Monica Sorelle illuminates the immigrant experience in her feature debut “Mountains”
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 living in fear that they would be kicked-out of our […]
Palm Springs Shortfest 2023: Noam Argov talks about her mother/daughter drama short “SULAM” (“The Ladder”)
See “SULAM” (“The Ladder”) at 2:30 PM PST on 6/24, reserve your spot! Filmmaker Noam Argov will be in attendance! Rebecca Martin Fagerholm, Managing Editor, spoke with Cinema Femme Short Film Fest 2023 Breaking Down Walls Mentor Recipient Noam Argov about her short “SULAM” (“The Ladder”). The film is heartbreaking and meaningful in showing a morning […]
Celine Song’s “Past Lives” is a modern romance that is ageless
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, “Past Lives.” The film has been called “a modern romance,” but to me, it is much more than that. “Past Lives” is ageless to me, […]
Filmmaker Cecilia Albertini brings underrepresented female-centric stories of immigrants to the screen
Filmmaker Patricia Vidal Delgado (“La Leyenda Negra”), who served as the mentor for our Inaugural Short Film Festival, suggested I reach out to Italian filmmaker and actor Cecilia Abertini as a potential candidate for a future program mentor. Knowing little about her at that time, I am so glad Patricia connected us. Cecilia is an […]
Diane Paragas tells a timely and timeless story in her narrative feature debut “Yellow Rose”
“Yellow Rose” is the timely story of a Filipina teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known. I was fortunate to speak with the director of the film, Diane Paragas […]
Isabel Sandoval beautifully elevates the marginalized in “Lingua Franca”
“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 artificial elements to create a singular, genuine emotional experience.” –excerpt from Isabel Sandoval’s director’s statement Isabel Sandoval is not just about making great films, she […]
Sonejuhi Sinha’s refreshingly raw thriller ‘Stray Dolls’ flips the American dream
The American clichés of “Bonnie and Clyde”, the “American Dream”, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, are mixed together in the refreshingly raw new movie, “Stray Dolls”. It focuses on three women who are outsiders living on the outside of the law: Riz (Geetanjali Thapa), a petty criminal and an immigrant from India; Dallas (Olivia […]
Filmmaker Patricia Vidal Delgado breaks through biases in “La Leyenda Negra”
“La Leyenda Negra” comes to HBO Latino and HBO Max on 12/4 I love all of the interviews I do, but this one was very special. In a way, the universe brought director Patricia Vidal Delgado and I together, or rather it was meant to be. I was roaming around Main Street in Park City […]