<p>Less than 10 percent of film directors are women. <br/>Xochitl Dorsey is one of them. <br/>Although saddened by the statistic, her passion for filmmaking is fueled by the hope that more women and Latinos will pursue the career in years to come. <br/>?There always just seemed to be this gap with films that dealt with experiences that I could relate to, which was very Latino-specific,? said the graduate student in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. <br/>As Dorsey strives to fill part of that gap, she is off to a successful start with her two-minute short film, ?Tears and Tortillas,? which won first place in the student filmmaker category of the Mercury Latino Lens Short Film Challenge in November. <br/>The contest, a red-carpet event, awarded the six most promising Latino students and emerging filmmakers in the country. Dorsey?s overt appreciation for her cast and professors emphasizes her humble and down-to-earth demeanor. <br/>Before coming to UCLA, and before her passion for filmmaking was fully realized, Dorsey attended New York University, where she received a master?s degree in Latin American studies and museum studies. <br/>It was Dorsey?s internship at the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, where she was assigned to work on an art event, which first sparked her interest in filmmaking. <br/>?After that, just kind of understanding film and art just completely changed my whole world and my whole passion for art ... because it was so much more accessible,? she said. <br/>She also worked in film marketing and acquisitions as marketing manager at the nonprofit media arts organization Women Make Movies, which produces, distributes and promotes independent films and videos by and about women. <br/>?It was a very empowering experience to know that there was a history of women filmmakers,? Dorsey said. ?I met so many of them working there that it made the possibility of me becoming a filmmaker all the more real, and not impossible or implausible.? <br/>Dorsey had always worked in support of other filmmakers in New York but never found the time to produce a film of her own. But while in New York, an independent and documentary filmmaker gave Dorsey a paramount piece of advice. <br/>??Right now, you?re at a place where you have to go to film school,? he said. ?You have to find your own voice. Build up your reel and take that next step,?? Dorsey said. <br/>So Dorsey took the next step. <br/>She moved back to Los Angeles to attend the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where she is now working toward earning a master of fine arts degree in film directing and production. <br/>?Part of the reason I came to Los Angeles,? said Dorsey, ?is that every story that I was writing, every story that I was coming up with, always came back to stories from my childhood here or my experiences here in Los Angeles.? <br/>Dorsey was raised in Monterey Park and around East Los Angeles, a community to which she attributes her inspiration for story ideas. She was raised in a bicultural family: her mother an immigrant from Mexico and her father a U.S. citizen. <br/>?Being anxious to tell those stories and knowing that there was a need for it motivated me to look within ... because I have so many colorful people in my family and colorful people in my community,? Dorsey said. ?We grew up with such a strange sense of humor, my sisters and I. There was just so much there to be inspired by.? <br/>This ?strange sense of humor? proves to be extremely intriguing in ?Tears and Tortillas,? in which a woman cooks a tortilla that bears the portrait of her dead husband in burn marks. <br/>Having chosen UCLA over other film schools, Dorsey is continuously impressed by the commitment of her professors and the intelligence and boldness of her peers. <br/>?It takes so much guts and talent to put (a film) out there, and UCLA attracts those kinds of people that have that risk-taking factor,? she said. <br/>As for life after film school, Dorsey is open-minded. <br/>?I am right now just trying to exercise all the muscles that I can as a filmmaker,? she said. <br/>But it is also Dorsey?s hope that her filmmaking may encourage other women, specifically Latinas, to do the same. <br/>?I am hoping that there are more (Latina filmmakers) after me ... that can see that this is a viable opportunity,? Dorsey said. ?The only thing standing in people?s way is just getting out there and doing it.?</p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;