The film Slip

There’s something unusual about the featured short movies in the LunaFest film festival, which comes Sunday to Lawrence.

“They’re all made by women, and they’re all about women,” says Catherine Preston, associate professor of theater and film at Kansas University.

Women in Film, a nonprofit organization that tracks and advocates women in the movie industry, says only 7 percent of film directors were women in 2005, down 4 percent from 2000.

But events such as LunaFest are giving women filmmakers an outlet for their movies.

The festival, which is traveling to about 100 venues nationwide, includes nine short films. It’s sponsored by LunaBars, an organic nutrition bar.

At each location, a portion of the proceeds goes to the Breast Cancer Fund to support research.

Locally, the festival will screen at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday at Liberty Hall, 642 Mass. The Lawrence chapter of the 100 Good Women organization is sponsoring the event. In addition to the Breast Cancer Fund, proceeds will go to the GaDuGi SafeCenter and scholarships for the theater and film department at KU.

Preston, a member of 100 Good Women who is helping organize Sunday’s screenings, says several of the films have attracted her attention:

¢ “Top of the Circle,” an experimental film by Shaz Bennett that explores the cycle of life and death.

¢ “Mann Ke Manjeere,” a film by Sujit Sircar about a domestic violence survivor in India.

¢ “Slip of the Tongue,” which looks at “perceptions of beauty, ethnicity and body image,” by Karen Lum.

¢ “Breached,” by Laura Richard, about a pregnant Mexican woman nearing delivery who wants to have her baby on American soil.

A full list of films can be found at www.lunafest.org.

“It’s always interesting when women take the camera and use it to address issues like that,” Preston says. “Bringing (the festival) in is a really unique opportunity for the Lawrence community to see a range of films made by women around the world. These are issues that all women face: body image, social status, the future of our children, domestic abuse and breast cancer.”

If Sunday’s event goes well, Preston thinks this could be an ongoing benefit project for 100 Good Women.

“I’m hoping so,” Preston says. “Every year it’s different films. I hope we could bring it here again.”