Calling Female Filmmakers！

唐羽弘

Charlotte Kane and Ella Marks， both 12， have been making movies together since they were in the fifth grade. The girls， who live in San Francisco， California， meet up with other kids in their Noe Valley neighborhood after school and on weekends to film together. Charlotte and Ella taught themselves how to use editing software for their first series， The Adventures of the Annoying Apple. Because they had so much fun， they decided to take it to the next level and start their own companies. Charlotte named hers Murphy Films， after her dog， and Ella named hers Avocado Films， after the tree in her backyard. They asked their younger sisters， Caitlin Kane， 10， and Maggie Marks， 10， to star in and work on some of the movies.

The Marks and Kane sisters use posters to advertise their new film festival around town.

Now， Charlotte， Ella， Caitlin， and Maggie are sharing their love of moviemaking with the world. They started their own film this year， called the Noe Valley Girls Film Festival （NVGFF）.

“There arent many filmmakers that are girls，” Ella told TFK. “We love to make movies so we want to increase the number of girls who want to do filmmaking， too，” Charlotte added.

Many people in the film industry share Charlotte and Ellas concern about the low number of female filmmakers. Last year， many Hollywood actors and actresses， including Meryl Streep and Patricia Arquette， took a stand on the female filmmakers. They are calling for more powerful female leads， and making sure women can make the same money as men.

A new report from San Diego State University says that women made up only 9% of directors among the top 250 films. In the whole history of the Oscars， only four female directors have won an Oscar for Best Director. Those winners were Kathryn Bigelow （2010）， Lina Wertmüller （1976）， Jane Campion （1993）， and Sofia Coppola （2003）.

Vocabulary

company n. 公司

backyard n. 后院

increase v. 增加

concern n. 关注

（What do you think of female filmmakers？）