There will be a free feminist film festival taking place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the Lumpkin Hall auditorium.

The Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival will be two hours long and free refreshments will be provided.

This year will make the ninth year the film festival has been at Eastern.

During the festival, there will be a contest showcasing films from all over the world. The films vary from many types of genres such as animation, fiction, short films and documentaries.

After the films are shown, there will be time set aside to discuss them.

Robin Murray, chair of the Central Illinois Film Festival committee said the films must meet two of four criteria.

The movies must be created by people in an underrepresented field, people of color, those who are a part of the LBGTQ community or people who are disabled and they must be about local or global issues.

“We have a commitment to showcasing films from filmmakers who are from underrepresented groups,” Murray said.

Men are allowed to submit videos as well as long as they meet the criteria.

The winners who met two or more of the criteria were already selected and will be honored at the event. There will be cash prizes for first, second and third place.

The winners will also have their video played at the event.

Jeannie Ludlow, the coordinator of the women’s studies program said no students or staff from Eastern has submitted a film.

She said students and staff at Eastern do not show enough attention to Women’s History and Awareness Month.

“This is one of my favorite things at Eastern. I would love to see more people at Eastern come because (the festival is) really, really amazing,” Ludlow said.

The Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival at Eastern is one of the few here in the United States, Murray said.

She said there will be one in Chicago eventually. Other states that have a feminist film festival include California and Arizona.

This year is different because this is the first time over one thousand submissions have been made for the contest, Ludlow said.

She said last year there were eight hundred submissions. The first three years of the festival, there was between 20 to 25.

“It comes back to Eastern because it started here,” Ludlow said. “Every film is like a little slice of women’s lives and that’s why it’s important to do this during Women’s History and Awareness Month.”

Janet Pernell can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]