Film Forum

The Future of Film is Female is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to amplify the work of all women and nonbinary filmmakers through its twice annual FOFIF Short Film Fund and commitment to exhibiting programming.

For 53 years Women Make Movies has been championing women filmmakers and their stories. The organization supports women producers and directors from the beginning, planting the seeds for a diverse and inclusive filmmaking landscape. As the world’s leading distributor of independent films by and about women, we amplify historically ignored voices and challenge the mainstream media.

Sarah Friedland is a filmmaker and choreographer working at the intersection of moving images and moving bodies. Her work has been presented in festivals and art spaces including the New York Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, Mubi, MoMA and the Performa19 Biennial. Sarah graduated from Brown University’s department of Modern Culture and Media and started her career assisting filmmakers including Steve McQueen, Mike S. Ryan, and Kelly Reichardt. From 2021 - 2022, she was both a Pina Bausch Fellow for Choreography and a NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Film/Video, and was named to Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2023. Her short film trilogy, Movement Exercises, is distributed by Video Data Bank. Sarah has been working in creative aging for the last eight years, as a caregiver to artists with dementia, and as a teaching artist facilitating intergenerational films and workshops for older adults. FAMILIAR TOUCH is her debut feature film.

Kathleen Chalfant has spent more than five decades performing on stage, screen, and TV. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Vivian Bearing in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Wit, for which she received Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, and Ovation awards. Other critically acclaimed roles include Hannah Pitt/Ethel Rosenberg in the original cast of Tony Kushner’s groundbreaking Angels in America, receiving nominations for both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards. Notable film credits include KINSEY, DUPLICITY, and THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO, among many others. Her beloved TV characters include playing Margaret Butler on Showtime’s The Affair, as well as roles in House of Cards, The Americans, Madame Secretary, Elementary, High Maintenance, and all the various Law and Orders. Kathleen has collaborated with acclaimed experimental filmmakers and choreographers, including Yvonne Rainer, Barbara Hammer, and Pam Tanowitz.

Carolyn Michelle is an NYC-based Actress and Producer. Upon graduating Juilliard, Carolyn was cast in the Off-Broadway production Hit The Wall, as well as David Leveaux’s Romeo and Juliet on Broadway starring Condola Rashad and Orlando Bloom. Select Recurring and Guest TV credits include: And Just Like That (Season 3), The CHI (Seasons 5/6), Chicago Med, Russian Doll, Law and Order: SVU, Code Black, How to Get Away With Murder, House of Cards, Luke Cage, Cherish The Day, COLONY, and House of Cards. As a Producer, Carolyn is currently in development of the feature film: UNTITLED CALYPSO PROJECT with FANDOMODO Productions, and is a founding member of the Juilliard Black Alumni Association with fellow members: Danielle Brooks, Corey Hawkins, and Teyonah Parris. She is a Residency Member of the 2024-2025 Kripalu Regenerative Artists Community, as well as a Visiting Lecturer in Acting at Cornell University.

Caryn Coleman is a film programmer based in New York and the founder of The Future of Film is Female, a non-profit that amplifies the work of all women and non-binary filmmakers. She is the co-curator of Horror: Messaging the Monstrous at the Museum of Modern Art where she also guest-curates an ongoing The FOFIF series. Previously, Caryn was the Director of Programming at Nitehawk Cinema where she founded the Nitehawk Shorts Festival in 2013. She is a fighter for gender equality in the film industry, a lover of horror films, a short film advocate, and an independent film supporter.

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