Strap on your fanny packs, pick up your Milstein coffees, and switch your Barnard Dad hats to the back: the Athena Film Festival is here! Every year, Barnard hosts a weekend festival of screenings and workshops designed to highlight the inspiring and courageous work of women in film. Join Athena and friends for new films like Courtney Balaker’s Little Pink House and Chinonye Chukwu’s Clemency, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Festival.

Some events of interest lie below (text from the website):

• Student Short Film Showcase: In partnership with the Sloate Media Center at Barnard, we will screen three short films written and directed by Barnard students from the Media Center Emerging Filmmaker Mentorship Program. Barnard filmmakers Hannah Ahn ’19, Emma Noelle Buhain ’20, and Iris Sang ’21 will join us for a post-screening conversation.
• Lucky 13 reading: A reading of select scenes from Lucky 13 by Denise Meyers, telling the incredible true story of the only all-female airbase in American history, powered by unforgettable women who came from all walks of life to play a significant role in the war effort. Q&A with the writer to follow the screening.
• Queering the Script: Giving queer fandom a voice in the conversation about LGBTQ+ representation, from Showtime’s The L Word to FX’s POSE, Queering the Script examines the rising power of the fans and audience shaping representation on TV, the relationship between fandom and activism, and what lies ahead for visibility and inclusiveness. Q&A with editor Shelley Therrien to follow screening.
• Master Class on Writing: Valerie Woods: Join us for an in-depth Masterclass on writing for TV with Valerie Woods the co-executive producer/writer of Season 4 of Ava Duvernay’s acclaimed drama series, Queen Sugar. Woods will be joined by Ken LaZebnik, writer and founder and former Director of the Stephens College Low-Residency M.F.A. in Television and Screenwriting.
• The Impact of Women Running for Office: On this panel, we will hear from women who were elected in 2018 and those who are currently running for office to discuss the importance of female leadership and what that means for the future. Check out the lineup of speakers.
• Women And Horror – Women as Heroes and Villains: Building on our successful panel on women and horror at the 2019 Festival, 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.
• The Present and Future of Women in Animation panel: Women are leading at the top of the animation industry, and many women are working at the entry level, but they are not rising through the ranks. Why is this, and what can be done? 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.
• For Sama:  The incredible story of Waad al-Kateab, a journalist/filmmaker who filmed her life for over five years during the conflict in Aleppo, Syria. Waad documented her personal journey as she married a doctor who operated the only functioning hospital in their besieged area, gave birth to a daughter (Sama), and continued filming the cataclysmic events unfolding around her.
• Antigone: 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, love and loyalty rather than society’s.

Check out the full lineup of screenings and events on the schedule page. Get ticket information here.

And stay tuned for Bwog’s coverage of this year’s exciting events!

Image via the Barnard website