Athena Film Festival

You have just one week left to apply to the 2025-2026 Athena Film Festival Writers Lab!

Deadline is July 7. Learn more and apply: athenafilmfestival.com/submit-to-th...

The future of film is female and nonbinary!

Athena Film Festival is proud to support Future of Film is Female and their call for submissions for the third annual FOFIF Shorts Program!

Submit now: filmfreeway.com/TheFutureofF...

Submissions for the 2025 Athena Film Festival Writers Lab are open!

You’ll get:
Story development + fundamentals
1:1 feedback from industry pros
Guided rewrite period
Pitch practice + writers room experience

Phase One kicks off Sept. 18–19. Apply by July 7.

filmfreeway.com/AFFWritersLab

Short film submissions for the 2026 Athena Film Festival are now OPEN!!!

We are looking short films that center women or girls in leadership roles—on screen and off.

Submit and learn more: athenafilmfestival.com/submit-your-...

SAVE THE DATE: The Athena Film Festival is back at Barnard College March 5-8, 2026 for another year of stories by and about fierce and fearless women leaders.

We can’t wait to celebrate 16 years with you. What do you hope to see at our 2026 event?

Earlier this month, members of our team attended the 2025 Sloan Film Summit in Los Angeles, where several Athena-supported films and scripts were featured alongside a powerful lineup of science-driven storytelling.

We’re proud to be part of a community bridging the gap between science and cinema!

HAPPY NATIONAL STREAMING DAY!

Looking for something bold? Revisit four of the most compelling films from this year’s Athena Film Festival.

🎬 Black Box Diaries (Oscar-nominated; Hulu, Paramount+)

🎬 Empire Waist (Apple TV, Prime Video)

🎬 Home Court (Prime Video)

🎬 Black Snow (Prime Video)

We’re thrilled to see THIRSTY—a film from our very first Athena List—heading to global audiences!

Catch the NYC premiere May 15 at the Big Apple Film Festival , followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Em!

Details at www.thirstythemovie.com ✨

To all the moms and strong women who support us, love us, teach us, and remind us that we can do anything we set our minds to—Happy Mother’s Day!

We’re especially grateful to see mothers like Renée Elise Goldsberry in SATISFIED setting a powerful example of leadership, both on and off the screen.

LILLY opens today at a theatre near you!

We enjoyed watching LILLY and hearing from filmmaker Rachel Feldman and actress Patricia Clarkson at the 15th annual Athena Film Festival. Now we’re excited to celebrate the film’s legacy on the big screen!

www.lillymovie.com

🎬 Calling all emerging filmmakers and film lovers: the Athena Film Festival Programming Fellowship is now accepting applications!

If you care about storytelling, representation, and creating space for underrepresented voices—this is for you. Apply by June 11:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Phase Three of The 2024-2025 Athena Film Festival Writers Lab wrapped at the end of April, and we’re still thinking about the magic that happened.

We’re so proud of the growth, the grit, and the stories taking shape!

Continuing the celebration—We’re thrilled to see the world premiere of AFF Doc Pitch Program participant STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! happening at the third annual DC/DOX Film Festival.

Congrats to the entire team behind this urgent and timely story.

dcdoxfest.com/films/steal-...

We’re thrilled to celebrate the world premiere of Widow Champion at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival!

Directed
/Produced by Zippy Kimundu and produced by Heather Courtney, Widow Champion was part of our 2024 Documentary Pitch Program.

Want to see the film? tribecafilm.com/films/widow-...

The 2025 Athena Film Festival may be over, but there’s still plenty going on behind the scenes 🎬

Stay up to date with the Festival, our filmmakers, creative programs, and updates on our 2026 event by subscribing to our newsletter 📲

Information is just a click away:

mailchi.mp/barnard/athe...

If you’re looking for something to binge this weekend, you’ve still got a few days left to catch Future of Film: Athena Rising Stars on AMC+

This powerful short film collection—available through April 14—celebrates women’s leadership and champions inclusion in film.

Stream it while you still can!

Can’t get enough women empowerment after Athena Film Festival? The National Women’s History Museum kicked off Women’s History Month with the launch of “She is Not a Footnote*.” This new campaign addresses the underrepresentation of women in history. Visit www.sheisnotafootnote.org to get involved.

Thanks for a great screening @athenafilmfest.bsky.social 🌱 Great crowd full of friends (& strangers!) & an honor to show with so many other beautiful women filmmakers like @sharonshattuck.bsky.social
Grateful to Journei for being my collaborator in this film!💐

Athena Film Fest: SATISFIED and WE WERE DANGEROUS — Moviejawn by Daniel Pecoraro, Staff Writer Here’s two standout films I caught at this year’s Athena Film Festival.

MJ's Daniel Pecoraro shares two films he caught @athenafilmfest.bsky.social and recommends adding them to your watchlist post haste! #Satisfied #WeAreDangerous #AthenaFilmFest

Did you like what you just read? Consider supporting
Daniel Pecoraro's coverage of @athenafilmfest.bsky.social via a donation. All monies go directly to the writer. Support

It’s so important to uplift women scientists, researchers, and space experts in this moment. That’s why I was so excited to attend “SPACEWOMAN” a film by Hannah Berryman about astronaut #EileenCollins @athenafilmfest.bsky.social. With an amazing panel featuring the brilliant @nolahaynes.bsky.social

We’re letting this energy carry us through the week—our 15th anniversary party was definitely a highlight of the 2025 Athena Film Festival. We heard stories from festival-goers old and new, founders, filmmakers, and everyone between.

Cheers to 15 years, and here’s to 15+ more 🥂

Day 4 of the 15th annual Athena Film Festival rocked our world! 🤯

2025 was definitely a year for the books, and we can’t wait to REALLY look back on all of the amazing things that happened at the 15th annual festival in the coming days 💙

Awesome is all I can say.

We’re hearing from HOME COURT star Ashley Chea, Princeton Women's Basketball head coach Carla Berube, the film's director Erica Tanamachi and Pam Wheeler, trustee emeritus of the Women's Sports Foundation for our post-closing night discussion on leadership development in sports.

Experts, director of SPACE WOMAN for Women in Space Panel:
“We have to keep making sure that there is room for everyone in space. For me, space is about hope. It’s about research. It’s about international coordination. So I hope we continue to bring in more voices… all in the vision of hope.”

“Because of the Athena Film Festival, we will be able to get distribution.” - WE STRANGERS Director Anu Valia on receiving the $25,000 Netflix Breakthrough Award Grant. Congratulations Anu!

Did you know our friends at Girl Scouts of Greater New York are selling their delicious cookies in the Diana Center for the last day of the Athena Film Festival?

Now you do!

Stop by, say hi, and grab some cookies—free shipping through the evening!

It’s been a busy hour at the Athena Film Festival! We also heard from Black Snow director Alina Simone following the screening of her film about the discovery of an old Soviet mine in Siberia.

Friends, script readers, Athena Staff, and supporters showering A BRIDGE BETWEEN US writer Gina Hacket with love after her screenplay reading and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award presentation.