Armed only with a laptop, a smartphone, and her determination, 19-year-old Ala’a Basatneh is contributing to the Syrian revolution from her Chicago bedroom.

February 29 - March 3, 2024
Armed only with a laptop, a smartphone, and her determination, 19-year-old Ala’a Basatneh is contributing to the Syrian revolution from her Chicago bedroom.
The 2011 SlutWalk was one of the most unique feminist actions in New York history–one piece of a grassroots global movement that is both empowering and controversial.
100 Years is the underdog tale of the unrelenting activist and tribal elder, Elouise Cobell, who led a 30-year fight against the U.S. government.
A remarkable digital project created by the USC Shoah Foundation enables Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss to share her story in 3D and interact with an audience for generations to come.
Amid a violent war that has seen over 50,000 people killed, three women wage a battle for women’s representation in Sierra Leone in this unique oil-painted animated film.
Based on a poem by Marie Jacobs, 55 Socks, pays tribute to the ingenuity of the Dutch people during a dark period of their history — the winter of hunger in 1944-45.
A young girl dreams to escape planet Earth.
This office satire is about three female secretaries—Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin—who decide to get revenge on their tyrannical, sexist boss was an instant classic.
93Queen follows a group of tenacious Hasidic women who are smashing the patriarchy in their community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in NYC.
Few dancers make it to the highest levels of classical ballet. Of that already small number only a fraction of them are black women. Misty Copeland has pulled herself up the ladder at American Ballet Theater (ABT) from the studio company to the corps de ballet to soloist.
Recently director Lexi Alexander caused quite a stir with a blog post where she challenged the industry to finally be proactive about the lack of women directors in the studio system. Come and hear her discuss the topic.
Come join us for a conversation with Paul Feig, director of Spy, Bridesmaids, The Heat and the upcoming Ghostbusters.
Barnard College student, Sarah Kim, has never let cerebral palsy stand in her way. A Day On My Wheels celebrates Sarah’s accomplishments, determination, and passion for life.
Mirjana Karanović writes, directs and stars in this searing and unforgettable portrait, set in contemporary Serbia, of a wife and mother facing the undoing of her family.
Seed&Spark’s Founder and CEO Emily Best will teach a workshop for filmmakers on successful crowdfunding.
In 1998, 18 year old LaTraun Parker made a documentary about the difficulties of growing up in Harlem.
Greta Gerwig Barnard ’06 (Greenberg, upcoming Arthur) discusses her career, her ambitions, navigating between the Indie world and Hollywood.
A Hollywood Conversation with Tom Rothman.
This film tells the compelling story of Gabriela Leite, the first sex worker to run for Congress in Brazil as she faces 822 opponents and challenges a male dominated political system. Can a sex worker, activist, and cultural icon beat the odds and win the election?
A Life Too Short examines the tragedy behind the killing of Pakistani women’s rights activist and social media star, Qandeel Baloch.
Separated from her mother by smugglers at the US/Mexico border, a determined 12-year-old sets out across a desert to find her mother and a place where they both can be safe.
A decorated Marine from a military family, Alex is unexpectedly discharged from duty when authorities discover she is a lesbian.
Through the moving story of activist Pidgeon Pagonis, A Normal Girl brings the widely unknown struggles of intersex people to light.
One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the front lines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.
A Regular Woman tells the story of 23-year-old Hatun Ayhrun Sürücü, a Turkish-Kurdish woman living in Germany who in February 2005, was shot dead at a Berlin bus stop in an ‘honour killing’ by her youngest brother.
Three female chefs grapple with barriers in the male-dominated food service industry.
Football and feminism collide when former NFL cheerleaders battle the league to end wage theft and illegal employment practices.
All 17-year old Vele wants is to learn how to read and write – to keep up with her seven-year-old daughter. After endless years of the Liberian civil war, her ability to sign her own name is her next big step towards independence.
At the Philadelphia abortion helpline, counselors arrive each morning to the nonstop ring of calls from women and teens who are seeking to end a pregnancy but can’t afford to.
In a small apartment in Buenos Aires, an old woman eagerly awaits the birth of her grandchild and all the joys of becoming a grandmother.
Across the Line is an immersive virtual reality experience to put viewers in the shoes of a patient entering a health center for a safe and legal abortion.
During your visit to the Athena Film Festival, don’t forget to swing by our Activism Booth to learn more about how you can support local organizations working for gender equality.
The Athena Film Festival Activism Booth connects festival attendees with a network of like-minded organizations working to advance a more equitable society for girls and women everywhere.
July 1969. It’s the night of the moon landing and a rag-tag group of Zambian exiles are trying to beat America to the Moon.
Ahead of the Curve is the story of one of the most influential women in lesbian history you’ve never heard of and the impact her work continues to have today.
Despite controversy and threats, Muslim singer/songwriter turned spiritual leader Ani Zonneveld takes a stand for justice and a more progressive practice of Islam.
Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth is a feature documentary film which tells the compelling story of an extraordinary woman’s journey from her birth in a paper-thin shack in the cotton fields of Putnam County, Georgia.
In Benavides, Texas, petite girls can deadlift 280 pounds, military recruiters roam high school halls, and a patriotic Mexican-American community that has been there since before it was Texas struggles with a collapsing economy.
A documentary about the trailblazing tennis star Althea Gibson.
Assorted interviews from the American Masters series on PBS, The Women’s List focusing on the exceptional achievements, struggles and identities of 15 women who have created and defined contemporary American culture.
Grace Lee Boggs (BC ‘35) is a 98-year-old Chinese American woman living in Detroit. A writer, activist, and philosopher rooted for more than 70 years in the civil rights movement.
1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning and a young woman sentto convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.
A young woman juggles between the mundane and the extraordinary in an attempt to leave her NYC apartment following a sexual assault.
Pan Nalin’s drama gives a fresh portrait of modern women in contemporary India. Frieda, a fashion photographer, gathers her closest girlfriends for a surprise announcement which turns into a weekend full of adventure, discovery and the unexpected.
Ann Richards’ Texas is a new feature-length documentary about the late Texas Governor Ann Richards (1933 -2006) one of the most beloved Democratic politicians of her day.
Inspired by the Greek tragedy of the same title, multi-award-winning filmmaker Sophie Deraspe centers her adaptation around a brilliant teenage girl who chooses to live by her own standards of justice.
Apache 8 tells the story of an all-women firefighter crew from the White Mountain Apache Tribe who have been fighting wildfires in Arizona and throughout the U.S. for over 30 years.
The true story of determined women in the 1960s who quietly provided the phone numbers of a reliable abortion doctor to women in need.
Created by painting and drawing on sheets of glass, which were photographed and digitally composed, this film’s experimental animations contain fragments of archival footage.
As Marie Curie is nominated for a Nobel Prize, her affair with a married man creates a scandal that ruins her reputation and becomes the obstacle to the prize that will prove her a scientist in her own right.
A determined primatologist brings her teenage daughter to a remote region of Madagascar intent on proving her theory on endangered lemurs. But as complications arise their relationship and safety are soon at risk.
“I wanted to be a boy when I got borned, you know, outta your tummy!” spoken by Audrey. Audrey Superhero explores the shifting terrain of gender identity.
By creating an organization that uses dance therapy to aid survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence, a young woman heals from her own vicious attack.
The work of two nuns outside a Chicago-area deportation center introduces us to the tumultuous and engaged world of U.S. Catholic nuns in the fifty years following Vatican II.
Join Barnard alumnae who work in entertainment and media, to discuss the nuts and bolts of creating a career, the different pressures women face in the industry, and how to navigate to success.
Join Barnard alumnae who work in entertainment and media, to discuss the nuts and bolts of creating a career, the different pressures women face in the industry, and how to navigate to success.
Emma Stone and Steve Carell star in this retelling of the legendary 1973 tennis match in which women’s tennis star Billie Jean King faced off against 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion, Bobby Riggs.
On May 5, 2014, Norma Bastidas, a fearless survivor of human trafficking, sexual violence, abuse and addiction, shattered the Guinness World Record for longest triathlon.
Vida, a young Iranian lifeguard, is determined to compete in an international competition but the arrival of talented newcomer Sareh threatens to alter her plans.
A new friendship is tested when it is confronted by racism.
Beans, a twelve-year-old Mohawk Girl, must grow up fast and become her own kind of warrior when her people fight the Canadian government in the bloody and turbulent Indigenous uprising of 1990 known as The Oka Crisis.
In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl is in balance with the universe, until a fierce storm changes her reality.
Beatrice Vio was 12 when she had her four limbs amputated due to complications from meningitis. Yet nothing can stop her from pursuing the sport she loves and becoming a world fencing champion at the age of 19.
Join us for a discussion on the ways women can move beyond being present in film to playing more substantive and wide ranging roles.
OPENING FILM – NY PREMIERE
Belle is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay, an 18th Century Admiral in the British Navy.
A powerful exposé of human rights abuses in women’s prisons.
Join us for a conversation with several established cinematographers who will talk about the lack of women in their field, and how they broke into the “private club” and became some of the most in-demand names in the game.
Art world pioneer Bernice Steinbaum spent her life working to help female artists and artists of color gain recognition when such artists were largely disregarded in America.
The pressures of fame have superstar singer Noni on the edge, until she meets Kaz, a young cop who works to help her find the courage to develop her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be.
A riveting documentary of the recently assassinated Benazir Bhutto, a polarizing figure in the Muslim world. Following in her father’s footsteps as a pillar for democracy, Bhutto was expected to dominate Pakistan’s 2008 elections but the assassination sent Pakistan politics into turmoil.
Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives captures a spirited group of women who taught themselves how to deliver babies on a 1970s hippie commune.
Bismillah follows the beginnings of one Muslim woman’s groundbreaking struggle against America’s political structure. The film tells the story of Farheen Hakeem, a feisty 31-year-old Muslim Girl Scout troop leader who puts herself under public scrutiny by taking part in the consummate patriotic act – running for office.
Three expectant mothers, including the director, navigate the joys, fears, and complexity of Black motherhood in America.
Poetry, politics, madness, and desire collide in the true story of Ingrid Jonker, the woman hailed as South Africa’s Sylvia Plath.
As Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays, sorority girls on campus are being killed by a stalker. In this loose remake of the 1974 Canadian “slasher” classic, the killer is about to discover that today’s generation of fearless women are not willing to become hapless victims.
Pasang gets her first period.
A mother torn between being a good citizen and protecting her child discovers that both intervening and turning a blind eye can have negative consequences.
A dreamy portrait of photographer Shoog McDaniel, a self-described queer, fat, southern freak, whose work with fat bodies in nature finds beauty in new places.
Alexandra Dean’s illuminating documentary reveals how Hedy Lamarr, considered by many to be the most beautiful woman in the world was also one of the smartest and most misunderstood.
This political drama, the latest Danish television sensation, follows the complicated life of 40-year-old political leader Birgitte Nyborg Christensen, the first female Prime Minister of Denmark.
An exhilarating journey with choreographer Elizabeth Streb who pushes the boundaries between action, art and daring.
Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
BRAVE MISS WORLD is the inspiring story of a former Miss World, who after experiencing a violent abduction and rape, battles for justice and devotes her life to helping other survivors.
The story of a family’s complicated love, this hilarious and heart-rending film is an intimate portrait of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s unique mother/daughter relationship and Hollywood royalty in all its eccentricity.
A rite of passage story of basketball center, Brittney Griner’s, inaugural season with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls.
Butterfly is an intimate portrait of Irma “The Butterfly” Testa, a talented 18-year-old, who is the first female Italian boxer to be selected for the Olympic Games.
Based on a true story, Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer. Unable to get a new publishing gig, Lee turns to artistic deception.
The love story of two Roma women: bride-to-be Carmen and street artist Lola find themselves in a secret love affair, having to hide it from their families and their community.
Sun-hee works at a retail superstore dreaming of a better life for her children. When the store’s corporate honchos suddenly lay off all temporary employees, Sun-hee and her co-workers organize a strike and discover their courage and inner strength.
Sammy, a young troublemaker with a knack for numbers, turns her school’s penny drive into an ingenious money-making scheme.
Student activists and educators from Village Leadership Academy campaign to change the name of a park from a slaveholder to abolitionists Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
Documentary filmmakers Gund and Kyi unearth previously unpublished material and footage to give us a captivating look at the unconventional life of beloved performer Chavela Vargas.
Unbought & Unbossed is the first historical documentary on Brooklyn Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and her campaign to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in 1972.
Six women cinematographers share the complexities of working in an industry that rarely hires women.
This visually stunning film set in contemporary Tehran is writer-director Maryam Keshavarz’ first feature film.
Founded by Christine Schuler Deschryver and Dr. Denis Mukwege in conjunction with feminist activist, Eve Ensler, City of Joy is a community for women survivors of sexual violence where they can process their trauma, heal, and give back to their communities.
Chinonye Chukwu’s sophomore feature is an enthralling story of Bernadine (Alfre Woodard), a prison warden whose years working on death row takes a psychic toll.
In this lyrical VR film, Sidra, a charming 12-year-old girl, guides you through her daily life in her temporary home: The Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan.
When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that most facial-recognition software misidentifies women and darker-skinned faces, she delves into an investigation of widespread bias in algorithms.
The Technovation Challenge, an international competition for girls ages 10-18, aims to inspire girls to learn coding and other technological skills.
After getting locked out, Mona, a young seasonal worker of Italian origin, tries to fight off the cold while looking for shelter.
America’s most irreverent anti-gun activists create the Great Texas Dildo Revolt. #CocksNotGlocks.
Highlighting the importance of midwifery care in Guatemala, a country with high maternal mortality, Erika and Dora Maria are training to be the first university-level midwives in the country.
This “Tools of the Trade” expo will give aspiring filmmakers the opportunity to get up close and personal with today’s top film cameras and equipment.
This dramatic thriller tells the story of Sophie, a single mom, who searches relentlessly to uncover the cause of her son’s mysterious illness. When she suspects that the new biotech company in town might be responsible, she sets out on a mission to discover the truth.
Attorney Nicole Page will help guide participants through the legal landscape of filmmaking, including when to engage counsel and how to “decode” legal contracts related to filmmaking and the industry.
Join Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and the Athena Center’s Director, Kathryn Kolbert for a conversation about bringing peace and social justice to war-torn areas and how films such as Pray the Devil Back to Hell can propel international recognition of advocacy.
Couper Oroña, a former firefighter injured on the job, lives with disabilities on the streets of San Francisco and uses her paramedic skills to provide medical care to others living in tents or street encampments.
While visiting her family in Jamaica, an American teenager becomes her cousin’s confidant, changing the way she sees the people she loves.
Crowdfunding is becoming a fundamental piece of most financing plans for independent film. However, many filmmakers miss the opportunity to turn their funding campaigns into audience-building opportunities that can last an entire career.
2020 is the 25th anniversary of the 4th World Conference for Women. To commemorate this anniversary UN Women has launched a global campaign: Generation Equality. Join us for an intergenerational and intersectional discussion on how film can be used globally to challenge stereotypes and drive social change.
Featuring an all-star cast, including Catalina Sandino Moreno, Hayden Panettiere and Viola Davis, Custody takes an in-depth look at the systemic problems in the NYC child welfare system.
Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock tells the story of a forgotten civil rights activist, Daisy Bates who became a household name in 1957 in her assistance of the nine black students who fought for the right to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
With their country at war and her parents’ marriage falling apart, 12-year-old Dalya and her mother leave Aleppo, Syria, to join her brother in Los Angeles.
What is confidence, really? On stage, online, and in everyday life, plus-sized pole dancer Roslyn Mays uncovers vulnerability and strength through public exposure.
In this portrait of strength, love, and courage, 30-year-old, Danielle Hernandez wears a brave face as she tells her mother about her breast cancer prognosis in a simple phone call.
Inspired by a true story, Day One depicts a new translator’s first day accompanying a U.S. Army unit as it searches for a local terrorist in Afghanistan.
Hair stylists in working-class Dublin become accidental vigilantes; to save their community, they have a hair competition to win.
Sam White is a mixed race film major at Winchester University; a prestigious and predominantly white Ivy League school. With her sharp and witty radio show Dear White People and her self-published book entitled Ebony and Ivy, Sam causes a stir among the administration and student body, calling out racist micro-aggressions on campus.
Blondie’s Debbie Harry endures years of superficial, tedious, and demeaning questions from journalists until she devises a brilliant way to turn interviews on their head.
CENTERPIECE FILM
Based on actual events, Decoding Annie Parker tells the story of two very different women on seemingly similar paths towards ground-breaking discoveries affecting women with breast cancer.
This historical drama recounts the story of professor Deborah E. Lipstadt, played by Academy Award winner, Rachel Weisz, and her battle for historical truth with historian and Holocaust denier, David Irving.
Drawing on unprecedented, years-long access, the film explores Denise Ho’s remarkable journey from commercial Cantopop superstar to outspoken political activist.
Desert Flower is based on the Novel by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller. Her story touched the hearts of millions: Waris Dirie’s book Desert Flower, which recounts her incredible journey from an African nomad to an international top model.
DEVOUT follows the lives of women in New York and New Jersey who are trying to reconcile their lesbian sexuality with their commitment to Orthodox Judaism, which condemns homosexuality in the harshest terms.
A portrait of Nicole Sherry, Head Groundskeeper for the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards and one of the only two women in that profession in Major League Baseball.
The legendary Diana Vreeland was the arbiter of the fashion world for four decades. Vreeland’s larger-than-life personality and flair for the slightly outrageous gave her the final word in pushing fashion-forward.
Hirut, a 14-year-old girl is abducted on her way home from school for marriage. She bravely grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. Afterward, a tenacious young lawyer argues that Hirut acted in self-defense.
Discovering Girlhood: Shorts Program – ME 3.769, Nefertiti, Fuck You, PICK, War Mothers: Unbreakable, A Line Birds Cannot See, A Normal Girl
Feminist union organizer Dolores Huerta worked side-by-side with Caesar Chavez during their decades-long fight for worker’s rights, but she’s been all but erased from most historic accounts of the effort.
When an overweight and unpopular teenager is suspended from school, she must endure two weeks of community service at a nearby retirement home.
Dreamcatcher explores the cycle of neglect, violence and exploitation which each year leaves thousands upon thousands of girls and women feeling that prostitution is their only option to survive.
Dukhtar is a dramatic story of a mother who kidnaps her ten-year-old daughter to save her from the fate of a child bride.
When Rachel Cowan, an influential mindfulness teacher, and the first female Jew by choice ordained as a Rabbi, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she turned dying into an opportunity to experience gratitude.
Stonewall, the feminist movement, and the experimental cinema of the 1970s, set the stage for lesbian filmmakers to transform how society views queerness.
The incredible story of a small group of indigenous women who risk their lives to stop the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline construction.
This inspirational film of the 1970 Women’s Strike for Equality features the music of Helen Reddy, narration by Gloria Steinem and Jacqui Ceballos, President of Veteran Feminists of America, with excerpts from Betty Friedan’s speech in Bryant Park.
An intimate look at the inner struggles, personal dedication, and worldwide attention focused on Nadia Comăneci, the first female gymnast in history to score a perfect 10.
From an indigenous community in Oaxaca, Mexico, Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza is denied the right to become president of her community, because she is a woman. Eufrosina’s Revolution follows her fight for gender equality, as she questions traditions and defies the chiefs.
Risking It All for True North
Ten-year-old Hanan lives in a fishing village and has always wanted to join her father on his nighttime fishing trips, but he doesn’t want her to come along. Does he harbor a secret?
FANNY: The Right to Rock reveals the untold story of a 1960s California garage band co-founded by Filipina American and queer bandmates, which morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny, the first band of all women to release an LP with a major record label.
Based on a true story from WWII, this stirring film tells the story of a young Jewish girl in France, sent by her parents to a “safe-haven”in Italy to avoid the Nazi occupation. When the Nazis arrive in Italy, Fanny finds a way to escape, leading her sisters and nine other children across the border to safety in Switzerland.
Hunger, loneliness and the will to survive push Fao to embark on a journey that will bring her face to face with her fears.
Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, this film tells the story of fiercely independent Bathsheba Everdene as she manages her newly inherited estate and chooses among three suitors.
Awkward twenty-something Farah Mahtab hits the road with her buddies K.J. and Roopa to stump for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, hoping the trip will also be her opportunity to lose her virginity.
This fantasy superhero re-mix stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a hero forced to run when her superhuman abilities are discovered. Years after abandoning her family, the only place she has left to hide is home.
When a sassy streetwise runner meets an ambitious, wealthy competitor, their two worlds collide with explosive results. As the fast girls strive to qualify for the World Championships, they battle adversity and rivalry on a dramatic, heartwarming and inspirational journey.
One of the most pressing conversations in Hollywood is how to increase the number of female storytellers. In building on our conversation from last year, we will discuss how vital the female gaze is for progressively depicting a more representative and inclusive female narrative.
When most all films are made from the white male perspective, it not only reinforces that perspective, it also reinforces the invisibility of other perspectives. What does this systemic problem mean for the stories we tell and for the stories we are told?
Ileana Jiménez, most notably known as “Feminist Teacher,” has created a course at a progressive New York City school that teaches high school students about feminism.
Filly Brown is an inspiring portrait of a young artist striving to seize her dreams without compromise.
This panel will help filmmakers to develop effective outreach and communication plans.
Come join filmmaker and Columbia College alumni Julia Hart for a discussion on the filmmaking process.
Join us for a presentation from Daniela Letiner, animator and artist as she walks us through her journey to animation.
At 92, Robina Asti, a WWII veteran and pilot, tells her story of living as a transgender woman and her fight to be treated like any other widow.
For Sama is the incredible story of Waad al-Kateab, a journalist/filmmaker who filmed her life for over five years during the conflict in Aleppo, Syria.
An Australian tourist discovers the silent legacy of wartime atrocities when she arrives in a seemingly idyllic little town on the border of Bosnia and Serbia.
Having turned 60, Adela is living a life she never wanted — no children, a husband who walks all over her and, worst of all, nothing to look forward to.
Based on a true story, this film depicts New Jersey police lieutenant, Laurel Hester who has terminal cancer and her domestic partner, Stacie Andree, as they battle to ensure that Stacie can collect Hester’s pension benefits after her death.
The town hall will include activists working for women’s equality and leadership to discuss ways to move forward. What are the best ways to turn outrage into power?
Open to all filmmakers, this workshop will provide the details to know when making a short film.
The moving story of a retired bull rider, the younger rider she mentors, and the barriers they both face as women in the world of rodeo.
A young arctic hunter embarks on a perilous search for food for her family. Crossing the sacred boundary of her people’s ancestral hunting grounds, she discovers an incomprehensible world and a dangerous predator that challenges her ability to survive.
Fearless optimist Anna sets off on an epic journey to find her sister Elsa whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter.
Why was Elsa born with magical powers? What truths about the past await Elsa as she ventures into the unknown to the enchanted forests and dark seas beyond Arendelle?
On a night out with friends, Alice steals a strap-on and challenges her boyfriend’s views about girls. Together they discover something new about themselves.
What does it really look like to be a feminist leader in 2020? This series of docu-shorts follows dynamic activists from five countries who are disrupting the status quo to radically alter the course of history.
Abandoned by her single mom, a teenaged girl becomes obsessed with ecological disaster, forcing her and her grandmother, a functioning alcoholic, to rethink their futures.
A musically gifted woman with intellectual disability lives in a group home. When she falls in love with a young man with a similar disability who sings in her choir, she discovers that their families and social workers have concerns.
The new teenager in town shows up at the boys basketball tryouts and instantly makes an impression. Will talent and drive be enough to make the team?
A young mother will do just about anything to keep the lights on. A young mother does what she must in order to get the electricity turned back on before her daughter returns from school. This is a story of survival.
A look at the research on women directors conducted by the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communications.
Georgena Terry, founder of Terry Bicycles, revolutionized the women’s biking industry by creating a frame specifically for a woman’s body. This is the story of how she got her start and the challenges she faced within the women’s biking movement.
CLOSING FILM
Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way tells the story of this trailblazer who served as role model for women and men across the nation and around the world.
London, 1962. Two teenage girls – Ginger and Rosa — are inseparable; they play truant together, discuss religion, politics and hairstyles, and dream of lives bigger than their mothers’ frustrated domesticity.
At only 25, Maria Toorpakai Wazir is an internationally-celebrated squash player, but in her home country of Pakistan, she faces opposition for her rejection of customary gender roles and refusal to conform to tradition.
Why is it so important to be a boy or a girl?
A Mexican farmworker, pregnant with her third child, seeks prenatal care from a clinic in the “Strawberry Capital” of California.
An examination into maternal healthcare in NYC through the stories of expecting women and those that care for them, focusing on the final weeks of their pregnancies.
Gloria: In Her Own Words blends interviews, press clippings, photographs and archival footage to chronicle Gloria Steinem’s emergence as a driving force in the modern women’s liberation movement.
A transgender female dancer, Shin-mi, gets a call from the Military Manpower Administration, to attend for the Military Service Examination. Shin-mi, with everything in readiness, takes her steps to the Military Manpower Administration.
Granny’s Got Game is a documentary film about a senior women’s basketball team in North Carolina. These seven fiercely competitive women in their seventies battle physical limitations and skepticism to keep doing what they love.
Are women’s colleges a dying breed? In the past forty years over 75% of women’s colleges have closed or merged with their male counterparts.
This short documentary showcases Chuwar Park, a still active and unbelievably vibrant 82-year-old free-diver from Jeju Island, South Korea.
In the blistering desert of Sudan, a pregnant mother and her two young children search for water and safety from the ruthless Janjaweed militia. When her brother is too weak to continue, Haleema is sent alone to find water. A dangerous journey full of hope and despair ensues.
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Hannah Arendt is a portrait of the genius that shook the world with her discovery of “the banality of evil.” After she attends the Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem, Arendt dares to write about the Holocaust in terms no one has ever heard before.
In Northern Uganda, a midwife accompanies new mothers through the physical pain and intense emotion of giving birth.
Harriet tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes.
Harriet Tubman returns to modern times to emancipate young male rappers who use the “N” word as a term of endearment. (She believes they have enslaved themselves with their disrespect of their ancestors.
Malala Yousafzai is both an extraordinary leader and an ordinary teen. After the Taliban’s attack on the young Pakistani school girl, she became an outspoken advocate for education and girls’ rights, as well as the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
In the midst of World War II, a young woman must decide if she is willing to defy both social expectations and her family by joining the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.
The incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history.
Record-breaking English sailor Hilary Lister, a quadriplegic since age 15, and her friends smash up and cannibalize a wheelchair, some metal pipes and a few electric circuit boards. The result is a unique, technical invention that leads her to conquer the oceans of the world and set her spirit free.
Winnie and Savannah talk about their Creative Collaboration with Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker TV Critic.
Six breakthrough African American female entertainers use their artistry and activism to challenge an industry that was hell bent on keeping them out.
Every 13-year-old girl dreams of that nice-but-hard-to-get boy, and Joppe is no different. She consults her friend on how to ask Brian out, but how can she tell him that she was born a boy?
A story 14 years in the making, I Am Belmaya follows one young woman’s transformational journey from subjugated wife to award-winning documentary filmmaker.
Activist and actress Mariska Hargitay investigates the alarming backlog of untested rape kits that have denied justice to survivors of sexual assault for decades. I Am Evidence reveals pervasive problems within the U.S. criminal justice system and sends a powerful message that this travesty must be stopped.
First-time writer/director Rungano Nyoni spins a magical tale where comedy and tragedy are interwoven to virtuosic affect. After a harmless encounter in an African village, the state imprisons the quiet, withdrawn, 8-year-old orphan, Shula, in witch camp.
I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story tells the journey of a young African American girl who navigated over 30 foster homes and psychiatric facilities before age 18, and the one woman, Jeanne, who believed in her.
I Am Woman tells the inspiring story of singer Helen Reddy, who wrote and sang the song “I Am Woman” that became the anthem for the women’s movement in the 1970s.
Watch Jennifer Leitham perform and it’s obvious the striking redhead is an original. When this world-famous jazz bassist takes center-stage, she’s a special talent made all the more unique because Jennifer Leitham began her life and career as John Leitham.
Destini Riley co-directs an animated documentary looking at the separate experiences of her family members in the wake of her brother’s incarceration.
A suicide helpline operator fields an unforgettable call from a young, queer woman.
Ida Lupino was the only woman director in the 40s in Hollywood, for almost one decade. She made movies about women, avant garde subjects as rape, bigamy and abortion. In the Directors Guild, she was the only woman in front of 1300 male directors.
A nine-year old girl, often scared of the world around her and no friends, finds the courage to stand up against bullies when she sees a classmate picked on by two older boys.
In A World… brings its viewer into an idiosyncratic world where one woman fights the odds and finally finds her voice.
A short science fiction film about the reality of access to abortion in the U.S.
Three Palestinian women sharing an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv find themselves doing the same balancing act between tradition and modernity, citizenship and culture, fealty and freedom.
In Her Voice is the first book to ever take the words and experiences of celebrated women film directors and put their voices front and center.
Film financing is widely acknowledged as one of the most challenging aspects of the filmmaking process. This session will provide useful tips and strategies to find and pitch to investors and market your film for success.
At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be thwarted by her life as an undocumented, homeless immigrant.
In this animated feature made by Pixar, young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moves to San Francisco. Her emotions—Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness— conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
A powerful critique of the economic and social inequities that divide the United States, It’s Criminal follows a group of Dartmouth College students who, as part of a college class, work with female inmates in a rural jail to create and perform an original play.
The feel good miscarriage movie you didn’t know you needed.
A deeply intimate portrait of mothers and daughters and the effects of trauma, Jacinta follows a young woman in and out of prison as she attempts to break free from an inherited cycle of addiction, incarceration and crime.
Meet the Lebanese poet and writer Joumana Haddad, the passionate woman behind Jasad (the Body), an erotic Arabic-language magazine.
An African-American teenager’s world is turned upside down when her mother, a popular TV meteorologist, abruptly converts to Islam, prompting both mother and daughter to reevaluate their identities.
The story of paralympic tennis player Jordanne Whiley who attempts to make history by becoming the first British athlete to win all 4 grand slams in one year.
Feminist activists use dance to challenge popular notions of modern femininity.
With breathtaking emotional honesty, this powerful and tender portrait of transgender comedian Julia Scotti explores the unrelenting courage and humor it takes to be Julia.
With the help of a mystical fox at her side, a young girl avenges her grandfather’s death in this mixed-media tale of innocence, evil and bloodshed.
Performance artist and writer, Kate Bornstein, deconstructs gender – and her own identity.
At Salmon River High in Fort Covington, NY, an all-Native American girls lacrosse team seeks to bring home a championship, but first they must fight to blaze a new path for the next generation of Native American women.
Join this unforgettable group of plus-sized women from around the world as they trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Filled with suspense and intensity, this emotional journey will leave you breathless. Some dreams do come true.
A young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress.
Mikuan and Shaniss grew up as best friends in their Innu community. They promised to stick together, but their friendship is shaken when Mikuan falls for a white boy, and starts dreaming of leaving the reserve that’s now too small for her dreams.
An inspiring look at the rise of Daniela Soto-Innes, the 25-year-old Mexican-born Chef de Cuisine at Cosme — now hailed as one of the best chefs in New York City.
With edge-of-your seat tension, the struggle for reproductive rights unfolds in this story of France in 1975. The film follows groundbreaking health minister Simone Veil during the fight for the legalization of abortion.
A beloved South Bronx matriarch rooted in the outlaw, spiritual & activism world takes us on a complicated journey through 5 decades of Bronx history.
The story of the infamous Vel’ d’Hiv roundup in 1942 when French police carried out an extensive raid on Jews in greater Paris, resulting in the arrest of more than 13,000 people — including 4,000 children.
When Laal Pari, an illiterate woman, ran for the village council in Bihar, India, she never dreamed she would be re-elected for a second term and be able to work for the cause closest to her heart – safety and equal rights for women in her village.
Saoirse Ronan stars as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson who navigates the pressures and constraints of Catholic school with awkward self-assuredness.
The Lady Parts Justice League barnstorms the country to support abortion providers and defend women’s reproductive rights. Using comedy as the ultimate weapon to mobilize voters for the 2018 elections.
When a group of Pacific Islander women start a rugby team in East Palo Alto, California, all they have in mind is getting in shape. But this diverse group of women — from teenagers to church-going college students to mothers — find an unexpected sanctuary on the field and new ways to support one another.
A surprising story of a sister’s sacrifice as 18-year-old Raisa hatches a dangerous and improbable plan to save her younger sister from becoming a one-day bride in Hyderabad.
Lemonade Mafia tells the story of a young girl pursuing her dream—to own her own business. But what happens when a rival enters the picture?
After the International Basketball Federation forbids head coverings, making it impossible for Muslim women to maintain their religious convictions, Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir fights to change the rules. With her victory, she becomes the first Division I basketball player to play wearing the hijab.
Based on a true story, two-time Oscar® nominee Catherine Keener plays a small-town nurse Susette Kelo, who emerges as the reluctant leader of her working-class neighbors in their struggle to save their homes from political and corporate interests.
Three children in the Bronx navigate the challenges of remote learning.
Little Women draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life with her three sisters.
This French-Danish animated film tells the story of Sascha, a Russian teenager, who sets off on a voyage to find and recover the lost ship of her missing grandfather who disappeared on his way to the North Pole.
Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and presented by WITHIN, this nonfiction series follows extraordinary women in Pakistan actively working to change their communities.
When 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert mysteriously disappears one night, her mother Mari embarks on a dark journey that finds her face to face with hard truths about her daughter, herself, and police bias.
With music, magic and a stirring narration by Lotte herself, Lotte that Silhouette Girl tells the tale of one of animations’ foremost pioneers, German Film Director, Lotte Reiniger.
A reading of select scenes from Lucky 13 by Denise Meyers, the recipient of the inaugural Alfred P. Sloan Athena List Development Grant.
A 16-year-old girl, who has come to the hospital morgue to identify her mother’s body is turned away by hospital attendants because she’s too young.
15-year-old Laura Dekker sets out – camera in hand – on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
In the aftermath of a bloody confrontation between her tribe, the Innu, and the “Men from the Land of Ice”, the Inuits, Maïna finds herself on a mission that will change the course of her life.
A leader of the fight for LGBT equality from the days of Stonewall, black, trans activist, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, has never received recognition for the impact of her contributions — until now.
Once and For All takes us behind the scenes of the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference as representatives from 189 countries including 17,000 participants and 30,000 advocates hammered out the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
An intimate profile of Gloria Allen, Chicago’s trailblazing Black transgender elder icon who started a charm school for homeless trans youth and is now aging with joy and grace.
Valerie Red-Horse Mohl’s documentary tells the tale of a true American legend, Wilma Mankiller, a community organizer-turned-political leader who defied all odds to make a difference for her people.
The story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language, who creates a dictionary in order to preserve her Native American tribe’s dying language.
Reaching the top of the hip-hop dance world in 2010, sisters-in-dance, Martha and Niki, found themselves in the challenging position of being the only women in a male-dominated sport.
This period drama, starring Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots and Margot Robbie as her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, chronicles the 1569 conflict between Scotland and England and two sisters who are rivals for power.
A closeted medical student’s secret is threatened when out on a date with her girlfriend.
Three women strive to find their place at a prestigious New England university that may disguise something sinister.
This master class on directing for film features Gina Prince-Bythewood, writer, director, and producer.
Come learn from Alexa Junge, a Barnard Alumna ’85, and accomplished showrunner, screenwriter, T.V. writer and producer whose credits include Friends, The West Wing, and Grace & Frankie.
Join Academy Award® winning producer, Cathy Schulman, President of Mandalay Pictures, for a conversation on producing in Hollywood.
This master class on producing for television features Stephanie Liang, Emmy-award winning producer.
Join us for an in-depth Masterclass on writing for film & TV with Valerie Woods, the co-executive producer/writer of Ava Duvernay’s acclaimed drama series, Queen Sugar.
Join Academy Award winning screenwriter, director, and TV creator Callie Khouri for a conversation on success in Hollywood. She is the writer of the 1991 hit movie Thelma and Louise, the director of The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and the creator of the current ABC show Nashville.
This master class on producing for both TV and film features Debra Martin Chase, President of Martin Chase Productions. Chase’s extensive experience includes production of such films as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Princess Diaries, and The Cheetah Girls.
Join four-time Emmy Award winning composer Laura Karpman in a conversation about how she has navigated music and media in the 21st century, clearing a path for herself and other women in the male-dominated entertainment world.
Jeanine Tesori, the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history will discuss her experience composing music for Broadway and film.
Joel Fields is a producer and writer, known for The Americans, Rizzoli & Isles and Dirt. He will discuss his experience writing for television in this intimate session.
Karyn Kusama will conduct a master class on directing. Her latest feature, The Invitation, will be released in March 2016 by Drafthouse Films.
Come learn from Patricia Riggen, a truly inspiring director who has directed films including the Chilean miners saga The 33, Girl in Progress, La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon) and Miracles from Heaven.
Sheila Nevins, President, HBO Documentary Films, brings her extensive experience to the Festival in conversation with Festival Co-Founder, Melissa Silverstein.
Join us for Masterclass on writing for the big screen. Ligiah Villablobos is a writer, producer, and consultant, whose credits include, Go, Diego, Go!, Chavez, and Dirty Girls Social Club.
Mavis! Chronicles the inspiring career of gospel/soul music legend and civil rights icon Mavis Staples and her family group, The Staple Singers. From the freedom songs of the ’60s, Mavis has stayed true to her roots and inspired millions along the way.
A preteen Latina looks forward to her maturing body but must soon cope with the sexual misconduct of someone she trusts.
33-year-old Amira struggles to find her place in between her Arab and American identities while living with and navigating her relationship with her culturally traditional, yet loving mother.
Based on a true story, Kate Mara plays Marine corporal Megan Leavey, whose exceptional skill and unique bond with a military combat dog, Rex, saves countless lives as they search for IEDs during 100+ combat missions in Iraq, proving that heroes come in many forms. After leaving the military with a Purple Heart, Megan fights valiantly to adopt the injured Rex and bring him home.
17-year-old Baghdad lives in a working-class neighborhood in São Paulo in a house with strong-willed, emancipated women, and spends her days at the skate park. When she meets a group of female skateboarders, her life suddenly changes.
Mezzo celebrates the life and artistic endeavors of Breanna Sinclaire, an African-American opera singer and the first openly trans woman to study at a major conservatory.
When her husband, Derek, is sentenced to eight years in a California prison, Ruby drops out of medical school to focus on ensuring Derek’s survival in his violent new environment. Driven by love, loyalty, and hope, Ruby learns to sustain the shame, separation, guilt, and grief that a prison wife must bear.
Militant Mother tells the story of the women of a Vancouver housing project who took on the CNR to ensure that their kids had a safe route to school.
With their partners serving in Afghanistan, a band of women form a choir on the military base and quickly discover that they can rely on each other for more than beautiful harmonies.
Guess what, America? Sexism still exists in the U.S., despite the fact that women are a majority of our population. Miss Representation explores women’s underrepresentation in positions of power and influence in America by challenging the limited portrayal of women as encouraged by the mainstream media.
This documentary, directed by Barbara Kopple, tells the stirring story of Sharon Jones, a true soul survivor who’s been called “the female James Brown” for the energy she and her band The Dap-Kings bring to the stage. The film follows Sharon Jones as she battles cancer, struggles to keep her band together and mount a comeback show at New York’s Beacon Theater.
In 1909, as the world is waking to the possibilities of flight, Miss Todd dreams of flying, but she’s got more than gravity holding her down. This is the story of her determination, perseverance and passion.
One weekend a year, the Illinois town of Kewanee turns into a place of celebration and delight, as the annual Miss You Can Do It pageant spotlights young girls with disabilities from around the country.
Award-winning actress Julie Walters takes on the lead role in a revealing portrait of Mo Mowlam, the powerfully charismatic woman whose no-nonsense approach to politics helped achieve one of the monumental landmarks in recent British history, the Good Friday Agreement.
Moana is a sweeping animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who is inspired to leave the safety and security of her island on a daring journey to save her people. Moana persuades the mighty demigod Maui to join her mission, and he reluctantly helps her become a wayfinder like her ancestors. Together, they voyage across the open ocean and along the way, Moana fulfills her quest and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity.
The moving story of Teodora del Carmen Vásquez, who served 10 years in jail after suffering a stillbirth in her 9th month of pregnancy.
The remarkable story of Colombian human rights advocate, Ruby, who fights for justice on behalf of victims of the conflict between government paramilitaries and FARC guerrillas.
Five Turkish sisters are punished for playing innocently with boys on their way home from school. Imprisoned in the family home, where instruction in homemaking replaces school and talk of arranged marriages begins, the girls share their passion for freedom and find ways to resist.
The Gladwells struggle to get media attention and law enforcement support when their teenage daughter disappears.
Based on true events, a Japanese-American mother struggles to accept and cope with her daughter’s autism.
As a child, my grandmother was given to be raised as a future daughter-in-law. The film reflects upon women’s oppression and struggles for freedom.
During the height of her career, at the same time she was named best player in the world, Ada Hegerberg made the remarkable decision to step away from the Norwegian national team due to the unequal treatment of the men and women’s teams.
In July 2002, 22 Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls traveled to the U.S. to participate in a women’s leadership program called Building Bridges for Peace.
By any measure, Helen Clark is an exceptional woman. Her journey from being one of four children on a remote New Zealand farm to becoming New Zealand’s first elected female prime minister is an inspirational life story.
Despite being blind and uniquely vulnerable, Nefertiti is determined to follow her desires and live her life on her own terms, with or without the help of her sister.
As the internet becomes the next frontier of civil rights, three women who are targets of harassment confront digital abuse and strive for equality and justice online.
Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn and her cousin Skylar embark across state lines to New York City on a fraught journey of friendship, bravery and compassion.
The story of a forgotten group of Welsh women who worked at an ordnance factory during World War II.
Astronaut, forest-keeper, cartoonist. Young Rakel has a whole lot of other plans than becoming a mother. She would rather party, get drunk or stoned instead of sitting hours on the toilet. But she can’t ignore it. Is it her or the baby?
This classic feature centers on Josey Aimes, who takes a job at a local iron mine in Minnesota. Josey files a groundbreaking lawsuit and wins a decision that is still protecting women today.
A mother’s love for her children knows no bounds but is put in grave danger when she is forced to save her son from his unintended collaboration with Mexico’s dangerous cartels.
Dr. Ciara Sivels is a nuclear engineer with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the first black woman to earn a Ph. D from the University of Michigan in nuclear engineering.
A compelling portrait of the inspiring and remarkable women at the forefront of the global AIDS movement.
A young girl feels self-conscious about wearing a hijab at her new school.
Now En Español is an entertaining portrait of the five dynamic Latina actresses who dub Desperate Housewives for Spanish language audiences in the US as they fight for a more diverse and visible portrayal of themselves and their community.
A group of nurses from the mid-west are sent to provide free medical treatment to a small village in Zambia, Africa. They quickly learn that their initial expectations were all wrong and that the experience of serving others would make the biggest difference in their own lives.
To protest abuses in the Palestinian territories, 18-year-old Atalya faces imprisonment for her decision to become a conscientious objector and forgo enlistment in the Israeli army.
Like all Israeli youth, Atalya is obligated to become a soldier. Unlike most, she questions the practices of her country’s military, and becomes determined to challenge this rite of passage.
When Donna gets dumped, loses her job, and finds herself pregnant, she has to navigate the murky waters of independent adulthood for the first time.
Shoni Schimmel, a high-school junior living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, was one of the best high school basketball players in the country.
With deep compassion and an elegance that matches her calm and steely demeanor, 23 year-old Nadia Murad survives the 2014 genocide of the Yazidis in Northern Iraq and escapes ISIS to become a relentless beacon of hope for her people.
The compelling story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s early years, as she crafts a national legal strategy to win equal rights for women and fights to succeed in a profession notably hostile to women.
At a time when the representation of women has taken center stage in a national conversation on the future of media, it’s important to recognize the “pipeline players” so that women have the opportunities, resources, and visibility to succeed in film.
In this animated short, an ambitious girl aspires to be an astronaut, guided by her supportive father.
Oranges and Sunshine is the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, England who uncovers one of the most significant scandals in recent times.
During the Third Reich, many Germans of mixed race were located, identified and forcibly sterilized. Our Rhineland follows two sisters as they fight back and confront what it means to be a part of the resistance.
A lifetime demanding self-defense, one night they fought back.
Detective Mike Hoolihan (Patricia Clarkson) is called to investigate the shooting of a leading astrophysicist.
Michi Nishiura Weglyn (1926-1999) was a noted civil rights activist who gave up a successful career as costume designer for the popular Perry Como Show to write the landmark book, Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps.
Featuring four female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are dealing with PTSD and the aftermath of war, these dance solos and music highlight the women’s unique voices.
Set in 1972, an ambitious computer programmer finds herself maneuvering the minefield of a man’s world. When a crappy day gets worse, Karen is pushed to the brink.
Passionate Politics is a new one-hour documentary that brings Charlotte’s story to life, from idealistic young civil rights activist to lesbian separatist to internationally-recognized leader of a campaign to put women’s rights, front and center, on the global human rights agenda.
Breakout talent Danielle Macdonald plays Patti with the magnetism and stage presence of a seasoned musician and is matched by the talents of the 2018 Athena Award winner Bridget Everett as Patti’s disillusioned mother, who missed her chance at stardom.
Indian women fight the stigma surrounding menstruation and begin manufacturing sanitary pads
Theodora, grandmother to the filmmaker, recounts the story of her childhood in Greece during WWII. She fled with her sisters and mother to the mountain village of Perista. There, they struggled to survive and outlast the war.
This film tells the story of Tamara Loertscher, a rural Wisconsin mother who was jailed after telling her doctor about her occasional drug use before she knew she was pregnant and her fight to overturn Wisconsin’s ‘Unborn Child Protection Act.’
A young girl wears her Afro to school and must deal with the unexpected consequences.
Picture A Scientist chronicles the groundswell of researchers writing a new chapter for women scientists.
“A girl’s life is cruel…A woman’s life is very cruel,” notes Sampat Pal, the complex protagonist at the center of Pink Saris, internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto’s latest foray into the lives of extraordinary women (Sisters In Law, Divorce Iranian Style, Rough Aunties).
Pink Smoke Over the Vatican is a documentary film about impassioned Roman Catholic women who are defying the Church hierarchy by being illicitly ordained as priests and refusing to remain voiceless in the religion they love.
Canadian musician Kinnie Starr goes on a quest to find out why only five percent of music producers are women. Through conversations with some of the leading talents and voices in the field, Play Your Gender asks what it takes for a female producer to make it in the music industry.
Political Animals presents an exciting portrait of two stories — the history of the legislation that paved the way for marriage equality, and the first four openly gay female legislators who championed the movement.
Poster Girl is the story of Robynn Murray, an all-American high-school cheerleader turned “poster girl” for women in combat, distinguished by Army Magazine’s cover shot.
Power Meri follows the PNG Orchids, Papua New Guinea’s first national women’s rugby team, on their journey to the 2017 World Cup in Australia.
The 2012 Olympics was the premier of women’s boxing. Women were finally able to fight and represent their countries on international television. But even before the Olympics legitimized women’s boxing, amateur fighters like Heather “the Heat” Hardy were steadily paving their own roads towards boxing gold. This is Heather’s story.
This panel will discuss what role festivals can play in advancing the parity agenda and will feature festival programmers discussing what steps they are taking to create change in the industry.
Stricken by grief and crippling dementia, an aging World War II veteran, dishonorably discharged for loving a woman, seeks out her beloved for one last dance.
Chronicling three years in the life of a young Native American woman, Pure Grit is a thrilling and intimate tale of extreme bareback horse racing, young love and hope when all seems lost.
Putin’s Kiss portrays contemporary life in Russia through the story of Masha, a 19-year-old girl who is a member of Nashi, a political youth organization connected with the Kremlin.
Meet the female musicians who choose to be Mariachi in Mexico City.
Ghanaian-American Sarah is all set to abandon her Ivy League doctoral program to follow her married lover across the country when her mother dies suddenly and makes her the owner of a neighborhood bookshop in the Bronx.
David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o star in this inspirational and uplifting story of a young girl who sets out to pursue her dream of becoming an international chess champion.
For 17 years, Violet “Vee” Palmer has been grabbing her uniform and lacing up, night after night, to run with the big boys of the NBA.
Queering the Script examines the rising power of the fans and audience shaping representation on TV.
Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp.
When the Vatican publicly admonishes a group of American nuns for their “radical feminism”, they find themselves and their work at the center of a long overdue debate that straddles issues of social justice, women’s rights, and the future of the Catholic Church.
From the 1870s through our 21st century, RADIOACTIVE tells the story of pioneering scientist Marie Curie through her extraordinary life and her enduring legacies – the passionate partnerships, her shining scientific breakthroughs, and the darker consequences that followed.
In their community “good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but Kena and Ziki long for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls are forced to choose between happiness and safety.
Reaching for the Moon is an intimate snapshot of the search for inspiration, wherever and however you find it.
Real women take chances, have flaws, embrace life…and have curves. Ana, a first-generation Mexican-American from East L.A., who struggles between her ambition of attending college and her cultural traditions.
This is the story of Ana, a first-generation Mexican-American teenager on the verge of becoming a woman. She lives in the predominately Latino community of East Los Angeles. Freshly graduated from high school, Ana receives a full scholarship to Columbia University.
Shrouded in mystery and long the subject of debate, the amazing story of Loreta Velazquez, Confederate soldier turned Union Spy, is one of the Civil War’s most gripping forgotten narratives. Who was she? Why did she fight? And what made her so dangerous that she has been virtually erased from history?
A Black doula fights to save the lives of Black moms as they journey through childbirth into parenthood.
Diana Groó’s poetic documentary tells the story of Regina Jonas (1902-1944), the first properly ordained female rabbi in the world.
Too often film studios and businesses think about diversity only in terms of their own employees, motivated to fix homogeneity by notions of fairness or to avoid liability. Join us as we ask a wider set of questions about diversity.
Restless Creature allows the audience extraordinary access to a behind the scenes world at the New York City Ballet with long-time principal dancer, Wendy Whelan, as she faces injury, retirement, and having to redefine herself as a dancer.
For as long as any of us have been around, the canon — those books, plays, films and TV series — anointed as the most important of their kind — has been largely defined as white and male. Join us for a discussion on how we can make the canon more inclusive of women and people of color whose voices and experiences have been historically omitted from the cultural narratives.
Jessica Cox was born without arms but managed to overcome many challenges to become independent. She types, drives a car and, amazingly, flies an airplane with her feet. Right Footed follows Jessica as she transforms into a mentor and advocate for persons with disabilities.
Waking up after years in a deep sleep, the last surviving scientist in Antarctica must use her ingenuity and science to survive.
Shola, known as “Rocks” after protecting her childhood friend from bullies, has big dreams but one day she returns home from school to discover her mother has left and she is responsible for younger brother Emmanuel.
A Heartfelt Stand Up features Rosie O’Donnell in a hybrid form of standup comedy, inspired by her recent near-fatal heart attack.
A 14-year-old girl is running for President of the United States. As she tries to garner votes, she renews more than just a faith in democracy in the people she meets.
Amanda Morales, a Guatemalan mother of three U.S.-born children is the first immigrant to claim sanctuary in New York since President Trump took office.
Siobhán’s a marine biology student who prefers to work alone in the lab. But while on a research expedition on a ragged fishing trawler, an unfathomable life form ensnares the boat and Siobhán must overcome her alienation, before everyone is lost.
A film portrait of photographer Sylvia Plachy, perhaps best known for her weekly pictures in the Village Voice, explores her celebrated work that spans more than four decades and includes publication in numerous magazines and books. Plachy’s son, actor Adrien Brody, contributes a delightful score.
In a rural village far from Tehran, the night sky glows brilliantly, unimpeded by light pollution, and a teenage girl named Sepideh dreams of becoming an astronomer.
Driven by the military tenet of “Leave No One Behind,” Shannon Scott, a proud transgender veteran, seeks justice for those vets who championed equality before her.
In 1961, during the Space Race, a woman vying to become the first female astronaut meets a nurse ready to give up on a dream of her own. Inspired by a true story.
Short Term 12 is told through the eyes of Grace, a twenty-something supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers.
Shorts Program I films: Cinematographer, Come and Take It, Heed The Call, I’m Just Here, Juck, Sister Hearts
Shorts Program I Films: Beads, Con Madre, Objector, Showdown, The Fan, The Red Thunder, Whirlpool, Ya Albi
Shorts Program I – Abortion Helpline: This is Lisa, Welcome Back, A Sister, Bodies Like Oceans, Couper Was Here
Shorts Program I Films: Vámonos, Where We Stand, A Day on my Wheels, Leeches, Dangerous Curves, And Nothing Happened
Shorts Program II – A Woman’s Place, Game, Mask, Nour, Waahi, While I Yet Live
Shorts Program II Films: 116 Cameras, Al Imam, Beatrice, Frontier, Lemonade Mafia, Lunch Time, Prudence, Waiting for Hassana
Shorts Program II – The Shepherdess, Dani, Ballet After Dark, Deborah Harry Does Not Like Interviews, My Daughter Yoshiko, Mothers Of
Shorts Program II Films: Mezzo, Moving Target, I Destini, You Can Go, The Rain Collector, La Cocinera
Shorts Program III films: 7 Planets, Giving Birth in America: California, Happy Today, Newport Gun Girls, One Small Step, Rise and Shine
Physical health, mental health, community health, public health, socioeconomic health – we’ve thought about it constantly for the past 12 months. What does holistic wellness look like? Who has access to health?
Women, femmes, and trans and non-binary folks are constantly being told how they should look, how they should act and how they should live. In this section we throw all of that out the window. Come as you are.
Fall in love with new voices. Celebrate the inspiring new works of first time and student filmmakers as they discover and unlock their creativity.
Fall in love with new voices. Celebrate the inspiring new works of first time and student filmmakers as they discover and unlock their creativity.
While so much of this rapid change has been difficult and even traumatizing, it has shown us things that things don’t have to be the way they were. The future is wide open. What will it look like?
We’re excited to once again partner with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to tell the stories of fierce and fearless women working in STEM.
This rallying cry, which began in the disability rights movements in South Africa in 1993, has since been applied to multiple movements and causes. In this program, we dive into representation. Who is at the center of the story? Who is telling the story?
What keeps us going? Humans, women, leaders are resilient. We’ll investigate and showcase the exhaustion and devastation, and the powerful manifestations of perseverance and hope that keeps people going.
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare that which already plagued our country, including police brutality, structural racism, and economic inequality. We’ll take a look at people organizing and taking action to tear down systems of oppression.
Studio owner Cheryl Bellamy takes her dance team from Durham’s inner city to suburban Smithfield, North Carolina where they compete at the first competition of the year—the Showdown.
Filmmaker Tracy Heather Strain delivers a moving account of the life of black playwright, communist, feminist, lesbian, and outspoken trailblazer Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a pivotal voice among black intellectuals of her time. In Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, Tracy Heather Strain unveils the woman behind the words, revealing what it meant to be young, gifted and black in Hansberry’s world and remembering a light lost way too soon.
Central American mothers journey by bus through Mexico, searching for their children who migrated north towards the United States but disappeared en route.
In 1926, the world’s most famous evangelist, Sister Aimee Semple McPherson, fakes her own death in order to run away to Mexico with her married lover.
After thirteen years in prison (six in solitary), an ex-offender opens Sister Hearts, the largest thrift store in New Orleans, and offers a path forward for women like her.
This documentary revisits Slaying the Dragon (1986), the pioneering film on the media’s representation of Asian women, to determine what has and has not changed in Hollywood and beyond.
Social media is a key component in crowdfunding but it also plays a vital role in a film’s promotion. This panel brings together social media experts to introduce filmmakers to the latest tools and strategies integral to a creating a successful campaign.
Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of social entrepreneur and refugee, Mariam Shaar – a stateless refugee who has spent her entire life in a Lebanese refugee camp. The film follows Mariam as she sets out to launch a successful catering company, Soufra, and then expand it into a food-truck business with a diverse group of women from Syria, Iraq, and Palestine—who also call the camp home.
Director Deborah Esquenazi’s film shows how the intersection of homophobia, racism, and class-bias contributed to the conviction of the San Antonio Four, a group of Latina lesbians, and how these four women successfully fought our flawed justice system.
The Speed Sisters are the first all-women race car driving team in the Middle East. They’re bold. They’re fearless. And they’re tearing up tracks all over Palestine.
Following the screening of Bombshell, the Hedy Lamarr Story, this panel of illustrious filmmakers will focus on the stories of powerful women in STEM fields and discuss the challenges of bringing these rich, and sometimes complicated scientific stories to life on the big screen.
Lois, 16, dreams of becoming an astronaut, but she has a big problem: she weighs over 200 pounds.
Although most of her peers are happily retired, Stella at age 95, is still pursuing her dreams.
The film highlights an art series by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, that addresses gender based street harassment by placing portraits of women.
Immediately following the screening of Shorts Program III, this conversation will discuss the challenges and potential of bringing stories about women and science to life, engaging filmmakers in a conversation on the hurdles they face when trying to translate short films into features and other media.
Holly Hunter plays a mother suffering the loss of her adult son, who sets off on a journey to find answers to the questions surrounding his death.
Using only archival footage from Julia Gillard’s three-year term as prime minister, this film is an honest portrait of Australia’s response when a woman took the top job.
Student Short Film Showcase – Poisonberries, Qintong (Child Pianist), Wedding Dance
The drama tracks the story of working women fighting for the right to vote in early twentieth century Britain. Finding that their peaceful protests achieved little and galvanized by political activist Emmeline Pankhurst, they turn to violence, sacrificing their jobs, their homes, and their children as they fight for a just cause.
Sensual and elegant, Summertime follows Carole and Delphine as they fall in love against the backdrop of early feminist activism in 1971, Paris.
Sundance Institute Presents: Women Directors in Independent Film
The general manager at a highway-side ”sports bar with curves” who has incurable optimism and faith in her girls, her customers, and herself, is tested over the course of a long, strange day.
Despite the danger to herself and her family, former slaughterhouse worker Susana returns to the scene at night to care for animals on their way to the kill floor.
Susanne Bartsch moved to the United States and reinvented herself as a legendary “Queen of the Night” at the height of New York’s 1980s club scene. ” The doyenne of NYC nightlife for decades, and still at it, she stirs together the art, fashion, and gay dance-club worlds to create extravagant spectacles. The film follows Bartsch’s life as she plans a showstopping party and takes stock of her life.
17-year old Claressa “T-Rex” Shields from Flint, Michigan dreams of being the first woman in history to win the gold medal in Olympic boxing. To succeed, she will need to stand her ground both inside and outside of the ring.
Celebrates the pioneers of blues through interviews with cultural historians, vintage photos, footage, and recordings, narrated by Jewelle Gomez.
The Women in Film Foundation’s Legacy Series interviewed extraordinary, iconic women whose careers are rooted in the myths and legends of filmmaking. Please join us for a screening of short selections from the Legacy Series and a discussion with several women who will share their tales from the trenches.
Tall as the Baobab Tree poignantly depicts a family struggling to find its footing on the edge of the modern world fraught with tensions between tradition and modernity.
Quechua elder Tarcila Rivera Zea fights for Indigenous Rights to sovereignty and food security in the face of climate change.
Excited by her father’s surprise arrival and determined to see him, 10-year-old Tasnim summons up the nerve to disregard the conservative norms of her Bedouin village.
This inspiring film is based on the true story of Mary Thompson Fisher, who became one of the greatest Native American performers of all time.
Test Pattern follows the making and unmaking of an interracial couple in Austin, Texas.
Based on the autobiography of Vera Brittain, this story of young love and the futility of war, a British woman who comes of age during WWI when she postpones her studies at Oxford to serve as a nurse in London and abroad.
Testimony shares the stories of five survivors of sexual assault and their journey to healing. Its goal is to inspire those who have been silenced to speak out, while building courage amongst survivors.
The world of women’s sports was kicked upside down with the U.S. women’s soccer team’s thrilling penalty-kick shootout victory against China in the 1999 World Cup. Using candid footage shot by the players throughout the tournament, The 99ers presents a unique portrait of the team that irrevocably changed the face of women’s athletics.
Carmen Herrera was a pioneering abstract painter in the ’40s and ’50s, but only recently found the recognition she deserves as she approaches her 100th birthday.
The 8th tells the story of the Irish women and their fight to overturn one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the world. After a 35-year struggle the pro-choice side radically shift tactics to try to bring a historically conservative electorate over the line.
Based on the bestselling book, The Book Thief tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a foster family in World War II Germany.
The Breadwinner is the story of Parvana, a young girl living under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, who must disguise herself as a boy to become the breadwinner of the family when her father is unfairly imprisoned. A story of self-empowerment and imagination in the face of oppression, The Breadwinner celebrates the culture, history, and beauty of Afghanistan.
Leonard Bernstein’s protege, Marin Alsop, reveals how she smashed the glass ceiling to become an internationally renowned conductor, becoming the first woman to serve as music director of a multitude of renowned orchestras.
The Delian Mode is an audio-visual exploration of the life and work of electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire.
Entertaining, thrilling and radical, The Dilemma of Desire shatters the myths and lies about female sexual desire, bodies and – ultimately – power.
In this animated short, a film director makes a statement by wearing a dress on the set. In a sweet, tongue-in-cheek way, the film highlights the contradictory messages often sent to women and girls — that they should take on various feminine attributes until they want a job in a “man’s world.”
Political and religious leaders in Switzerland cited “Divine Order” as the reason why women still did not have to right to vote as late as 1970. Director Petra Volpe introduces us to Nora, an apolitical housewife, who becomes the unflinching suffragette leader of the village and helps shepherd equality to this European nation.
Dee Dee Ricks was living her dream—she had a successful business, two beautiful kids, and a whirlwind social life. But after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a double mastectomy, Ricks trades her hedge-fund career for philanthropy, raising money for a Harlem clinic that treats uninsured and underserved patients.
The rural elderly woman’s TV antenna is ruined, and she only has a few hours until the national soccer tournament will begin. Will she be able to travel to town and back in time for the big game?
This award-winning comedy-drama stars Olivia Colman as Queen Anne and Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone as cousins whose quarreling take center stage as each jockeys to be the court favourite of a frail and mercurial Queen Anne.
This personal and compelling portrait follows Gudrun Schyman, spokesperson of Sweden’s Feminist Initiative political party as she moves between small towns, refugee camps, and the corridors of power.
The Fits follows Toni, a tomboyish boxer, who lands a spot on an after-school drill team in Cincinnati’s West End. When a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team soon after Toni joins the team, she gains a new and frightening perspective of herself.
Emotionally distraught from losing custody of her son Georgie and running out of options to earn a living to win him back, single mother Ashley (Abbie Cornish) becomes desperate when she loses her job at a local Austin megastore.
When two U.S. born children share that their mother is being deported, immigration activist Nora Sandigo steps up to become their legal guardian, saving them from the fate of “immigration orphans’’ trapped in the foster care system.
In this short, poetic documentary Kathleen reflects upon her 31 years as a hairdresser for the terminally ill in paliative care.
Based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale tells the story of Offred (Elisabeth Moss), one of the few remaining fertile women in the dystopia of Gilead, who must fight to survive in a totalitarian society that treats women as state property.
After witnessing the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer, Starr must balance two worlds—the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives, and the wealthy, mostly white prep school that she attends—as she finds her voice and stands up for what’s right.
An unlikely basketball team of unappreciated middle-aged Texas women challenge the current high school state champs to a series of games to raise money for breast cancer prevention.
Showing clips from the new documentary Surge, the panel will discuss how women candidates affect our political system and change what it means to be a politician in this hyper-partisan age.
Two female entrepreneurs create a revolutionary bicycle helmet everyone told them would be impossible to engineer.
The Invisible War is a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America’s most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military.
Police arrested seven women who were part of a clandestine network. Using code names, blindfolds and safe houses, they built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions calling themselves JANE.
Bunny King is a mother of two, a rough cut diamond with a sketchy past. While battling the system to reunite with her children, a confrontation leads her to take her niece Tonyah under her wing. With the world against her and Tonyah, Bunny’s battle has just begun.
The Lady is based on the true story of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who had been under house arrest for 17 years.
The Legend of Pancho Barnes chronicles the thrilling life of aviation pioneer Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes, one of the most colorful and accomplished women pilots of the earliest 20th Century.
A stunningly courageous young actor, Marianna Palka, confronts her risk of Huntington’s Disease.
A Sheriff’s deputy takes on her Louisiana town’s old-money establishment when the woman she loves is found murdered.
During a two-decade-long civil war in her country, soldiers from Northern Sudan attacked Nyanwuor Duop’s village and she was forced to flee along with thousands of other children.
In the early 70s, Cathy Rush becomes the head basketball coach at a tiny, all-girls Catholic college. Though her team has no gym and no uniforms — and the school itself is in danger of being sold — Coach Rush looks to steer her girls to their first national championship.
Chloë Grace Moretz plays a teenager sent away to a remote “treatment center” after being caught in the backseat with the prom queen. As she is subjected to questionable gay conversion therapies, she finds both challenge and solace in fellow residents.
Fueled by their hopes for a better future, grassroots women in Nigeria’s Niger Delta use the threat of stripping naked in public, a serious cultural taboo, to make their voices heard and hold multinational oil companies accountable to the communities in which they operate.
Follow world record holder and legendary swimmer Diana Nyad, as she comes out of a thirty-year retirement to re-attempt her elusive dream: swimming 103 miles non-stop from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage.
A bureaucratic mixup leads an ambitious young doctor in Saudi Arabia, Maryam, to stumble on the application for her local city elections and she decides to run.
In this drama, the Washington Post’s Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper and Post editor Ben Bradlee race to catch up with The New York Times’ publication of the Pentagon Papers.
In this panel we will hear from Dr. Stacy Smith and women who work across all fields of animation to discuss the current field of animation and what we can do to get women across the pipeline of the animation industry.
A young woman in Victorian England confounds ideas of what is appropriate or expected, and finds purpose and maybe even love through science. Inspired by true events, supported by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation.
Paralympian Anjali Forber-Pratt was adopted from India as an infant and became paralyzed shortly after arriving in the U.S. Despite daunting obstacles, Anjali is now a PhD student and world record holder in 200m wheelchair racing.
Sarah, a nerdy teenager, needs her mom’s new car to go on a date with the boy she likes, but her mom won’t let her take he car. She decides to steal it, but something unexpected happens that changes Sarah’s life forever.
The Rescuers follows Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist who in the 1990s lost 100 members of her family in the Rwandan Genocide, as she teams with Sir Martin Gilbert, the renowned Holocaust historian.
Inspired by the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, The Revival is a tour of queer women of color creating modern day spaces for art and resistance.
A young shaman must face her first test—a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill.
A Navajo shepherdess perseveres despite extreme drought in this poetic short film about a rapidly vanishing way of life.
This panel will hear from the #SilenceBreakers, the women who put their names, reputations, and careers on the line to stand up and change the culture. They will share their experiences and the impact speaking up has taken on lives and careers.
Meet Xate Singali, captain of the Sun Ladies, a female-only fighting unit that risks everything to protect the Yazidi community from violent attacks by ISIS.
The Athena Film Festival and Barnard Media Center will host a unique filmmaker forum exposing attendees to the technical fields of filmmaking.
Attorney MiAngel Cody leads a small – but mighty – team of women fighting to free people sentenced to life in prison for drugs and put an end to the unfair “three strikes” drug laws.
Pride of New Zealand, the Topp Twins, Jools and Lynda were once merely farm girls in love with riding horses. Soon, their energetic talent, political savvy and concern, harmonizing vocals and melodies, and campy Kiwi theatrics were bound to find an audience outside their home on the range.
At the height of the civil rights movement, Constance Baker Motley joined the NAACP’s legal team and meets prejudice and danger with elegance and humor.
When 21-year-old Hend Nafea travels to Cairo to join the popular protests in Egypt, she is beaten, arrested, and tortured. Unbreakable and buoyed by her fellow activists, she sets out to search for freedom and justice in a country gripped by a dangerous power struggle.
This gripping expose of human trafficking tells the story of Kathryn, an American police officer who takes a job as a UN peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia.
Emil Ben Shimon’s drama unfolds in an Orthodox community in Jerusalem when an accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gendered rift in the congregation.
Chinese American lesbian artist Bernice Bing is known for creating art on her own terms. The film illuminates her life, from her art studio in the epicenter of San Francisco’s beat scene to her groundbreaking community work in northern California.
Academy Award-nominated Jessica Chastain stars in this stirring film as Antonina Zabinska, the title character in a true story of husband-and-wife team that run the Warsaw Zoo during the Nazi occupation. Working secretly with the Resistance throughout the Holocaust, the zookeepers sneak Jews out of the ghetto, and give them refuge in tunnels beneath their home.
This comedy tells the story of Catrin Cole, a young copywriter drafted by the Ministry of Information to add a woman’s touch to its propaganda films, which are intended to boost morale in the midst of the Blitz. As bombs are dropping all around them, Catrin, Buckley and their colorful cast and crew work furiously to make a film that will warm the hearts of the nation.
Writer/director Joachim Trier crafts a haunting tale of Thelma (Eili Harboe), a shy college student who has just left her religious family in a small Norway town and finds herself intensely drawn to her classmate Anja (Kaya Wilkins). But in a surprising twist to this coming-of-age tale, first love and self-discovery arrive with uncontrollable seizures and supernatural powers that force her to confront the terrifying implications.
While the 2016 election catalyzed the Women’s March and a new era of feminist activism, Tamika Mallory and Erika Andiola have been fighting for their communities for years.
To make ends meet, people in the U.S. are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers.
A woman recounts her experience living with chronic pelvic pain – how health professionals have failed her, men have rejected her, and shame, anger, and hatred have plagued her body.
A conversation with members of Time’s Up on first-year accomplishments and what’s on the horizon moving forward.
Tina, a shy 8th grader, runs for class president against the school bully in order to stand up for her friend and herself.
Meet 19-year-old Hunter Pixel Jimenez, a nonbinary trans boy caught between the expectations of his Guatemalan immigrant family and his dreams of living “happy and gay” with his long-distance boyfriend.
When Laure arrives at her new neighborhood in the outskirts of Paris, she ventures outside to meet the local kids. Mistaken for a boy by a potential new friend Lisa, she decides, on the spur of the moment, to give her name as Mikaël.
An artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison.
The recent women’s march and opposition to the President’s Executive Order banning immigrants to the U.S. has unleashed activism across the nation. Please join us for a town hall discussion on how to harness this activism to build a new movement for social change.
American abortion clinics are in a fight for survival. Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws, like those recently passed in Texas and Alabama are increasingly being passed by states that insist they are for women’s safety and health. But as clinics are forced to shut their doors, supporters of abortion rights believe the real purpose of these laws is to outlaw abortion.
This is a newsroom drama detailing the 2004 CBS 60 Minutes report that investigated then-President George W. Bush’s military service and the subsequent firestorm of criticism that cost anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes their careers.
Tharp will join us for a conversation on how she has incorporated film in her dance-making work.
Umoja: No Men Allowed is the heartwarming story of women from the Samburu tribe in Kenya who turn age-old patriarchy on its head when they set up a women’s only village.
Told through the lens of Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionist leaders, Unapologetic is a deep look into the Movement for Black Lives, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
A story of one woman’s journey to reclaim her beauty and grace in the wake of a breast cancer diagnosis.
This panel discussion will focus on how to create systemic change for women in the entertainment industry. Panelists will share their personal experiences and explore evidence of unconscious bias, how it manifests within the entertainment industry, and what the industry can do to overcome its effects and create more opportunities for women.
This workshop will explore unconscious bias, how it manifests within the entertainment industry, and what the industry can do to overcome these barriers and create more opportunities for women.
In one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Tanzania, where malaria is the number one killer, the lives of an 11-year-old girl named Amisa and her ill-stricken family are changed forever by the simple gift of mosquito bed nets.
This film explores the unseen relationship women have with their bodies and undergarments.
Amidst friends, frenemies, and sleepovers, Eleanor and Alex must face the confusion and uncertainty of developing a same-sex first crush.
This darkly comic drama highlights the power of Anya: a 10 year-old girl who must fight to change her own world when her mother’s boyfriend threatens to come between them.
A young woman passes the border safely, but can she convince another to join her break for freedom?
After learning she will soon lose her place on the local boy’s soccer team, eleven-year-old Kirsty struggles to come to terms with her developing identity as a young woman.
Inspired by Macbeth and The Everyday Sexism Project, this story follows three insulted and misunderstood women whose fortunes rise as Macbeth’s fall.
Underwire Festival is a BAFTA-recognised film festival celebrating women working across the crafts that takes place annually in London (UK), celebrating and spotlighting women working in film with a programme packed with events, workshops, networking and incredible films.
Through the experience of a historical, anonymous, female migrant, Borders tells a powerful story of one group of women who fell victim to racism and sexism in 1970’s Britain.
A night. A car. A woman in trouble. To avoid danger, Alie must make the most important phone call of her life.
The Athena Film Festival is proud to partner with Unladylike2020 to show four short films from their upcoming series.
UnREAL takes place behind the scenes of the fictional dating competition show Everlasting, as the show’s producers manipulate the contestants to get the footage they need.
Set against the backdrop of the 2011 UK summer riots, Urban Hymn follows a young female offender, Jamie, who possesses a remarkable voice, and the determined social worker, who inspires Jamie to use her talent as a path to rebuild her life.
A gay Latina mourns the death of her butch girlfriend, Mac, and vows to bury her with dignity, despite resistance from Mac’s mother.
Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts brings much-needed abortion and contraceptive services to those with no other options.
This is the extraordinary story of the poet and folk singer Violeta Parra, whose songs have become hymns for Chileans and Latin Americans alike. Director Andrés Wood traces the intensity and explosive vitality of her life, from humble origins to international fame, her defense of indigenous cultures, and devotion to her art.
Virtual Reality Program: Love With Love: A Story of Women; A Story of Dance, Testimony, Under the Net
Virtual Reality Program: Love With Love: A Story of Women; A Story of Dance, Testimony, Under the Net
Make sure to visit the Virtual Reality lounge at the 2019 Athena Film Festival.
Make sure to visit the Virtual Reality lounge at the 2019 Athena Film Festival.
Hildegard von Bingen was truly a woman ahead of her time. A visionary in every sense of the word, this famed 12th-century Benedictine nun was a Christian mystic, composer, philosopher, playwright, poet, naturalist, scientist, physician, herbalist and ecological activist.
A Pakistani wheat farmer shatters stereotypes with her courage and resilience.
In 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 teenage girls in Nigeria. Waiting for Hassana is the harrowing account of one girl’s escape from captivity and a lament for her closest friend, Hassana, who remains missing.
As her country goes to war, 18-year-old Yana puts aside her dreams of becoming a doctor and creates a national movement, but she must find her deepest strength when she is in a life-threatening car accident.
Madonna Thunder Hawk, unapologetic organizer of the American Indian Movement, has cultivated a ragtag gang of activist children into the We Will Remember survival group. The film highlights the struggle for native rights and how activists pass their legacies from generation to generation.
This is the story of Decontee Davis, an Ebola survivor who uses her immunity to care for orphaned children in her Liberian village.
Three girls in 1980s Stockholm decide to form a punk band — despite not having any instruments and being told by everyone that punk is dead.
This film introduces the Radical Monarchs, an alternative to the Scout movement for girls of color, and its founders, two fierce queer women of color, who have inspired a new generation of social justice activists.
After being deported to Venezuela, one of the most dangerous countries in the world, Rosa and her daughter must find a way to escape to Colombia.
This nuanced portrait of Pauline Kael, among the most famous and divisive film critics of all time, uses never-before-seen archival film, wide-ranging interviews and her own writings voiced by Sarah Jessica Parker.
A woman from Naples discusses the ups and downs of her life drawing comparisons to the life of a woman born nearby and whom she has always admired, Sophia Loren. Loren is also interviewed and offers commentary and insights on her life as well.
The powerful story of a controversial group of Mormon feminists fighting for women’s ordination in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Acclaimed quilters from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, talk about love, religion, and the fight for civil rights as they continue the tradition that brought them together.
Helen Keller might be known for being deaf and blind, but she was also an avid civil rights activist who fought to eliminate bias against the disabled within the public, her family, and even herself.
After her appointment as South Africa’s Public Protector in 2009, Thuli Madonsela immediately faces violent protests, court interdicts, political and personal attacks, and death threats, as this remarkably steadfast woman seeks justice in a country still coming to terms with its apartheid past.
Pauline Park is a Korean-American adoptee, a transgendered woman, and a human rights activist. Yearning to belong, she has been tracing the genealogical roots of her adoptive parents, helping her, and us as well, better understand how our identities can both define and betray us at the same time.
Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour follows iconic feminist electronic band Le Tigre on their 2004-2005 international tour across four continents and through ten countries.
Breaking racial and gender stereotypes, the African-American stand-up comedienne Jackie “Moms” Mabley has long been an icon in the comedy world.
Cruelty, courage, love, and memory collide as two generations of women bear witness to the brutality common to wild horse roundups in the American West.
In this moving story based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell, seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly played by Jennifer Lawrence sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared.
This documentary is a personal and intimate look at Chely Wright who, after a lifetime of hiding, becomes the first commercially successful country music singer to come out as a lesbian.
In 1977, with just four months left, NASA struggles to recruit scientists, engineers and astronauts for their new Space Shuttle Program. That is when Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek’s Lt. Uhura, challenges them by asking the question: Where are my people?.
This panel will delve into the history of women in horror and discuss the recent renaissance of the genre.
This panel will focus on depictions of women as both heroes and villains in horror films and beyond and what this tells us about the current zeitgeist.
Female comedian Bonnie McFarlane sets out along with fellow comedian and husband Rich Vos (and their adorable 3 year old) to find out once and for all if women are funny and report her unbiased findings in this important documentary film.
Following the screening of Woman In Motion the panel will discuss the history of women in space and the connection between the stories on screen and the real-life initiatives.
This film uncovers the forgotten stories of women who were at the helm of Hollywood during its golden age. A panel following the film will ask why these remarkable women are overlooked, and how that impacts current conversations on gender inequity in the industry.
Women, War & Peace is a new five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain. It spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan, Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security.
In the 2017 blockbuster of the year, based on the DC comics superhero, Gal Gadot plays Wonder Woman, a.k.a. Diana, the Amazonian princess trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Fighting in the war to end all wars, Diana discovers her full powers and her true destiny and inspires young women across the globe.
Tracing the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman and superheroines in film from the birth of the comic book superheroine in the 1940s to the blockbusters of today, WONDER WOMEN! examines how popular representations of women reflect society’s anxieties about women’s power and liberation.
Follow Ruchie Freier, a diminutive, no-nonsense Hasidic lawyer and mother of six who is determined to provide dignified Emergency Medical Services to the Hasidic women and girls of Borough Park, Brooklyn.
A doctor must choose between breaking the law or breaking everything she stands for.
Councilwoman Carmen Castillo is a chambermaid from the Dominican Republic, who has been cleaning hotel rooms for over nineteen years and is likely the first hotel housekeeper to hold public office in the U.S.
Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray traces the life and work of this remarkable woman, whose paintings established her as a veritable iconoclast of the 20th Century art world.
The film follows a female parliament member fighting to secure the rights of Afghan women and an Afghan female journalist covering the volatile presidential elections.
What does it take to make it in a man’s world? We traveled the world to find out why and talked to female DJs.
The story of acclaimed poet, Nikki Giovanni and the revolutionary historical periods through which she lived—reveals the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest artists and social commentators.
An early look at the 4-hour PBS documentary series, HALF THE SKY, based on the book by NY Times journalist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
How it Feels to Be Free is a feature length documentary illustrating how trailblazing black female entertainers fought for civil rights through their artistic work and political actions.
In the Game follows the ups and downs of an Hispanic girls soccer team to reveal the impact that race, class, and gender has on life opportunities.
Missing in Action is the untold story of the unsung women who helped invent television in post-WWII New York.
Netizens exposes the proliferation of cyber harassment faced by women, spreading from the web to the most intimate corners of their lives.
Catholic Sisters Jean, Chris and Simone are so passionate about social justice that they’ll risk their place in the church they love, in order to be true to their faith. From the halls of Congress to St. Peter’s Square, we follow the sisters as they transform the Catholic Church and American politics.
Represent is an intimate look at first-time, female candidates running for state and local office across the Midwest. The film follows three parallel stories over two years.
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry tells the story of the brilliant, impassioned women who launched the women’s liberation movement in the 1960′s.
Surge is about this extraordinary moment, when an unprecedented number of first-time female candidates ran, won and upended conventional politics in 2018.
Multi-billion dollar industries saturate our lives with images of unattainable beauty, exporting body hatred from New York to Beirut to Tokyo. Their target? Women, and increasingly men and children. The Illusionists turns the mirror on media, exposing the absurd, sometimes humorous, and shocking images that seek to enslave us.
Her home is “the most dangerous place on earth,” where sports are decried as un-Islamic and girls rarely leave their homes. But she did. She’s a world-renowned athlete and a flashpoint in her country’s battle over feminine identity.
A look at the impact of restrictive abortion laws in the southern United States, and their disproportionate effect on women living in poverty.
This feature documentary tells the untold story of Palestinian women who formed a clandestine network in the spring of 1988 to lead a vibrant nonviolent social movement that put the Palestinian people on the map.
Join the film fatales to discuss how they make films while making ends meet and how this community is helping women in the industry.
Caught between the need to support her family and the increasingly disturbing behavior of her boss, Orna fights for her job and her sense of self-worth.
We are proud to present the following works in progress: Admission is free.
Works In Progress Films Include: How it Feels to Be Free , Netizens, Women of the 1st Intifada
Join us for a moderated conversation with film professionals and advisors as they review clips of three works-in-progress and help the filmmakers push their films to the next level.
In the summer of 1964, a quiet revolution began in Mississippi when a group of Black and White women reached across the chasm of race, class, geography, and religion to help end segregation in America.
Workshops for Filmmakers
Explore the remarkable life and legacy of the late feminist author Ursula K. Le Guin.
A Syrian refugee, Aya, must adapt to life in an unfamiliar country on her own after her husband’s immigration visa is unexpectedly rejected.
A startling portrayal of a high school administrator talking down a troubled teen in her school.