Rose Troche, director of films and television shows including “The L Word,” discussed the representation of Latinas in film Tuesday as part of the Latina/o Media Makers series, hosted by the Center for Mexican American Studies.

The discussion was the first in a series of three events featuring Latina and Latino film and media makers who have significantly contributed to their culture‘s visibility and media production.

Troche talked about her experiences as a Latina producer and director, as well as the importance of the portrayal of women in film and media production, as she shared clips of her work.

“(The L word) was a world where women had agency, and that is why I think it was a popular show,” Troche said.

Troche said it is important to stand up and defend your identity. “My identity gets mistaken a lot,” Troche said. “It’s really important to me to say ‘I’m Puerto Rican,’ and for people to be like ‘you don’t look it’ and mean that as a compliment … is all sorts of wrong.”

Following the clip screening, Troche answered questions from the audience about her career.

Troche said the portrayal of Latina women in the film industry has not changed significantly during her career, but she feels optimistic with the advances made in the past few years.

“We need more content … so there’s more opportunities for women to become show-runners,” Troche said.

The event was also sponsored by the Radio-Television-Film Department and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. Radio-television-film associate professor Mary Beltran, radio-television-film associate professor and a coordinator of the series, said their goal is to show the influence of Latinas and Latinos in the film industry.

“Part of it is simply showcasing and showing that there are Latinas and Latinos in media and production that have really done important work,” Beltran said.

The series will also feature Jesús Treviño, a writer and director for shoes such as Criminal Minds and Prison Break, and Jim Mendiola, an independent filmmaker, programmer and writer.

Even though she does not have a background in the film industry, psychology senior Lucila Trujillo said it was interesting to hear Troche’s perspective.

“I didn’t really know what to expect but I got an invitation, and I thought it would be really interesting mostly because (Troche) is Latina,” Trujillo said. “I was not disappointed. She gave a really interesting perspective that I hadn’t thought about.”