Athena Film Fest Celebrates Women and Leadership

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 02 February 2012 05:00

Written by Lynne Shannon

After a highly successful launch last year, which brought such acclaimed films as Miss Representation and Vision (about Hildegard von Bingen) to New York filmgoers, the Athena Film Festival returns for its second eagerly anticipated run February 9 - 12, 2012 at Barnard College in Uptown Manhattan, New York City.

A "Celebration of Women and Leadership", the Festival is a production of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College and Women and Hollywood.

"The Festival highlights the diversity of women’s leadership in both real life and the fictional world, illuminating the stories of women from across the globe who have made a difference in their countries and communities."

The cinematic kickoff is, first, a half-hour sneak preview of Ann Richards’ Texas, directed by Keith Patterson and Jack Lofton.

This work-in-progress is part of a new feature-length documentary about Ann Richards (1933-2006), former Democrat Governor of Texas. Fellow kickass Texas gal Molly Ivins wrote, "She was so generous with her responses to other people. If you told Ann Richards something really funny, she wouldn’t just smile or laugh, she would stop and break up completely. She taught us all so much...."

Both directors will be on hand for a Q&A along with White House Project founder, Marie C. Wilson.

The Opening Night feature film is the critically praised The Whistleblower, directed by Larysa Kondracki and starring Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Redgrave. An American police officer takes a job as a UN peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Thinking her job is about investigating rape and domestic abuse, she stumbles on a ring of corruption and violence that includes UN officials themselves.  

Tanya Domi, the journalist who broke the story, and Celine Rattray, co-producer, will be present for the Q&A along with Annette Insdorf, a film professor at Columbia University.

The Closing Night film is The Lady, directed by Luc Besson and starring Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis and William Hope. Finally, someone has filmed a drama memorializing the struggle of Burma‛s pro-democracy activist, leader and Nobel Prize winner -- and political prisoner -- Aung San Suu Kyi. As much a love story as a political saga, the story is as inspiring in life as it is on film.

Other not-to-be-missed films include:

Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock
dir. Sharon La Cruise
This new documentary is about the civil rights activist who supported the nine black students in their fight for the right to attend an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.

The director will be present for a Q&A, along with David Margolick, author of Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock.

Viewers who cannot be at the Festival in New York City right now can share the experience in spirit: the film is being aired this week on the PBS TV program Independent Lens as part of the "Women and Girls Lead" series.

Gloria: In Her Own Words
dir. Peter Kunhardt
This documentary compiles interviews, press clippings, photographs and archival footage to chronicle the evoluntion of Gloria Steinem from a young journalist struggling to be taken seriously to the iconic co-leader of the modern feminist movement -- whose work, sadly, is still far from done.

Gloria Steinem will be present for a Q&A with Amy Richards, writer/activist and Barnard grad.

The Education of Dee Dee Ricks
dir. Perri Peltz
Meet Dee Dee: hedge fund diva, mother of two -- and cancer fighter. This documentary profiles the woman who was determined to not just be a breast cancer survivor, but also an activist who channeled her own experience into making diagnosis and treatments more accessible to less fortunate cancer patients.

Ricks and the film's director will be present for Q&A, joined by Dr. Harold P. Freeman, who  developed the first Patient Navigation program in 1990.

Special Events include:

• Workshops for Filmmakers:
  • From Script to Screen: Producing Films in Tough Times
  • Building an Audience in the Digital Age
• Hollywood Conversation – Winnie Holzman and Savannah Dooley, moderated by Emily Nussbaum
• Half The Sky – Sneak preview and discussion of a Work in Progress

This year a new award is being inaugurated: The Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be given to "a woman in the film industry whose leadership demonstrates vision and courage and sets a standard for other women to emulate."

Says Melissa Silverstein, co-founder and Artistic Director of the Festival and head of Women and Hollywood: "We can’t wait to share the line-up of films and special events that focus on inspiring stories of women leaders and that will build on the success of last year’s inaugural Festival."

"We are very excited to once again highlight the diversity of women’s leadership across the globe," says Kathryn Kolbert, co-founder of the Festival and Constance Hess Williams Director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College.  

For more information, visit www.athenafilmfestival.com.

Second Annual Athena Film Festival
February 9 - 12, 2012

Barnard College
3009 Broadway
New York City
212-854-1264

Miller Theatre
at Columbia University
2960 Broadway  
New York City
212-854-7799

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