The Women in Film discussion Monday afternoon at the M.D. Anderson Library spotlighted women in front of and behind the camera.  |  Caitlin Hilton/ The Cougar

Women in Film discussed the lives and challenges faced by four Houston-area female filmmakers and why it’s important for women to be in film.

“Women tend to be very underrepresented when you look at Hollywood… in film-making, directing and even  acting,” said Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Adviser Maria Corsi. “So what we want to do is showcase that there are women, especially in Houston, that are doing important and prominent things.”

Approximately 75 guests attended the panel in M.D. Anderson Memorial Library’s Rockwell Pavilion to hear more about the different roles women take in film.

Women are often relegated to just acting roles, but they have also worked as screenwriters, directors and producers.

Women in Film featured independent filmmakers Michelle Mower, La Senorita Cinema founder Tish Stringer, Stephanie Saint Sanchez and 14 Pews executive director Cressandra Thibodeaux.

“They have always been here and behind the camera,” said curator and panel moderator Margarita De La Vega-Hurtado.

Mower said she always knew that she wanted to do something in the film industry.

“If you’re a storyteller, you have that in your DNA. You just need to find the medium or outlet for it. It was here at UH that I was first given a chance to tell my stories,” Mower said.

Women in Film is part of the Barbara Karkabi Living Archives series, a source for people who want to learn about women in history, especially women at UH.

“I think it’s a bit disheartening when 50 percent of the population isn’t necessarily represented and when everything that you see in the media comes from one perspective – the male perspective,” said Corsi. “It’s really important that you also get the female perspective on the kinds of issues that they’re making movies about.”

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“Women in Film more than just actors” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar