Femme Film Series: March 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 world, a constant source of introspection, and a mirror reflecting the complexities of the human experience. Every frame, every performance, every narrative beat contributes to […]
Berlinale 2026: “Mouse” Destined to be Hailed Among the Year’s Best Films
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 starring O’Sullivan as a thirty-something nanny with an unwanted pregnancy, who forges a bond with the six-year-old she looks after. O’Sullivan brought her next script, […]
Hannah Peterson on her powerful feature debut “The Graduates” and her invaluable mentors
When the Columbine school massacre happened, I was in my sophomore year of high school. I remember this vividly. It was the first time I’d heard of a mass shooting happening in a high school in my lifetime. The coverage on the media was intense, and I felt drawn to it as I was in […]
This is Our Family: Tara Mallen, Keith Kupferer and Katherine Mallen Kupferer on “Ghostlight”
When it comes to monumentally euphoric moviegoing experiences in 2024, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson have set a mightily high bar with their latest crowd-pleaser, “Ghostlight.” Five years after helming one of my all-time favorite films, 2019’s “Saint Frances,” writer/co-director O’Sullivan and co-director/producer Thompson have done it again with this phenomenally powerful ode to the […]
Femme Film Friday: “Babes,” “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed,” “Tell that to the Winter Sea,” “Ghostlight” and “Thelma”
Babes – Pamela Adlon (screens in theaters nationwide starting today) At the beginning of the film “Babes,” directed by Pamela Adlon, we start with two childhood best friends, Eden (Ilana Glazer) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau), meeting for their Thanksgiving tradition of seeing a movie together in the theater. Dawn is close to having her second […]
Sundance 40: Kelly O’Sullivan hopes you see empathy in her directorial feature debut, “Ghostlight”
O’Sullivan and Thompson gently fold their story together, finding humor and heart at every turn, leading to the kind of ending that somehow inspired the film’s very first audience at Sundance to laugh and cry. Again, we know how this sounds, but — it’s funny! and good! And a reminder of how bright a light one story can shine […]
Sundance 40: Twelve projects that have caught our eye
Yesterday, the Sundance Film Festival announced 91 of their projects to be featured in the 40th edition of the festival next month. We’re so excited to kick off our coverage next month. In the meantime, we wanted to share eleven films and one episodic work that caught our eye. All summaries are pulled from the Sundance […]
Our top 10 recommended films to see at The 58th Chicago International Film Festival! (10/12 – 10/23)
Cinema Femme is based out of Chicago, and every year we make sure to promote our top recommendations for The Chicago International Film Festival. We’ve featured interviews with female and non-binary filmmakers in past years of the festival. Our list below is based on our previous coverage and the buzz around the films. Most of […]
Look back: Kelly O’Sullivan’s debut script ‘Saint Frances’ brings an authentic look into womanhood
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 “Saint Frances”. At Cinema Femme, we stand for the human rights of women, and we fight an obvious violation of them. “Saint Frances” brings up […]