I shaped my craft in the coldest of nationsAnd became its first female directorMy art was declined by various creations The passion for acting at first was greaterI tread on several stages as a thespianI studied at the Moscow Art Theatre My repertoire covered all that was RussianThe Keys To Happiness was my screen debutMy directorial shift triggered discussion In 1916 I had a big breakthroughMy film was praised, unlike my identityMy name: masculinised in every review Yet I continued my path incessantlyI directed fourteen films and went beyondAcademia was another specialty My support towards newcomers was headstrongAlso through the Gerasimov InstituteI, Olga Preobrazhenskaya, always stood strong I was tackling a medium that was muteMy plight was shared by a brilliant sisterhoodThat could write, perform, edit and of course, shoot It was a mission, not just a livelihoodEsfir Shub I admired considerablyHer montage of archival reel was so goodIn The Fall Of The Romanov DynastyFacts were everything, fiction she would withholdHer work was a visual book of history Aleksandra Khokhlova was also boldThe intelligentsia came from familyBut her artistic path she alone controlled She did not succumb to wicked calumnyShe was told she did not have the looks to actSo she took control of filming skillfully Margarita Barskaya made a huge impactOf both silent films and talkies she took holdWhilst the Brumberg Sisters had properly tracked The new animation technique to beholdWe were Russian female filmmakersTrying to leave a solid mark in the world We were dreamy artists, not mischief-makersThus, I was granted the title of HonourI was approved by the policy-makers I was a step away from the embalmerWill recognition come for all at ninety?Good Luck Soviet Female cinema d’auteur!