New York City is abuzz with anticipation for next month’s Tribeca Film Festival and on Wednesday, Oscar-winning actress — and champion of women’s equality in Hollywood — Patricia Arquette hosted a special panel discussion as part of #ActuallySheCan, a female empowerment initiative that has a new collaboration with Tribeca Digital Studios.
The “Boyhood” star chatted with three young female filmmakers — including two New York University alumni — who created short documentaries highlighting notable women and their professional achievements across various industries.
Wednesday’s panel focused on the importance of maintaining a dialogue about female inequality in the movie industry and the need for more films in the woman’s perspective.
The movies will screen during the Tribeca Film Festival next month.
Daniela Soto-Innes, the 25-year-old chef at the helm of Flatiron’s ultrahip Mexican restaurant Cosme is the focus of NYU alum Emily Harrold’s film “The Cocinera.”
Erin Sanger, also from NYU, documents photojournalist Katie Orlinsky in “Women in the Wild,” based around the Iditarod Trail Dog Race in Alaska.
The third documentary short, “Chromat,” is named for a Brooklyn-based lingerie company known for its architectural creations from fashion designer Becca McCharen.
Anne Munger, a producer for the film — which was directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg — represented “Chromat” at Wednesday’s panel.
“I don’t think we’ve seen stories like the ones [these women] are telling in their films through the female gaze,” Arquette said of the documentaries. “People’s experiences and stories need to be told.”
She cited a study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, at San Diego State University, which reported that only 7% of the directors of the 250 top-grossing films from around the world in 2014 were female.
Though Arquette noted that men hold the most power in all industries, she said Hollywood is where the spotlight of the matter rests.
The event, which took place at The Smyth Hotel’s Little Park restaurant in TriBeCa, was mostly attended by women, but when the shorts screen at the festival, hopefully more men — particularly those who hold so much of the power and influence in the film industry — will become more vocal on the cause as well.
