Cinemafile

Amber and her four best friends flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface. What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a revenge-fueled nightmare. Featuring a stellar cast that includes; Bella Thorne, Chloe Cherry, Helena Howard, Sophia Ali, and Zión Moreno, Find Your Friends, director and writer Izabel Pakzad joins us to talk about why she wanted to tell this story about the trauma and fear women are forced to regularly navigate and how this film is a loud and clear expression of resistance.

About the filmmaker - Izabel Pakzad is an Iranian-Greek American filmmaker, writer, and actor. She recently wrote and directed her debut feature film, Find Your Friends (2026), starring Helena Howard (Madeline's Madeline,) Bella Thorne (Divinity,) Chloe Cherry (Euphoria,) Zion Moreno (Gossip Girl,) Sophia Ali (Uncharted,) and Chris Bauer (The Wire.) Find Your Friends had its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival as one of the festival's headliners, and additionally screened at TIFF as one of 10 Industry Selects, followed by its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest in Texas, where Forbes named it one of 5 "Must-See Films from Fantastic Fest.” The film went on to screen at the Sitges Film Festival and Torino Film Festival. Pakzad’s short film Don’t Worry, It’s Gonna Be OK (2022), which she directed, wrote and starred in, was an official selection at the Oscar qualifying Raindance Film Festival and Hollyshorts, and also won Best Short Film at the L.A. Film Festival. Previously, Pakzad produced and starred in the independent feature, Thena, opposite Chris Bauer, Virginia Gardner (Fall), Brian Marc (White Girl) Will Peltz (Euphoria), Dakotas Lotus (Cami and Coop), and Malia Baker (The Baby-Sitters Club,). Thena had its world premiere at Taormina Film Festival in June 2025.

Acclaimed director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s romantic crime thriller stars Samara Weaving (READY OR NOT, BORDERLINE) as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner, DINNER IN AMERICA), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast. Also starring Kyra Sedgwick, the film features a wide-ranging country music soundtrack, with tracks from artists such as Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, Loretta Lynn, and over a dozen others. Director Adam Carter Rehmeier (Dinner in America) joins us for a lively conversation on making this live wire, criminally entertaining odyssey.

About the filmmaker - ADAM REHMEIER is an American filmmaker from Nebraska City, Nebraska, unbound by genre, blending style, humor and humanity into stories that entertain, move and linger long after the credits roll. Rehmeier’s breakout film, Dinner in America (2020), premiered in competition at Sundance, earned critical acclaim for its energy and performances, and developed a cult following in 2024 thanks to a TikTok-fueled rediscovery, trending on Hulu, Google, and Letterboxd before a second theatrical run into 2025. Variety praised the film’s “bright comic look and energy,” while the New York Times reported on the film’s most recent theatrical run, noting several theaters’ requests to show the film “were the most they’d received for any film,” with one critic adding, “this is what a cult film looks like” for modern movie fans. The film’s theme song that aided the movie’s virality, Watermelon, was also co-written by Rehmeier. Rehmeier’s follow-up Snack Shack (2024), produced by T-Street and MRC, released theatrically by Paramount’s Republic Pictures. Named a “Critic’s Pick” by the New York Times, the film was widely praised for Rehmeier’s evocative vision of teen summer, with the A.V. Club calling the film “kinetic… Rehmeier constructs an intoxicating teenage dreamworld.” Rehmeier premieres Carolina Caroline at TIFF50 this fall, starring Samara Weaving, Kyle Gallner, and Kyra Sedgwick. The film is being produced by Star Thrower (King Richard, Fair Play) and Wonder Company. He just entered post-production on his wild genre-bending feature A BOBBY THING, starring frequent collaborators Gabriel LaBelle and Kyle Gallner.

Emmy award-winning Filipino American film director Michele Josue (Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine) masterfully blends cinematic storytelling with intimate cultural exploration, FOOD ROOTS follows Billy Dec, two-time Emmy Award Winning TV Personality, Actor, Attorney and Entrepreneur, as he journeys through his mother’s native 7,641 islands in the Philippines in search of his last living elders, ancestral recipes, and long-held family stories. Traveling by plane, boat, motorcycle, jeepney, and on foot, he moves through bustling cities, remote islands, and cloud-covered mountain villages, uncovering culinary traditions and personal truths that redefine his understanding of identity, heritage, and belonging.

About the subject - Billy Dec is a 2-time Emmy Award Winning TV Personality, Actor, Attorney and Entrepreneur. Dec is the Founder/CEO of celebrated businesses like Sunda New Asian Restaurants, The Blueprint Underground Cocktail Club, as well as cutting edge Creative Agency COACT, with 4000+ teammates around the world. Dec can regularly be seen hosting and cooking on local & national TV, loves to act from time to time, and is proud to share his heritage in his new documentary FOOD ROOTS. A Chicago-Kent College of Law and Harvard Business School Alum, Dec was a Presidential appointee for five years, serving on the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, and the White House Bullying Prevention Task Force, and has served on many local philanthropic boards and committees.

About the filmmaker - Michele Josue is an Emmy award-winning Filipino American director. She is the Executive Producer and Director of “Happy Jail,” a Netflix Original Documentary Series about the Filipino jail that is home to the world-famous “Dancing Inmates” known for their viral Michael Jackson dance video. Michele’s critically acclaimed feature-film debut "Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine" is the winner of 10 Best Documentary and Audience Choice Awards from festivals worldwide and boasts a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2016, the film won the Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class Special.”

Georgia O’Keeffe is widely revered as the “Mother of American Modernism” and the greatest woman artist of the 20th century. In the 1920s, O’Keeffe became famous for her paintings of flowers, bones, and the beauty of nature. She posed nude for shocking photographs by her lover, Alfred Stieglitz, but denied that her paintings depicted sexual imagery. In the 1970s, living in her beloved New Mexico, she emerged as an iconic role model for American women. Cargo Film & Releasing announced that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness Of Light, about the life and art of the iconic American artist, starring Claire Danes as the Voice of Georgia O’Keeffe with narration by actor Hugh Dancy. Cargo will release the film theatrically for special screenings on and around Mother’s Day this May, with a nationwide digital launch set for June 1. Produced and directed by Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Paul Wagner (The Stone Carvers) and his American Focus producing partner Ellen Casey Wagner (Windhorse).

Shakti is the narrative film debut of Nani Sahra Walker. A single mother, Durga, enrolls her young daughter, Lila, in a private painting class, in order to keep her out of trouble. However, when Lila’s behavior drastically changes and falls ill, she and Durga begin to confront their shared trauma. All this unfolds in the midst of social and political change – particularly surrounding women’s rights – in Nepal. Set in Kathmandu, Nepal – a country that recently elected its first female prime minister – the story unfolds against a backdrop of social and political change, as conversations about women’s rights are increasingly prominent. But behind closed doors is often a different reality.

About the filmmaker - The award-winning Shakti is Walker’s debut narrative feature. Walker (Other Nature) previously won an Academy Award as an executive producer of The Last Repair Shop, and she teaches documentary filmmaking at UC Berkeley.

In her provocative and gripping debut film, FORASTERA Director Lucia Aleñar Iglesias hones in on young woman, Cata, (Zoe Stein) has to deal with the trauma of the sudden death of her grandmother, which only she witnesses. Her grief shifts when she casually turns to play pretend, transforming into the deceased. What begins with a game of dress-up will blur the lines of reality and family roles. Time stops in this house that, strangely, already felt stuck in time. Unable to process her grief, Cata turns to her grandmother’s belongings. Suddenly, objects and clothes she’d never seen now mean something to her, giving her purpose. She begins playing dress-up with her grandfather, who is unable and unwilling to move on from this shocking loss. Cata takes on a new role at home, or rather, this new role takes over Cata. Director and screenwriter Lucia Aleñar Iglesias joins us to talk the challenge of taking the short film version on FORASTERA and expanding in into a feature film, using the same actor to play Cata, Zoe Stein, in both versions of the film, and what it means to her to have FORASTERA premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

Astronaut Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot and command an American spacecraft. SPACEWOMAN beautifully captures Eileen’s journey, from her working-class beginnings in Elmira, NY, to breaking glass ceilings at NASA, commanding four space shuttle missions, and navigating the pressures on her family is awe inspiring. The doc includes archival materials and interviews that highlight both the monumental dangers of spaceflight and the incredible achievements of the shuttle program, including her leadership on STS-114, the first mission after the Columbia tragedy. Based on Eileen’s book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the film is directed by Hannah Berryman and produced by award-winning teams Keith Haviland (Haviland Digital) and Natasha Dack Ojumu (Tigerlily Productions). Director Hannah Berryman and Commander Eileen Collins join us to talk about Spacewoman.

About the filmmaker - Hannah Berryman is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker known for combining archive footage, inventive animation, and recreation with contemporary narratives and powerful interviews with high-profile figures to uncover the human stories behind defining cultural moments. Her 2025 feature documentary Spacewoman follows astronaut Eileen Collins from a young girl growing up on the wrong side of the tracks with a secret dream of spaceflight to becoming the first woman to pilot and command a spacecraft. Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm, her 2020 BAFTA-nominated feature documentary for the BBC and distributed by Autlook Sales Worldwide, tells the extraordinary story of Welsh farmers who created a world-class recording studio on their land. The film features interviews with artists including Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant, Liam Gallagher, and Chris Martin.Other critically acclaimed work includes the two-part Grierson Best Arts–nominated series Banned! The Mary Whitehouse Story (BBC), which examined her campaign against the permissive revolution of the 1970s; the BAFTA-nominated BBC film Miss World: Beauty Queens & Bedlam, exploring the feminist protests surrounding the 1970 Miss World contest; Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal, a two-part profile whose subject’s life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolutions that transformed Britain during the 20th century (BBC/PBS Worldwide); The Rose D'or nominated 'Can We Live With Robots' with dancer Akram Khan (C4); the Grierson-shortlisted documentary A Very English Education, exploring the emotional legacy of British boarding schools; and the Grierson-nominated High Society Brides, an entertaining and revealing look at the upper-class women featured in Country Life magazine across the decades. Based on Eileen’s book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars, the film is directed by Hannah Berryman and produced by award-winning teams Keith Haviland (Haviland Digital) and Natasha Dack Ojumu (Tigerlily Productions).

The Midway Point is a heartfelt coming-of-age drama that explores identity, belonging, and emotional growth through the lens of a young man navigating life on the autism spectrum. Set in modern-day California. The film captures the struggles and beauty of adolescence, friendship, and first love – reminding us that sometimes, one connection can change everything. The film offers an authentic and sensitive portrayal of autism. Celebrating neurodiversity and challenging stereo-types through cinematic storytelling. Its emotional resonance and universal themes make it both deeply human and globally accessible. Starring Sean Ryan Fox("The Righteous Gemstones"), Catharine Daddario ("Second Chances"), Thora Birch (American Beauty, The Walking Dead, Hocus Pocus), Julie Benz ("Dexter," Rambo, Saw V), Audra Wise (Case Closed: the Legal Queen Returns"), Wes Studi (Avatar: Fire and Ash, Avatar, The Last of the Mohicans, Dances with Wolves)

About the filmmaker - Lucca Vieira is an award-winning 20-year-old Brazilian-born filmmaker based out of South Florida. He has been producing skits, animations and videos since the age of eight. At just 16, his debut short film, 'Parkland: Stories from the Survivors', was screened at four film festivals nationwide, and his latest horror short, "Silhouette," was selected at over eight film festivals across the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, his awards include two National YoungArts Foundation Merit prizes, a Scholastic Art and Writing Award, and a Best Student Short award at the Miami Short Film Festival. Now, at age 20, he has written and directed his first ever feature film, 'The Midway Point,' starring, among others, Thora Birch ('American Beauty'), Wes Studi ('The Last of the Mohicans,' 'Heat'), and Julie Benz of 'Dexter' fame.

Ask E. Jean is the riveting story of E. Jean Carroll’s life, from her early days as Miss Cheerleader USA to her rise as a trailblazing journalist, author, and beloved advice columnist. Carroll broke barriers as the first female editor at Esquire, Playboy, and Outside, helping to redefine women’s roles in media with her sharp wit and fearless voice. In recent years, she reignited public discourse by standing up to power, becoming the only woman to beat Donald Trump twice in court, and sparking a national conversation about truth, accountability, and resilience. This film is a portrait of an indomitable woman who proved it’s never too late to reclaim your voice, rewrite your story, and change the world. Directed and produced by award winning filmmaker Ivy Meeropol (Heir to An Execution, Roy Cohn: Bully, Coward, Victim) and produced by award winning filmmakers Laura Bickford (Traffic, Beast Of No Nation) and Annabelle Dunne (Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, Everything Is Copy).

About the filmmaker - IVY MEEROPOL premiered Ask E. Jean, her feature documentary film about the advice columnist and journalist E. Jean Carroll who sued Donald Trump for rape and defamation and won, at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival. The film has gone on to show at festivals across the country, winning the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at The Hot Springs International Documentary Festival, and audience awards at Key West, Sun Valley, and Palm Springs. Ask E. Jean was the closing night film at DOCNYC, and Opening Night film at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Her previous feature documentary AFTER THE BITE, about the explosion of great white sharks and seals on Cape Cod, premiered July 2023 on HBO. She premiered her HBO documentary ROY COHN: BULLY, COWARD, VICTIM at the 2019 New York Film Festival and in 2020 the film was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary. She was the Senior Story Producer on the CNNFilms documentary THE END: INSIDE THE LAST DAYS OF THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE, which premiered at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and was one of the highest rated of CNN’s Original films. She directed and produced the feature INDIAN POINT, about an aging nuclear power plant close to New York City, which was honored with the Frontline Award for Journalism in a Documentary Film and aired on NHK during the anniversary of Fukushima in Japan. Ivy created and directed the nonfiction series THE HILL (Sundance Channel), about Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) and his young staff (nominated for best series by the International Documentary Association). She produced the feature documentary MUSEUM TOWN, which premiered at SXSW, and has produced and directed for the Emmy Award winning climate change series YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (National Geographic) and for DEATH ROW STORIES (CNN), Executive Produced by Alex Gibney and Robert Redford. Ivy’s debut film, HEIR TO AN EXECUTION (HBO), explored the legacy of her grandparents Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. It premiered at Sundance and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. Ivy was a Sundance Institute Fellow and has been awarded grants from the Sundance Documentary Fund, the NY State Council for the Arts, and the MacArthur Foundation. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences

On a remote island in the Chesapeake Bay, a deeply rooted Christian fishing community grapples with the quiet erosion of their land and their traditions. Their centuries-old way of life, sustained by faith and the rhythms of the bay, is now at a poignant crossroads—one that may force them from the only home they’ve ever known. BEEN HERE STAY HERE offers rare, unfiltered access to a place where climate and faith intersect, in a way that feels both unexpected and essential. It’s a canary in the coal mine story- an early glimpse of what thousands of coastal communities may soon face, yet it avoids political rhetoric offering something more grounded and human. This documentary is both a portrait of a disappearing island and a clear-eyed look at how belief, identity, and home are tested when the future arrives faster than expected.

About the filmmaker - David Usui has spent over 15 years crafting character-driven documentaries as a director and cinematographer. His work, which has been featured in The New York Times, PBS, ITVS, The Atlantic, and VICE, reflects a commitment to storytelling that is both intimate and expansive. Usui's collaboration with the legendary Albert Maysles on In Transit- a film that captures the stories of travelers along Amtrak’s “Empire Builder” route- premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Best Feature Documentary. In 2009, he co-founded Lost & Found Films, a production company that crafts visually rich and emotionally grounded nonfiction films. He studied philosophy and human ecology at Western Washington University and later taught documentary filmmaking as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.