The Bluestocking Film Series returns to St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress St., on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. to screen short films by women directors from Maine, New York, Los Angeles and Germany.

Founder and organizer Kate Kaminski, who lives in South Portland and has been making films for 20 years, said in an email to The Times Record, “I conceived the Bluestocking Film Series to specifically bring films by and about women to Maine audiences. It’s not about excluding men — what we’re committed to is introducing more women’s voices into the mix because we believe that’s a good thing for all genders. It’s also about engaging with other women filmmakers.”

The films in the series are described as follows:

Lisa Hammer’s “The Sisters Plotz” is a 45-minute satiric musical featuring among others Eve Plumb, of “The Brady Bunch” fame. Though the Bluestocking’s tight two-hour schedule wouldn’t allow for the whole film to be shown, Kaminski was determined to find a way to bring “The Sisters Plotz” to Maine audiences.

She worked out a deal with Hammer to screen a short “teaser” and then offer the audience a privately-hosted online link to the entire film that they can watch later. Hammer said in a news release, “I am always hesitant to enter the film in a shorts festival because of its length, but this is a brilliant way to work around the problem.”

Also screening will be Tawny Foskett’s drama “Girls Who Smoke,” a thoughtful cinematic adaptation of a story originally heard on “The Moth” and “This American Life;” Denise Plumb’s “Past Due,” which makes dark comedy out of the plight of a woman hounded by a diabolically persistent debt collector; and from Germany, Chantal Bertalanffy’s “Sisters” is a coming-of-age story that delicately tackles complex issues of race and halfsibling relationships.

Kari Wagner-Peck, executive and artistic director of the Maine Jewish Film Festival, will screen “Do You Hover?” which confronts the problem of public restroom hygiene and received the Eve Ensler Feminine Hygiene Award, Arlene’s Grocery, NYC.

All Bluestocking submissions must not only be directed by a woman, but must also receive a “passing” grade on The Bechdel Test, a measure of gender bias in films.

According to Kaminski:

“The Bechdel Test came from a comic strip called ‘Dykes to Watch Out For,’ by Alison Bechdel where these two women are going to the movies and one says to the other that she won’t go to a movie unless it has at least two women in it — with names! — who talk to each other about something other than a man.”

“Sounds simple, but it’s actually a fairly complicated concept for many people to wrap their heads around. For years it was a kind of underground thing, but now the test is becoming more wellknown. I think this is probably because the media is starting to recognize and report on gender inequalities behind the camera — especially this past year when there wasn’t a single woman director up for the top prize at Cannes,” Kaminski wrote.

Tickets are $9 and are on sale online via Brown Paper Tickets at stlawrencearts.org or at the door. Some of the featured filmmakers will also be on-hand for a post-screening Q&A.

For more information, visit bluestockingfilms.com.