F-Sides was created in Bucharest in 2020 by Alexandra Lulache and Ioana Diaconu as a means to combat the small number of films by female directors, with only 17% of movies shown in Romanian cinemas in 2019 having been directed by a woman.[1][2] According to Diaconu, the project seeks to ”bring the female perspective into the spotlight as to be a starting point for debating topics such as sorority, freedom of one’s own body, girls’ education, violence against women, exploring sexuality, motherhood or intergenerational communication”.[3] It was the first Romanian film society to focus on female creators.[2][3] Because it debuted during the COVID-19 pandemic, screenings took place in outdoor venues during the 2020 season, with some screenings moving online.[4][5]
Beginning with its second year, F-Sides began expanding to other cities in Romania, with screenings taking place in Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara and Sibiu, among others.[6] The cineclub's selection mostly consists of independent and international art films,[3][7] but in 2022 it also inaugurated "F-Sides Premieres", a curatorial line which selects more recent movies which proved popular with general audiences.[8] In April 2022, F-Sided collaborated with the archiving project of the UNATC film school to organize a retrospective of Romanian director Cristiana Nicolae [ro], with the stated aim of re-popularizing her work among modern audiences.[9][10]
In 2022 F-Sides launched a side-project called "Chapters", which consists of film screenings in small and medium-sized towns, mainly to an audience of young people,[1][11] as well as of a social study researching cultural consumption among youth living in small urban areas.[12][13] In October 2022, F-Sides marked the end of its third season with a contemporary art exhibition by women artists.[14]