Short Film Submissions will open on Monday, June 2, 2025
The Athena Film Festival at Barnard College celebrates extraordinary films from across the globe that tell the stories of fierce and fearless women leaders. At Athena, leadership takes no singular form. Our films tell the stories of women whose leadership has been questioned, dismissed or erased. Women who have risen up and spoken truth to power. Women who empower their communities. Women who inspire and educate. These are the stories we want to see. These are Athena stories. The 16th annual festival will take place March 5 – March 8, 2026.
The curated program includes Academy Award-nominated films, award-winning features and documentaries, NY premieres, shorts, and so much more. We continue important conversations offscreen by pairing our films with Q&A’s, panels and talk-backs, workshops, receptions, and events put on for our community. The festival is a project of the Athena Center for Leadership at Barnard College and Women and Hollywood. The Artemis Rising Foundation and its CEO, Regina K. Scully are the festival’s founding sponsors.
Submissions are open June 2 – August 15, 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
- Films must have a woman (girl) or women in leadership role(s) or position(s). Projects from all genres are accepted, and stories about women from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural groups are encouraged;
- Only short films can be submitted (30 minutes or less in length);
- Non-English films must be subtitled;
- Premiere status is not required;
- Films that don’t focus on women’s leadership WILL NOT be considered;
- Films that have been previously submitted WILL NOT be considered
We charge a $15.00 submission fee.
The Athena Film Festival encourages applications from people of all races, religions, national origins, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and ages, as well as veterans and individuals with disabilities. We strongly encourage you to apply if you are from a marginalized or underrepresented group, particularly in the film industry.
For more information and how to get a submission fee waiver to submit to us, visit our Film Freeway page. Any further questions can be directed to athenafilmfestival@gmail.com.
If you have a feature-length film that you would like to be considered for the Athena Film Festival, please fill out this form.
