Citizen Jane Film Festival: bringing the community together in Columbia, MO

From Tulsa, I flew to the very first Citizen Jane Film festival, at the invitation of my friend Kerri Yost. Kerri and I were lucky enough to be hotel roommates the year we both won awards at Silverdocs for our short docs (she received the Audience Award for "Billy" and I received the Sterling Jury Prize for "Welcome. A docu-journey of impressions"). Kerri is now head of the film department at Stephens College, and in collaboration with Polina Malikin, just launched the very first women's film festival in the heart of Columbia, MO, home of the celebrated True/False Film Festival. It felt really nice to be surrounded by women filmmakers and artists!

The screening of Made in L.A., which was sponsored by Radio Adelante, a Spanish-language news program which airs each week on public radio station KOPN 89.5, brought together diverse panelists from the community who linked the issues in the film to the specific conditions of immigrants and other workers in Missouri.

Carolina Escalera from Radio Adelante described the event: "Radio Adelante invited leaders from the region's Latino community to talk about how the film relates to issues in Missouri. The panel included researchers, professors, community and youth leaders. Radio Adelante seeks to inform the public and spark conversations that give voice to Latinos in mid-Missouri because this group is often misunderstood or marginalized. The movie and the panel helped create a forum for conversations on work conditions, language barriers, community advocacy and leadership. Radio Adelante is proud to be a part of promoting conversations like this one. Made In L.A. helps people learn about others and realize that most people are searching for the same things in life... If you haven't seen the movie, we hope you do!"

You can read an article about the film (and me, I guess) in Vox Magazine that came out right before the festival, or check Rebecca Martinez's comment about Made in L.A. in our Audience Reactions page (Rebecca was at the panel and teaches at the Women and Gender Studies Department at the University of Missouri).