“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 […]
IPA Executive Director Chris Dudley on Illinois’ Economic Impact Study and her recent trip to LA
I recently had the opportunity to speak with local film industry powerhouse Chris (Christine) Dudley, the Executive Director of the Illinois Production Alliance. Along with other leading Chicago-based women in film like Chaz Ebert, Betsy Steinberg, Erica Duffy, and Kris Rey, Chris Dudley is helping put Chicago on the world map for film production. Recently, […]
The Liberation of the Work: A Conversation with Jada-Amina, Lead Curator of Black Harvest Film Festival
I’ve been fortunate to interview some of the up-and-coming female programmers who have come out of Chicago. Earlier this year, I spoke with Imani Davis, who now is a programmer at the American Cinemateque in Los Angeles. Last week, I talked to a poetic soul, and the new lead curator of the Black Harvest Film […]
Emerging filmmaker Tiffany Tenille tells her own fairy tale in “Albion Rose”
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 awarded the Cinema Femme 2023 Phenomenal Person Award, because really, […]
Rebecca Harrell Tickell on “Prancer,” “Regenerate Ojai” and “On Sacred Ground”
With over two feet of snow piled upon the driveway, I spent this past Christmas Eve with my wife, Cinema Femme founder Rebecca Martin Fagerholm, binging holiday perennials at her parents’ cozy home in Holland, Michigan. Well into the evening, we decided to watch a picture that I hadn’t seen since my childhood, John D. […]
#TBT 2019 Sundance Ebert Fellows
Chaz Ebert introduced me to the 2019 Sundance Ebert Fellows Niani Scott, Whitney A. Spencer, and Tiffany Walden via Instagram as they were on their way to Park City, Utah, to cover Sundance Film Festival. I read up on these intelligent and extremely talented women, and I was so inspired by their drive and past experience. During our interview in March, we talked about their Sundance experiences, their favorite films from the festival, and the importance of having diverse voices in film criticism.