The Athena Film Festival is an annual film festival held at
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The festival takes place in February and focuses on films celebrating women and leadership. In addition to showing films, the festival hosts filmmaker workshops, master classes and panels on a variety of topics relevant to women in the film industry.
The Athena Film Festival was co-founded by
Kathryn Kolbert, Founding Director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College and Melissa Silverstein, founder of the Women and Hollywood initiative and the festival's Artistic Director.
The tenth annual Athena Film Festival was held from February 27-March 1, 2020.
Awards
Each year, awards are granted to individuals who have made a significant impact in their industry over the course of their career. In 2012, The Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award was created in honor of the late
Laura Ziskin
Laura Ellen ZiskinGale Research Company (2002). ''Contemporary theatre, film, and television,'' p. 388. Gale Research Co., (March 3, 1950 – June 12, 2011) was an American film producer, known as the executive producer of '' Pretty Woman'' (199 ...
, a noted producer and breast cancer advocate.
Winners
2011
*Leslie Bennetts, contributing editor at ''
Vanity Fair''
*
Debra Martin Chase
Debra Martin Chase (born October 11, 1956) is an American motion picture and television producer. Her company, Martin Chase Productions, is affiliated with Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal Television Group. It was affiliated with ...
, producer
*
Abigail Disney
Abigail Edna Disney (born January 24, 1960) is an American documentary film producer, philanthropist, and social activist. She produced the 2008 documentary ''Pray the Devil Back to Hell''. Disney and Kathleen Hughes are producers and directors ...
,
documentary filmmaker
*
Delia Ephron
Delia Ephron ( ; born July 12, 1944) is an American bestselling author, screenwriter, and playwright.
Life and career
Ephron was born in New York City, the second eldest of four daughters of screenwriters Phoebe and Henry Ephron. Her movies i ...
, screenwriter
*
Greta Gerwig
Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films b ...
, actress
*
Debra Granik
Debra Granik (born February 6, 1963) is an American filmmaker. She is most known for 2004's '' Down to the Bone,'' which starred Vera Farmiga, 2010's ''Winter's Bone,'' which starred Jennifer Lawrence in her breakout performance and for which Gr ...
, director
*
Tanya Hamilton
Tanya Hamilton (born in Spanish Town, Jamaica) is an American film director and producer. She came to the United States at the age of eight, and settled in Maryland with her mother. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Cooper Union fo ...
, director
*
Chris Hegedus
Chris Hegedus (born April 23, 1952) is an American documentary filmmaker. She and her husband, filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, founded the company Pennebaker Hegedus Films.
Hegedus was nominated for an Academy Award for ''The War Room'', a behind-th ...
, documentary filmmaker
*Gini Reticker, documentary filmmaker
*
Anne Rosellini, screenwriter and producer
*Nancy Schreiber, cinematographer
*
Anne Thompson, writer
*
Debra Zimmerman
Debra Zimmerman is an American film distributor and lecturer. She has been the Executive Director non-profit media arts organization Women Make Movies since 1983.
Life and career
Zimmerman was born in New York City. In the late 1970s she worked ...
, executive director of
Women Make Movies
Women Make Movies is a non-profit feminist media arts organization based in New York City. Founded by Ariel Dougherty and Sheila Paige with Dolores Bargowski, WMM was first a feminist production collective that emerged from city-wide Women's Li ...
2012
*
Laura Ziskin
Laura Ellen ZiskinGale Research Company (2002). ''Contemporary theatre, film, and television,'' p. 388. Gale Research Co., (March 3, 1950 – June 12, 2011) was an American film producer, known as the executive producer of '' Pretty Woman'' (199 ...
, accepted by her daughter Julia Barry (Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award)
*Nekisa Cooper, producer
*The Fempire:
Diablo Cody
Brook Maurio (''née'' Busey; born June 14, 1978), known professionally by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American writer and producer. She gained recognition for her candid blog and subsequent memoir, '' Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unl ...
,
Dana Fox
Dana Fox (born September 18, 1976) is an American screenwriter. She is best known as the writer of ''The Wedding Date'' (2005), ''What Happens in Vegas'' (2008), and the television comedy series ''Ben and Kate'' (2012–13).
Career
Fox graduated ...
,
Liz Meriwether
Elizabeth Hughes Meriwether (born October 11, 1981) is an American writer, producer and television showrunner. She is known for creating the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'', and for writing the play ''Oliver Parker!'' (2010) and the romantic comedy film ...
, and
Lorene Scafaria
Lorene Scafaria (born 1978) is an American filmmaker, playwright, musician, and former actress. She wrote and directed the films ''Seeking a Friend for the End of the World'' (2012), ''The Meddler'' (2015), and '' Hustlers'' (2019), in addition ...
*
Rachael Horovitz
Rachael Horovitz (born 1962) is an American film producer. She is known for producing the film '' Moneyball'', and the TV series ''Patrick Melrose''.
Early life
Horovitz is the daughter of playwright Israel Horovitz and the late painter Doris (n ...
, producer
*
Theresa Rebeck
Theresa Rebeck (born February 19, 1958) is an American playwright, television writer, and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America's E ...
, author and playwright
*
Dee Rees
Diandrea Rees (born February 7, 1977) is an American screenwriter and director. She is known for her feature films '' Pariah'' (2011), '' Bessie'' (2015), ''Mudbound'' (2017), and '' The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). Rees has also written and di ...
, director
*
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King'' debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best ...
, film and Broadway director
2013
*
Gale Anne Hurd
Gale Anne Hurd (born October 25, 1955) is an American film and television producer, the founder of Valhalla Entertainment (formerly Pacific Western Productions), and a former recording secretary for the Producers Guild of America.
Early life
Hu ...
, producer (Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award)
*
Ava DuVernay
Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, television producer and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee ...
, director and distributor
*
Molly Haskell
Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to ''The Village Voice''—firs ...
,
film critic
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...
*Rose Kuo, (former) executive director of
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Film at Lincoln Center, previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a film society based in New York City, United States. Fo ...
*
Pat Mitchell, president of the
Paley Center for Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City, New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, ...
2014
*
Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing (born Sherry Lee Duhl; July 31, 1944) is an American philanthropist and retired film studio executive. She is a former CEO of Paramount Pictures and president of production at 20th Century Fox. In 1996, she became the first woman ...
, former studio executive and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
(Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award)
*
Callie Khouri
Carolyn Ann "Callie" Khouri (born November 27, 1957) is an American film and television screenwriter, producer, and director. In 1992, she won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for the film ''Thelma & Louise' ...
, director and screenwriter
*
Kasi Lemmons
Kasi Lemmons (; born Karen Lemmons, February 24, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), followed by '' Talk to Me'' (2007), ''Black Nativity'' (2013), '' Harriet ...
, director
*
Keri Putnam
Keri Putnam (born 1965) is an American film, media and arts executive and producer and current Chief Executive officer at Sundance Institute. She is a former Executive Vice President at HBO Films, and former President of the Production at Miramax ...
, executive director of the
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...
2015
*
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...
, actress and director (Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award)
*
Sheila Nevins
Sheila Nevins (born April 6, 1939) is an American television producer and head of MTV Documentary Films division of MTV Studios. Previously, Nevins was the President of HBO Documentary Films. She has produced over 1,000 documentary films for HB ...
, president of
HBO Documentary Films
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
*
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood (born June 10, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing the films ''Love & Basketball'' (2000), ''Disappearing Acts'' (2000), '' The Secret Life of Bees'' (2008), ''Beyond the Lig ...
, director
*
Cathy Schulman
Cathy Schulman (born 1965) is an American film producer.
A graduate of Yale University, Schulman's screen credits include ''Isn't She Great'', '' Sidewalks of New York'', '' Employee of the Month'', ''Crash'', '' The Illusionist'', '' Darfur No ...
, producer
2016
*
Mira Nair
Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural sphe ...
, Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award
*
Geralyn Dreyfous
Geralyn White Dreyfous is an American film producer. She has produced multiple documentary and narrative films focusing on social justice issues including ''The Invisible War'' (2012), '' The Square'' (2013), ''The Hunting Ground'' (2015), '' Wo ...
, Athena Award
*
Karyn Kusama
Karyn Kiyoko Kusama (born March 21, 1968) is an American filmmaker. She made her directorial and writing feature film debut with the sports drama film ''Girlfight'' (2000) for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for B ...
, Athena Award
*
Jeanine Tesori
Jeanine Tesori (known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson) is an American composer and musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway mu ...
, Athena Award
*
Paul Feig
Paul Samuel Feig (; born September 17, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy, including ''Bridesmaids'' (2011), '' The Heat'' (2013), ''Spy'' (2015) ...
, Leading Man Award
*
Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
, Ensemble Award
*
Kate McKinnon
Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a ca ...
, presenter
2017
*
Eve Ensler
V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play ''The Vagina Monologues''. , playwright, activist, performer and author
*
Patricia Riggen
Patricia Riggen (born June 2, 1970) is a Mexican film director. She is best known for directing the 2007 film ''Under the Same Moon'' and the 2011 Disney Channel original film ''Lemonade Mouth''.
Early life and career beginnings
Riggen was born ...
, director
*
Regina K. Scully, producer
*
David Oyelowo
David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, ...
, actor, leading man award
Athena List
In 2014, the festival announced the first edition of the Athena List, created to highlight finished, unproduced screenplays featuring roles with female leaders. The list is based on the concept of the popular Hollywood Black List, with a gender-conscious angle.
Selected scripts
2014
2015
2016
*"A Noble Affair" by Anil Baral and Kathryn Maughan
*"In the Land of Fire and Ice" by David MacGregor
*"Ride the Wind" by Denise Meyers
*"Virginia" by Bess Wohl
2017
*"Claude" by Hannah Patterson
*"Clemency" by
Chinonye Chukwu
Chinonye Chukwu ( ; born May 19, 1985) is a Nigerian-American film director best known for the drama films ''Clemency'' and ''Till''. She is the first African-American woman to win the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
Early life and ...
*"Mrs. Christie" by Jamie Dawson
*"Scott" by Anna Rose Moore
2018
* ''True North'' by Katherine Ruppe
* ''Throw Like A Girl'' By Lori Bell Leahy
* ''Saving Esperanza'' by Betty Sullivan
* ''WHITE'' by A. Sayeeda Moreno
2019
* ''Hedy'' by Giovanni Porta
* ''Out of My Mind'' by Daniel Stiepleman
* ''Roe v. Wade'' by Jennifer Majka
* ''The Defining Moment'' by
Margaret Nagle
Margaret Nagle (born January 12, 1969) is a screenwriter, television producer and human rights activist. She has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and won three Writers Guild of America Awards. Nagle began her undergraduate work at UC Berkel ...
2020
* ''Auto High'' by Nina Kentsis
* ''Good Chance
ormerly Mother-Daughter' by Tricia Lee
* ''Noor'' By Nijla Mu’min
* ''Over It'' by Joy Goodwin
* ''What the Eyes Don’t See'' by
Cherien Dabis
Cherien Dabis (born 1976) ( ar, شيرين دعيبس) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was named one of ''Variety'' magazine's ''10 Directors to Watch'' in 2009, and in 2022 was nominated for the Outstanding Dir ...
2022
* ''Sunflower: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story'' by
Aunjanue Ellis
Aunjanue L. Ellis ( born February 21, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Men of Honor'' (2000), ''The Caveman's Valentine'' (2001), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), '' Ray'' (2004), '' The Express: The Erni ...
* ''The Gatekeeper'' by
Jennifer Vanderbes
Jennifer Vanderbes is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter.
Biography
Early life
Vanderbes was born in New York City. She attended the Dalton School and earned a B.A. in English ''magna cum laude'' from Yale University. While at Y ...
* ''Ray of Life'' by Kate Sheffield
External links
Official website
References
{{Reflist
Film festivals in New York City
Barnard College
Annual events in New York City