The Athena Film Festival at Barnard College awards extraordinary women and some men for their leadership and creative accomplishments in the film industry.
2020 Athena Award Winners
Beanie Feldstein – Actress
Effie T. Brown – CEO, Producer
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson – Director, Someone Great
Unjoo Moon – Breakthrough Awardee, Director, I Am Woman
2019 Athena Award Winners
Desiree Akhavan – Breakthrough Awardee, Director, Writer, Actor
Cameron Bailey – CEO, TIFF, Athena Leading Man Award
Marielle Heller – Director, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Diary of a Teenage Girl
Nina Shaw ’76 – Lawyer, Time’s Up Founder
2018 Athena Award Winners
J.J. Abrams – Writer, Director, Producer, Athena Leading Man Award
Amma Asante – Writer, Director
Bridget Everett – Inaugural Athena Breakthrough Awardee, Actress, Cabaret Artist
2017 Athena Award Winners
Eve Ensler – Playwright, Activist, Performer, and Author
David Oyelowo – Actor
Patricia Riggen – Director, Writer
Regina K. Scully – Emmy Award®-winning producer, media activist, and social entrepreneur
2016 Athena Award Winners
Geralyn Dreyfous- Academy Award Winning Producer
Paul Feig – Inaugural Athena Leading Man Awardee
Karyn Kusama- Writer, Director
Jeanine Tesori-Tony-Winning Composer
Suffragette- Inaugural Athena Film Festival Ensemble Award
2015 Athena Award Winners
Sheila Nevins – President, HBO Documentary Films
Gina Prince-Bythewood – Writer, Producer, Director
Cathy Schulman – Academy Award Winning Producer
2014 Athena Award Winners
Callie Khouri – Writer and Director
Kasi Lemmons – Writer and Director
Keri Putnam – Executive Director, The Sundance Institute
2013 Athena Award Winners
Ava DuVernay – Director, Marketer, and Film Distributor
Molly Haskell – Film critic and author
Rose Kuo – Executive Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center
Pat Mitchell – President & CEO, Paley Center for Media
2012 Athena Award Winners
The Fempire: Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, Liz Meriwether, and Lorene Scafaria – For Their Creativity and Sisterhood
Rachael Horovitz – For Her Exceptional Talents as a Motion Picture Producer
Theresa Rebeck – For Her Excellence as a Playwright and Author of Films, Books and Television
Dee Rees and Nekisa Cooper – For Their Impact as Emerging Filmmakers
Julie Taymor – For Her Vision and Courage as an Exemplary Director
2011 Athena Award Winners
Leslie Bennetts – Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair
Debra Martin Chase – President, Martin Chase Productions
Abigail Disney – Producer
Delia Ephron – Screenwriter
Greta Gerwig – Actress
Debra Granik – Director
Tanya Hamilton – Director
Chris Hegedus – Director
Gini Reticker – Director, Producer
Anne Rosellini – Screenwriter
Nancy Schreiber – Cinematographer
Anne Thompson – Writer & Commentator
Debra Zimmerman – Executive Director, Women Make Movies
