “Phantom Parrot,” she unravels a secret British government surveillance program, and follows human rights […]