Ready for a righteous road trip? The Fourth Annual Citizen Jane Film Festival, celebrating women directors, runs Friday through Sunday in beautiful downtown Columbia, Mo.

Sponsored by Stephens College, the second-oldest women's college in the country, Citizen Jane has quickly grown into a world-class celebration of cinema by—and/or for—women. And it's about time.

Even two years after Kathryn Bigelow exploded gender barriers by winning the Oscar as Best Director for “The Hurt Locker,” female filmmakers are marginalized. Less than 10% of Hollywood films are directed by women.

Citizen Jane is presenting 19 feature films in a variety of genres in downtown Columbia, including Stephens' Windsor and Charter auditoriums, the funky Ragtag Cinema and the grand Missouri Theater.

Highlights include the Oscar-nominated family classic “Whale Rider”; the Shakespeare-themed mystery “A Wake”; the shorts collection “About Love”; the unconventional romance “Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same”; and documentaries about nuclear fallout, family farms, corporate outsourcing and Senegalese rapper Sister Fa.

Most of the directors will be in attendance, and ancillary events include bodacious parties and filmmaking seminars.

Although festival passes are sold out, individual tickets are still available. Visit http://www.citizenjanefilm.org for more information.