The Eau Queer Film Festival is back once again, this year with a theme of “becoming.”

“It’s about identity and individual identity and focuses around communities,” said Programing director Amelia Montie. “It was a theme that really stuck for us that we thought was encompassing of general topics but also can be really meaningful on other levels.”

The festival, which kicked off its ninth year on Tuesday, will run until Oct. 13 and show a total of 12 full-length films and four compilations of short films.

The Eau Queer Film Festival was founded in 2010 by Ellen Mahaffy, communication and journalism professor; and Pam Forman, professor and chair of sociology and interim chair of philosophy, to embrace difference, promote equality, encourage activism and challenge and educate through the powerful medium of film.

All films will air in Woodland Theater in Davies Student Center, except for “Alone in the Game,” which airs at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Schofield Auditorium. The festival allows for interaction with some of the directors, as they introduce their film before and answer questions after.

The Eau Queer Film Festival student directors exemplified the theme “becoming” by making sure every movie reflected the constantly evolving and adapting LGBTQ+ community, Mason Pint — one of this year’s six directors — said.

“We want people to walk away with the sense that they’ve now been represented in film because film is such a powerful medium,” Pint said. “We do the film festival in hopes to bring representation to marginalized communities that otherwise wouldn’t be brought forward.”

To choose films just for this year’s festival, the Eau Queer Film Festival staff directors — Logan Crapser, Amelia Montie, Clara Neupert, Mason Pint, Chandler Roberts and Annie Titus — travelled to San Francisco in June for Frameline42, the largest running LGBTQ+ international film festival.

This year the Eau Claire Film Festival is led by Mahaffy, Forman, Christopher Jorgenson, religious studies and director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, and Kallie Friede, the GSRC’s graduate assistant.

Thursday’s film schedule kicks off at noon with the screening of seven shorts under the category of “Becoming Ourselves.” Full-length films “Man Made” and “Alone in the Game” will be aired at 5 and 7 p.m. Thursday.

Friday’s screenings begin at noon with a compilation of shorts entitled “Becoming Vocal.” Three films — “They,” “1985” and “Mario” — will air at 4, 6 and 8 p.m. Friday.

Saturday, the last day of the festival, will start with a grouping of shorts called “Becoming Resistant.” Three films — “Close-Knit,” “Believer” and “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” will be screened at 3:30, 6 and 8 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s just a great celebration of queer identities,” said Montie. “And it’s just a really validating experience for students to see their identities and experiences on screen and in such a public space.”

This event is free and open to all.

Schumacher can be reached at [email protected]