The Zonta Club of Madison hosted Wednesday their first installment of LUNAfest, a traveling film festival run “by, for and about women.”

LUNAfest has screenings in over 175 cities in the U.S, and was inspired by the fact that there are 2.13 male short-film directors to every one female director. These numbers are even more staggering for full-length films, in which there are 22 male directors for every one female director, according to LUNA’s website.

LUNAfest is meant to raise awareness about women’s issues and women in film, while also raising money for causes that support women. The Zonta Club of Madison wholeheartedly supports these ideals.

Northwestern professor discusses artistic expressions of activism at UW event

Sandy Peterson, a member of the Zonta Club of Madison, said women are often underrepresented in film projects.

“Because we support women in a variety of ways and empower them … this is another venue that shows that women can do it,” Peterson said.

As this was the first year Zonta hosted one of the LUNAfest screenings, the film festival was wildly successful — selling out soon after it was announced. The funds from the tickets go to support the Zonta Club of Madison.

Zonta works to empower women and fundraise for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, along with other female-oriented organizations — such as Chicken & Egg Pictures, which works to celebrate female nonfiction filmmakers.

Mighty Con participants parade their expressive costumes at Monona Terrace

The eight films depicted at this year’s LUNAfest represented a diverse array of ages, races and sexualities, although all of the films were centered around the stories of women.

The list of shorts includes “Flip the Record” by Marie Jamora, “The Final Show” by Dana Nachman, “My Immigrant Story” by Yuriko Gamo Romer, “War Paint” by Katrelle N. Kindred, “Drummer Girl” by Sophie Hexter, “Are We Good Parents?” by Bola Ogun, “Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday” by Jackie Files and “Ur Dead to Me” by Yonoko Li.

One of the comedic films from the festival was, “Are We Good Parents?” It focused on two parents curious about whether they had raised their 14-year-old daughter well. This short film produced lots of laughs from the audience, and brought up issues of gender and sexuality in a light-hearted and educational way.

Following the screening, Zonta President Kathleen Vos announced that the Zonta Club of Madison planned to continue to host LUNAfest in coming years — so expect more showings of the film festival going forward.