Taking Place March 6 – 9, 2025, Passes for the Athena Film Festival are Now Available for Limited-Time Presale
Through December 31
NEW YORK (December 12, 2024) – The Athena Film Festival (AFF) at Barnard College today announced the short film lineup as a sneak peek into the 2025 edition’s programming. The announcement comes in advance of the festival’s holiday sale which will include discounted passes and group ticket bundles, running December 16 – January 2, 2025.
The 15th annual festival, a partnership between Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership and the initiative Women and Hollywood, will take place March 6 – March 9, 2025, on the Barnard campus in New York City. Each year, the festival showcases narrative features, documentaries and short films; in-depth conversations with filmmakers and thought leaders; and a wide variety of events focused on amplifying women’s leadership through storytelling.
“This year’s lineup of short films offers a dynamic preview of the powerful storytelling and fresh perspectives that will help us celebrate the AFF’s 15th anniversary in 2025,” said Umbreen Bhatti, the Constance Hess Williams ’66 Director of the Athena Center for Leadership at Barnard College. “For 15 years, AFF has been disrupting limited narratives by uplifting complex, nuanced stories that center women and exemplify the many ways in which women lead. We can’t wait for audiences to experience this year’s exceptional program and join us in making our 15th edition unforgettable.”
The 2025 shorts will be presented in three thematic blocks: “Artists on Artistry,” “Women’s Work” and “Transitions.” Full list of AFF’s 2025 short films is below.
“This year’s shorts program speaks directly to the vital conversations happening in our culture about women’s leadership—what it looks like, how it manifests, and where it is evolving,” said Melissa Silverstein, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of AFF. “From explorations of artistry and identity to redefining women’s work and the process of becoming a leader, these films provide a powerful lens on the challenges and triumphs of women and gender-diverse individuals. As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we are proud to present a program that sparks meaningful dialogue and reflects the holistic stories shaping our world.”
The lineup of feature films, series and panels will be announced in the coming months. For more information, please visit AthenaFilmFestival.com. AFF’s founding sponsor is The Artemis Rising Foundation, and its CEO Regina K. Scully.
Shorts Block 1: Artists on Artistry
Artists on Artistry brings together creators who express themselves using their medium to create change, to reckon with personal relationships, even while some struggle to make time for their craft at all. Each of these women—real and fictional—present profound questions about the role of artists in society and the impact artists can make in the culture.
“Searching for Augusta Savage”
New York Premiere
United States
Directors, Writers: Charlotte Mangin, Sandra Rattley
Producer: Mariana Surillo
A portrait of one of America’s greatest sculptors, whose impact in the art world was erased. Harlem Renaissance artist and educator Augusta Savage (1892-1962) was the first person in the U.S. to open a gallery dedicated to Black art and the first Black woman elected to the National Association of Women Artists. She was also one of the first Black women art activists of her time who mentored a generation of Black artists, and fought for the funding of their work and their inclusion in mainstream art venues.
“Desync”
Canada
Director, Writer: Minerva Marie Navasca
Writer: Chen Sing Yap
Producer: Asa Kazerani
A young Filipina filmmaker attempts to overwrite a painful memory of her mother with a perfect narrative.
“Cow Heavy And Floral”
New York Premiere
United States
Director, Writer: Richa Rudola
Producers: Lela Meadow Conner, Robin Rose Singer, Apoorva Bakshi
A split-screen film about a postpartum writer struggling to make a deadline as she experiences an identity crisis between her various personas.
“Instant (Instante)”
Brazil
Director, Writer: Paola Veiga
Writers: Roberta Rangel, Emanuel Lavor
Producer: Peixa Produções, Apt7 filmes
There are things in life that we do because we have to.
“Outcry: Alchemists of Rage”
New York Premiere
United States
Director, Producer: Clare Major
Producers: Whitney Bradshaw, Rivkah Beth Medow, Jen Rainin
Whitney Bradshaw photographs women mid-scream in cathartic group sessions where long-silenced stories conjure rage, sorrow, and joy. An activist and sexual abuse survivor, Whitney uses art to fuel action for women’s rights, culminating in a grassroots fight for abortion access in Ohio.
Shorts Block 2: Women’s Work
From fishing boats and farmlands to kitchen tables and senate chambers—“Women’s Work” is constantly evolving. This block challenges tired cliches about women’s career trajectories while making visible new ideas about what it really means to labor.
“The Grace”
United States
Directors, Writers: Moira Fett, Natalie Berger
Producers: Sean Weiner, Martha Gregory
Over the course of one year, a sustainable salmon fisherman struggles to stay afloat at sea and on land as the demands of her small salmon business mount.
“What We Discover Along the Way”
New York Premiere
United States
Director, Producer: Rose Vincelli Gustine
Imagine a green place. A river rushes by; herbs grow among chestnut and cherry trees. Now wedge this place between highrises and train tracks in the South Bronx, NYC. Still a lush oasis, just – different. Here, Journei, an herbalist, tends the Bronx River Foodway, and seeks nourishment from the earth.
“Black Ag”
New York Premiere
United States
Director, Producer: Andy Sarjahani
Just two generations removed from sharecropping, Dr. Tomekia White redefines agriculture for the black community in Arkansas as she develops farming practices that protect a dwindling water supply.
“Decoding Ancestral Knowledge”
United States
Directors: Ruth Lichtman, Sharon Shattuck
Producers: Shannon Behrman, Regina Sobel, Sarah Goodwin, Elliot Kirschner
Hawaiian microbiologist Kiana Frank takes us to a sacred fish pond and explains how traditional knowledge and microbiology can work together to help us understand how to care for and manage the land.
“Colorado”
Spain
Directors: Sandra Gallego, Pilar Gómez
Writer: Pilar Gómez
Producers: Carlota Coronado, Giovanni Maccelli
The personal circumstances of Carmen, a 74-year-old woman, lead her to force a meeting with an old friend, Ángeles, whom she has not seen for 30 years.
“Elegy for A Glacier”
United States
Director, Writer: Stephanie Falkeis
A glaciologist returns to her small hometown on an assignment to assess the health of the local glacier for its prospective use as a ski resort, and finds herself confronted by her estranged mother, an ecological activist in the community, who will stop at nothing to save the glacier from destruction.
“Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr”
United States
Director, Producer: Kimberly Reed
After Zooey Zephyr was expelled from the Montana House of Representatives for defending transgender medical care, she made a nearby bench her “office.” Director Kimberly Reed’s intimate camera transforms this explosive political moment into a moving portrait of trans and queer joy.
Shorts Block 3: Transitions
Are leaders born or are they made? Moving chronologically, these transitional films imagine leadership as a long process of becoming. With grace and integrity—plus a little time for fun—these protagonists ask us to consider what change might look like when taken one small step at a time.
“Death to the Bikini! (À mort le bikini!)”
Canada
Director, Writer: Justine Gauthier
Producer: Léonie Hurtubise, Colonelle films
Lili, 10-year-old, rebels when her parents force her to wear a bikini top, even though she has always swam topless.
“Nine Days In August (Neun Tage Im August)”
U.S. Premiere
Germany
Director, Writer, Producer: Ella Knorz
A summer that she will remember for her whole life: Lea is 18 and pregnant. While she spends the summer holidays partying and handling her relationships, she has to deal with the bureaucracy of an abortion.
“Sol in the Garden”
United States
Directors, Producers: Emily Cohen Ibañez, Débora Souza Silva
After 16 years of incarceration, Sol is released from prison, when she discovers that coming into her own freedom can be as challenging as living behind bars. Through a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland, Sol strives to recover her humanity and sense of self.
“Good Enough Ancestor”
New York City Premiere
United States, Canada
Director, Writer: Cynthia Wade
Producers: Matthew Syrett, Teri Whitcraft
Every night, when democracy activist Audrey Tang prepares to sleep, she knows she only has a 50% chance of waking up in the morning due to a congenital heart problem. Her heart, like democracy across the globe, is both fragile and strong – still beating, but facing existential threat. Audrey Tang’s life mirrors and embodies Taiwan’s radical transformation from an island ruled by brutal martial law to becoming the most transparent democracy in the world – now a beacon of hope across the world.
“Cold Soup (Sopa Fria)”
Portugal
Director, Writer: Marta Monteiro
Writers: Inspired by the comic “Sopa” by Joana Estrela
Producers: Vanessa Ventura, Nuno Amorim, Claire Beffa, Sidonie Garnier
A woman victim of domestic violence looks back at the years when she was married, recalling how difficult it was to stay afloat.
This year’s sponsors include the festival’s founding sponsor, Artemis Rising Foundation and its CEO Regina K. Scully, as well as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Hanky Panky, Netflix, AMC Networks, The Dobkin Family Foundation, Evenstar, Illumine Service Foundation, Michela & Leslie Masson, Christine A. Schantz, Secret Sauce Media, Walt Disney Studios, ANSIRH Abortion Onscreen, Abigail E. Disney, Jess Jacobs, Sheila Nevins, We Testify, Adrienne Shelly Foundation, The Katie McGrath & JJ Abrams Family Foundation, Lifetime, Reavis Page Jump LLP, and Whitewater Films. The Accessibility Sponsor is The Loreen Arbus Foundation and the Transportation Sponsor is Attitude New York.
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.
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ABOUT THE ATHENA FILM FESTIVAL
Founded in 2011, the Athena Film Festival is dedicated to advancing new narratives about leadership through original, thought-provoking, compelling, and diverse women-centered stories. The Athena Creative Development Program, an extension of the Athena Film Festival, is a set of strategic interventions that increase the likelihood that women-centered stories will succeed.
The Athena Film Festival is a partnership of the Athena Center for Leadership at Barnard College and Women & Hollywood. Our founding sponsor is the Artemis Rising Foundation and its CEO, Regina K. Scully.
ABOUT THE ATHENA CENTER AT BARNARD COLLEGE
The Athena Center for Leadership is a hub for changemakers at Barnard College. We prepare Barnard students to lead change in this extraordinary moment and throughout their lives.
ABOUT WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD
Women and Hollywood educates, advocates, and agitates for gender parity and inclusion across the entertainment industry. Over the past 16 years, it has grown to be one of the most respected initiatives focused on women’s issues and popular culture, and its founder, Melissa Silverstein, has become a well-respected leader on the subject.
ABOUT BARNARD COLLEGE
Barnard provides a singular educational experience, as a world-renowned college focused on excellence across the arts and sciences, with all the academic resources of Columbia University and the City of New York as an extended classroom. Founded in 1889, Barnard was one of the few colleges in the nation where women could receive the same rigorous and challenging education available to men. Today, Barnard is one of the most selective academic institutions in the country and remains devoted to empowering extraordinary women to become even more exceptional.
ABOUT ARTEMIS RISING FOUNDATION
Artemis Rising Foundation is dedicated to supporting media projects that transform our culture and challenge the status quo. Led by founder and CEO Regina K. Scully, the foundation champions powerful stories about some of the most challenging social justice issues of our time — including gender bias, healing, trauma, mental health, addiction, and women’s empowerment.
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