THE 13TH ANNUAL ATHENA FILM FESTIVAL AT BARNARD COLLEGE
ANNOUNCES INITIAL LINEUP
Festival To Run In-Person March 2 – 5, and Include Narrative, Documentary, and Short Films
NEW YORK (February 7, 2023) – The Athena Film Festival (AFF) at Barnard College announced its initial programming lineup for the 2023 festival today. The 13th annual festival, which is a joint partnership between Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership and the initiative Women and Hollywood, will take place from March 2 to March 5 on Barnard’s campus. The annual festival includes film screenings, in-depth conversations and panels with filmmakers and industry experts, a series of programs that support the pipeline of women creatives, and a wide variety of events focused on celebrating and amplifying the stories of bold, courageous women leaders.
JUDY BLUME FOREVER, directed by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok, will screen as the festival’s Centerpiece Film on Saturday, March 4th. The documentary, which premiered at Sundance, focuses on Blume — whose books have sold more than 90 million copies since 1969 — and the generations of readers she has touched with her work. The film examines the beloved author’s impact on those readers, her influence on pop culture, and her frankness about puberty and sex — her books are among the most banned in the United States.
Selections from the narrative program include the New York premiere of THE LOST KING directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, DAUGHTER OF RAGE (La hija de todas las rabias), written and directed by Laura Baumeister de Montis, as well as screenings of THE LOST KING, directed by Stephen Frears, ANGRY ANNIE (Annie Colère), directed by Blandine Lenoir, and MY EMPTINESS AND I (Mi vacío y yo), directed by Adrián Silvestre. The festival will also screen WOMEN TALKING, directed by Sarah Polley, which is nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The documentary lineup includes two films that were participants in the Festival’s Works in Progress program: BLACK MOTHERS LOVE AND RESIST, directed by Débora Souza Silva; and THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER, directed by Patricia Gillespie. Other documentaries include BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: CARRY IT ON, directed by Madison Thomas and MY NAME IS ANDREA, directed by Pratibha Parmar.
Shorts include the New York premiere of GLAZING, written and directed by Lilli Carré, as well as screenings of LOVE, BARBARA, written and directed by Brydie O’Connor; TO WADE OR ROW, directed by Rebecca van der Meulen; THE FEELING OF BEING CLOSE TO YOU, directed by Ash Goh Hua; CANS CAN’T STAND, directed by Matt Nadel and Megan Plotka; and EL CARRITO, written and directed by Zahida Pirani.
“Entering the 13th year of the Athena Film Festival I could not feel more proud of the unique and exciting slate of films we are sharing with our audiences this year. We look forward to bringing these important and underrepresented voices to the big screen,” said Melissa Silverstein, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of AFF and Founder of Women and Hollywood.
“The narratives we see shape our understanding of the world,” said Umbeen Bhatti, Constance Hess Williams ’66 Director of Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership. “At the Athena Film Festival, audiences won’t encounter tired, outdated narratives, but rather, narratives that more accurately reflect the world we live in and the future we want to build.”
Additional programming for the festival will be announced shortly.
Passes and tickets for the 2023 Athena Film Festival are on sale now, with additional details to be announced in the coming weeks. Visit the AFF website for more information, regular updates, and to purchase tickets and passes.
This year’s sponsors include the festival’s founding sponsor the Artemis Rising Foundation and its CEO Regina K. Scully, as well as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Netflix, Hanky Panky, Walt Disney Studios, Secret Sauce Media, The Dobkin Family Foundation, Christine A. Schantz, Bloomberg Associates,
Evenstar Films, Fork Films, Whitewater Films, Sheila Nevins, Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams, Uber, The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, Stephens College, Comcast NBCUniversal, Joan Fallon, Jackie Zehner P’23, Ann Kaplan, Jenny Warburg, The Ravenal Foundation, Gale Anne Hurd, and The Loreen Arbus Foundation, which will serve as the festival’s accessibility sponsor.
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Athena Film Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
To view the full lineup of films, click here.
