With hundreds of mainly women packing the Brava Theater in San Francisco’s Mission District, and dozens more standing in line outside hoping to get in, the Sixth Annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival kicked off – promising to enlighten and entertain.

And if Friday night’s opening was any indication, the rest of the festival, which runs through Sunday, June 13, will be a huge success.

The festival is part of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project – or QWOCMAP – which “promotes the creation, exhibition and distribution of new films and videos that increase the visibility of queer women of color, authentically reflect our life stories, and address the vital social justice issues that concern our communities.” The program's leaders are determined to present the annual festival at no charge to the community, provides training, equipment, resources and more to traditionally underserved communities, especially low-income and immigrant queer women of color

“It’s about the relationships that we have with our filmmakers … , said Managing Director T. Kebo Drew about the participants in the project. “And we tell them, it’s not just about you and your film. It’s about this film, you and the community.”

Throughout the weekend, 38 films will be shown, all of which have been produced by emerging media artists who are Asian/Pacific Islander, African American, Latina, Native American and mixed-race lesbians, bisexual, queer and questioning women in the Bay Area.

“Tomorrow our focus is on queer Native American Indigenous First Nation Women,” said Founding Executive Director Madeline Kim. “Come on … where else are you going to hear of another event like that?”

For a full list of films, a schedule of events, to donate and/or to learn more about QWOCMAP, visit http://www.qwocmap.org/.