Feminism lends itself a different voice when it comes to Columbia’s annual Citizen Jane Film Festival. This weekend’s three-day fest, sponsored by Stephens College, showcases unique stories by female filmmakers from all over the world.

Now in its sixth year, the festival will follow the theme of “Evolution.”

“Because (the festival is) six years old, we’re at a point where we really want to talk about the history that’s preceded us, as well as what’s to come in the future,” festival director Paula Elias says.

Elias cites 20th century French film pioneer Alice Guy-Blaché as one of the theme’s inspirations.

“Alice Guy-Blaché is the first narrative (fiction) director ever,” Elias says. “Not just the first female director, but the first narrative director ever.”

In line with Guy-Blaché’s legacy, Elias says Citizen Jane has a lineup with almost double the narrative films this year. One highlight includes “A Teacher,” which tells the story of the unraveling of a teacher’s life after she begins an affair with her student.

“We’re much more well-represented in documentary films than fiction films,” Elias says. “And to have double the number is one of our goals…. This is a big achievement.”

The festival, nevertheless, has a strong documentary lineup: “Citizen Koch,” made by Oscar-nominated filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, is a much-anticipated film about the implications of tensions between Wisconsin lawmakers and union employees.

However, Citizen Jane hasn’t just “evolved” in terms of its film picks. It will also host its first formal summit at 3 p.m. Thursday.

The summit preceding the festival will be held at Stephens’ Historic Senior Hall, and will host a panel with guests to speak about female empowerment through storytelling. The speakers will be award-winning feminist filmmakers Yvonne Welbon and Julia Reichert, “Women and Hollywood” blogger and journalist Melissa Silverstein, and two recent MU grads, Kaylen Ralph and Joanna Demkiewicz.

In March, Ralph and Demkiewicz started [The Riveter](http://www.therivetermagazine.com/), a magazine intended to empower women as storytellers and longform journalists. Both were passionate about Citizen Jane during their time at MU and saw an opportunity to promote the fest’s vision through their own work.

“We reached out to Paula first, and the really amazing thing was how receptive she was in wanting to be involved,” Demkiewicz says. “The tagline of Citizen Jane is ‘Independent Film by Independent Women,’ so we thought, ‘We’re independently published as well’…. (Paula) was really open to working with us and exploring different options.”

Demkiewicz says the genesis of Citizen Jane was something she and Ralph could connect with Elias on.

“We kind of have parallel visions going on, even if we aren’t experts in film,” Demkiewicz says.

Ralph agrees.

“We’re going to be there to talk about storytelling in a different form other than filmmaking, and how there are certainly a lot of crossovers between the two genres like storytelling through film and longform journalism,” Ralph says. “It’d be interesting to not necessarily meld the genres together, but at least think about them in the same sort of way.”

Regardless of medium of expression, Citizen Jane is popular for its hands-on interactions with audience members in all aspects of the festival.

“What I liked the most about it last year was that the director-producer of the movie I saw was in the audience,” junior Caitlyn Stevens says. “Afterward she gave a Q&A, and it was really interesting to hear her perspective.”

Senior Melissa Wasicko seconds this.

“You get that extra perspective you wouldn’t get if you just saw one of these movies in theaters,” Wasicko says. “Hearing a woman’s perspective on what it’s like to be a filmmaker in this world is really cool as well.”

Demkiewicz says she encourages both men and women to attend the summit and see the panel.

The summit can help fire out ideas from both the panelists and the audience, Ralph says.

“It’s not just about the people who are sitting on the panel who have great ideas,” Ralph says. “It’s about everyone coming together and interacting and seeing what happens.”