CORE TEAM
Rebecca Martin Fagerholm (she/her) – Executive Director
Emily Broderick (she/her) – Film Festival Director
Anna Pattison (she/her) – Magazine Editor in Chief
Mentorship Program Director (coming soon!)
Edie Ellis (she/her) – Membership Director
SUPPORTING TEAM
Clara Moko (she/her) – Director of Partnerships
Alissa Pocius (she/her) – Social Media Director
Cee Pham (she/they) – Magazine Designer
Cecilia Simon (she/her) – Donor Relations and Marketing Support
Peyton Robinson (she/her) – Senior Programmer and Contributing Writer
Emily Jacobson (she/her) – Senior Programmer and Contributing Writer
2024-2025 Board
Chair: Rebecca Martin Fagerholm (she/her)
Rebecca Martin Fagerholm is the founder of Cinema Femme, and now holds the position of Executive Director NFP (June 2024). She founded the Cinema Femme magazine in 2018 with the purpose of shining a light on filmmakers and people in the industry who are underrepresented in our mainstream media, specifically women, non-binary people, and transgender people. In 2020 she expanded the magazine into a film festival and mentorship program. Since the festival began in 2020, Cinema Femme has had six editions of it along with their mentorship program, including two very successful years as an in-person festival at the Music Box Theatre. Over the years she has hosted film screenings in Chicago, led panel discussions, Q&As, and has covered festivals like the Chicago International Film Festival, Sundance, Tribeca, and the Bentonville Film Festival. She has also served on film juries for Heartland Film Festival, Indy Shorts, and DePaul’s Premiere Film Festival.
Rebecca Martin Fagerholm is a film lover, and her favorite films are “Lost in Translation,” “Harlan County,” “Holy Motors,” “Breathless,” and “Born in Flames.” You can follow her on letterboxd and instagram at EbbCinemaFlow.
Vice-Chair: Edie Ellis (she/her)
Edie is an experienced international business leader and consultant providing data-driven value enhancement, or business turnaround. She is an expert in marketing, financial analysis, profitability analysis, strategic and project planning. She advises in retail, manufacturing and service businesses including acquisitions, liquidations and business development.
She is a Board Member and co-chair of the Sponsorship Committee for the Professional Women’s Club of Chicago.
Edie is passionate about cinema, theater and music, and is honored to be a part of the Cinema Femme team.
Treasurer: Kimberly Wasney (she/her)
Kim is a strategic relationship management executive with a passion for mission-driven work, data-driven problem-solving, and coaching. With over a decade of experience leading sales and operations teams for startups, she brings a wealth of practical knowledge to our board and her company Ripples Edge Advisors.
Kim’s expertise spans strategic planning, forecasting, KPI management, sales process development, and team leadership. Her hands-on experience provides deep insight into the hurdles growing businesses face and the strategies needed to overcome them.
Fun facts: Kim opened a volleyball club in New Mexico at age 22 (entrepreneur for life) and re-reads Pride and Prejudice once a year.
Secretary: Haroula Rose (she/her)
Haroula Rose is an award-winning Greek American filmmaker and performer from Chicago, now based also in Los Angeles. Her sophomore feature as writer and director, ALL HAPPY FAMILIES which stars Josh Radnor, Becky Ann Baker, Rob Huebel, Chandra Russell and John Ashton among others, and is being Executive Produced by Michael Shannon will be released theatrically in late 2024.
Her feature film debut ONCE UPON A RIVER was called “One of the Most Anticipated Films” by TIME Magazine and FILMMAKER, winning 19 awards at 40 festivals worldwide including Best Director at the Bend Film Festival, Red Nation, the Alice Guy Blaché Emerging Female Filmmaker Award at Oxford, the Stubbornly Independent Award at Tallgrass, and only the second American film ever to win the Efebo d’Oro in Palermo, Italy. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: “ ‘Once Upon a River’ is a living prose poem filled with beautifully framed images and featuring some of the strongest writing and acting you’ll find in any movie this year. It’s not to be missed.”
Assistant Secretary: Anna Pattison (she/her)
Bio coming soon!
Member: Sonia Evans (she/her)
Sonia is currently VP of Development for The Ebert Company and Rogerebert.com. She previously served as Supervising Producer on the television show, “Ebert Presents: At the Movies” that aired on PBS stations nationally. Sonia also served as Associate Producer on the 2017 Whitney Houston documentary, “Whitney: Can I Be Me,” and worked as VP of Development and Production for Spicerack Productions, overseeing family-focused content.
Sonia began her production career as a production associate for ABC Studios in Burbank, California. She received her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and currently serves on the boards of The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL and the Black Perspectives committee of the Chicago International Film Festival.
Member: Laura Moss (they/them)
Laura Moss (they/them) is a filmmaker from NYC. Their work has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, Rotterdam, and SXSW, and they were one of Indiwire’s 10 LGTBTQ Creators On The Rise in 2023.
Their feature debut, ‘BIRTH/REBIRTH premiered in the Midnight section at Sundance 2023. It was distributed theatrically by IFC and Focus/Universal. It was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards (Best Screenplay and Best Lead Performance, Judy Reyes). Their short film ‘Fry Day’ premiered at SXSW, was featured as a Vimeo Staff Pick and is currently on the Criterion Channel, paired with the classic satire, ‘Man Bites Dog.’
Member: Oluwaseun Babalola (she/her)
Oluwaseun Babalola is a DOC NYC 40 under 40 Honoree, award-winning director, Emmy-nominated producer, exhibited photographer, and nonprofit founder/executive director. She has produced for networks such as CNN, HBO, CNBC, PBS, Netflix, AMC, Starz, and The Africa Channel. Her passion for storytelling led to the creation of Kosinima, Inc., a nonprofit that provides funding and career support for African and African diaspora creatives, including two short film grant funds for Black femme filmmakers and ṢOJU, a digital documentary series celebrating youth culture on the African continent.
Member: Deborah Kampmeier (she/her)
Deborah Kampmeier is an award winning filmmaker who has written, directed, produced and edited multiple independent feature and short films. She founded Full Moon Films in 1993 to create films by and about women.
In addition, Kampmeier, is a highly sought after television director. This spring she returns to HBO’s critically-acclaimed period drama “The Gilded Age,” having previously directed two episodes in their second season, she will be directing three episodes of season three. Additionally, she recently directed two episodes of young adult crime series “Harlan Coben’s Shelter” for Amazon and Western thriller “Outer Range” starring Josh Brolin, also for Amazon.
Through her production company, Kampmeier wrote, directed and produced four feature films. Her first feature, “Virgin,” starring Elisabeth Moss and Robin Wright, was nominated for two 2004 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Actress for Elisabeth Moss and the John Cassavetes Award. Her second feature, “Hounddog,” starring Dakota Fanning and Robin Wright was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Kampmeier’s third feature, “Split,” won Best of Show at the 2016 Female Eye Film Festival. Her fourth feature, “Tape,” starring Isabelle Fuhrman, was scheduled to open in theaters March 2020 but unfortunately Covid prevented its theatrical release. It is now available on VOD.
Kampmeier made her television directorial debut on Ava DuVernay & Oprah Winfrey’s heralded drama “Queen Sugar” in 2019 and followed immediately with two episodes of the first season of DuVernay’s “Cherish the Day.” Since then, she has also directed episodes of “Clarice,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard,” “FBI: International,” and “Tales of the Walking Dead.”
Kampmeier is developing her next features “Holy Whore,” “The Cassandra,” “Pilgrim’s Wilderness,” and “Dirt Rhapsody,” as well as her series “A Witch in Harlem,” and limited series “Radioactive Mothers.”
Kampmeier is the founder and CEO of The New Myths Film Fund, an investment, production, sales and marketing platform for high-caliber female identified filmmakers who are writing, directing and producing feature films that create new myths, and unearth ancient ones, that honor women’s deepest truths, change the cultural narrative, and set women free. The New Myths Film Fund presents a new paradigm in the media landscape set to disrupt the current world culture.