The Athena Film Festival (AFF) at Barnard College introduced its preliminary programming lineup for the 2023 competition as we speak. The thirteenth annual competition, which is a joint partnership between Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership and the initiative Women and Hollywood, will happen from March 2 to March 5 on Barnard’s campus. The annual competition consists of movie screenings, in-depth conversations and panels with filmmakers and business specialists, a sequence of applications that assist the pipeline of ladies creatives, and all kinds of occasions centered on celebrating and amplifying the tales of daring, brave girls leaders.
JUDY BLUME FOREVER, directed by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok, will display because the competition’s Centerpiece Film on Saturday, March 4th. The documentary, which premiered at Sundance, focuses on Blume — whose books have bought greater than 90 million copies since 1969 — and the generations of readers she has touched together with her work. The movie examines the beloved creator’s affect on these readers, her affect on popular culture, and her frankness about puberty and intercourse — her books are among the many most banned within the United States.
Selections from the narrative program embody the New York premiere of THE LOST KING directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, DAUGHTER OF RAGE (La hija de todas las rabias), written and directed by Laura Baumeister de Montis, in addition to screenings of THE LOST KING, directed by Stephen Frears, ANGRY ANNIE (Annie Colère), directed by Blandine Lenoir, and MY EMPTINESS AND I (Mi vacío y yo), directed by Adrián Silvestre. The competition may even display WOMEN TALKING, directed by Sarah Polley, which is nominated for 2 Academy Awards, together with Best Picture.
The documentary lineup consists of two movies that had been members within the Festival’s Works in Progress program: BLACK MOTHERS LOVE AND RESIST, directed by Débora Souza Silva; and THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER, directed by Patricia Gillespie. Other documentaries embody BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: CARRY IT ON, directed by Madison Thomas and MY NAME IS ANDREA, directed by Pratibha Parmar.
Shorts embody the New York premiere of GLAZING, written and directed by Lilli Carré, in addition to screenings of LOVE, BARBARA, written and directed by Brydie O’Connor; TO WADE OR ROW, directed by Rebecca van der Meulen; THE FEELING OF BEING CLOSE TO YOU, directed by Ash Goh Hua; CANS CAN’T STAND, directed by Matt Nadel and Megan Plotka; and EL CARRITO, written and directed by Zahida Pirani.
“Entering the 13th year of the Athena Film Festival I could not feel more proud of the unique and exciting slate of films we are sharing with our audiences this year. We look forward to bringing these important and underrepresented voices to the big screen,” mentioned Melissa Silverstein, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of AFF and Founder of Women and Hollywood.
“The narratives we see shape our understanding of the world,” mentioned Umbeen Bhatti, Constance Hess Williams ’66 Director of Barnard’s Athena Center for Leadership. “At the Athena Film Festival, audiences won’t encounter tired, outdated narratives, but rather, narratives that more accurately reflect the world we live in and the future we want to build.”
Additional programming for the competition will likely be introduced shortly.
Passes and tickets for the 2023 Athena Film Festival are on sale now, with extra particulars to be introduced within the coming weeks. Visit the AFF web site for extra info, common updates, and to buy tickets and passes.
MORE INFORMATION ON ANNOUNCED FILMS AND PROGRAMS:
FEATURES
Narratives
Angry Annie (Annie Colère)
France
Director: Blandine Lenoir
Writers: Blandine Lenoir and Axelle Robert
Producers: Aurora Films, Local Films
A countryside village in France, 1974. When she unintentionally turns into pregnant, Annie, a working mom of two youngsters, meets with the Movement for the Liberation of Abortion and Contraception (MLAC), medical doctors and ladies who carry out unlawful abortions within the public eye, training a free, protected, and respectful technique. Gradually Annie will be part of their battle, which is able to deliver a brand new which means to her life.
Daughter of Rage (La Hija de Todas las Rabias)
New York Premiere
Nicaragua
Director/Writer: Laura Baumeister de Montis
Producers: Martha Orozco, Laura Baumeister de Montis, Rossana Baumeister, and Bruna Haddad
11-year-old Maria’s house is the largest rubbish dump in Nicaragua, the place she lives together with her mother. When circumstances change and Maria feels that she has been left alone with nobody to care for her, she is pressured to search out her personal approach.
Fogaréu
Brazil, France
Director: Flávia Neves
Writers: Melanie Dimantas and Flávia Neves
Producers: Mayra Faour Auad, Vania Catani, and Thomas Sparfel
Following the demise of her foster mom, Fernanda goes again to her rich uncle’s home to implode certainties and let the painful fact about her origins floor.
My Emptiness and I (Mi vacío y yo)
Spain
Director: Adrián Silvestre
Writers: Raphaëlle Pérez, Adrián Silvestre, and Carlos Marques-Marcet
Producers: Testamento and Alba Sotorra
Raphi, from France, fantasizes about romances with princes and about beginning a standard household. But in actuality, issues aren’t like that. She works in a name heart in Barcelona, struggles with at occasions embarrassing dates, and is recognized by her therapist as having gender dysphoria. We observe this trans girl as she makes her transition, in addition to in her on a regular basis life.
Missing
United States
Directors/Writers: Nick Johnson and Will Merrick
Producers: Aneesh Chaganty, Sev Ohanian, and Natalie Qasabian
After her mom goes lacking, a younger girl tries to search out her from dwelling, utilizing instruments obtainable to her on-line.
Moving On
Sneak Preview
United States
Director/Writer: Paul Weitz
Producers: Paul Weitz, Stephanie Meurer, Andrew Miano, Chris Parker, and Dylan Sellers
Directed by Academy Award-nominated author Paul Weitz, Claire (Academy Award winner Jane Fonda) and Evelyn (Academy Award nominee Lily Tomlin) star in MOVING ON as estranged buddies who reunite to hunt revenge on Howard (Malcolm McDowell), the petulant widower of their lately deceased greatest buddy. Along the way in which, Claire reunites with Ralph (Richard Roundtree), her nice love, as every girl learns to make peace with the previous and one another.
Rachel Hendrix
United States
Director/Writer: Victor Nuñez
Producer: Heidi Levitt
A portrait of a widow, mom, professor, and creator, Rachel Hendrix, discovering her approach in life after dropping her beloved husband. It is a narrative of grief that everyone knows but not often get the prospect to see with such nuance and intimacy.
The Lost King
New York Premiere
United Kingdom
Director: Stephen Frears
Writers: Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
Producers: Steve Coogan, Christine Langan, and Dan Winch
Stephen Frears’ newest tells the true story of an newbie historian (Sally Hawkins) battling skepticism and forms in a quest to find the ultimate resting place of King Richard III.
Vera Dreams of the Sea
Kosovo
Director: Kaltrina Krasniqi
Writer: Doruntina Basha
Producer: Shkumbin Istrefi
Vera is a middle-aged signal language interpreter who leads a well-structured life: a spouse to a famend choose, a supportive mom, and a caring grandmother. Her serenity is disrupted by her husband’s surprising suicide, adopted by an unwelcome, menacing parade of relations who declare to have possession over their village household home. Fear and distrust will pressure Vera to take the household’s destiny into her personal arms.
Documentaries
Body Parts
United States
Director: Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
Producer: Helen Hood Scheer
BODY PARTS traces the evolution of “sex” on display from a girl’s perspective, uncovering the uncomfortable realities behind a few of the most iconic scenes in cinema historical past and celebrating the daring creators main the way in which for change.
Black Mothers Love and Resist
United States
Director/Writer: Débora Souza Silva
Producers: Débora Souza Silva, David Felix Sutcliffe, Adina Luo, and Loi Ameera Almeron
Wanda Johnson and Angela Williams, moms of younger Black males victimized by police brutality, come collectively and construct a community of community-led assist, mutual help, and therapeutic.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Canada
Director: Madison Thomas
Writers: Andrea Warner and Madison Thomas
Producer: Stephen Paniccia
This in-depth take a look at the lifetime of the activist and musician presents archival materials by no means seen earlier than, in addition to present-day footage of Sainte-Marie performing and interviews with the singer and her bandmates and colleagues.
Category: Woman
Canada
Director/Writer: Phyllis Ellis
Producers: Phyllis Ellis and Howard Fraiberg
When 18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya burst onto the world stage in 2009, her championship was not celebrated however marred by doubt, and her private medical data had been leaked to the worldwide media. The public scrutiny of her physique, pushed by racism and sexism, obscured probably the most basic side of who she is: an incredible champion.
Esther Newton Made Me Gay
United States
Director: Jean Carlomusto
Producers: Jean Carlomusto and Shanti Avirgan
Agility, persistence, and passionate inquiry have pushed Esther Newton’s survival as a butch lesbian, octogenarian athlete, and groundbreaking scholar whose life’s work has influenced generations of LGBTQ activists and students.
The Fire That Took Her
United States
Director: Patricia Gillespie
Producers: Julie Goldman, Kristi Jacobson, Carolyn Hepburn, Christopher Clements, and Tracy Elizabeth Jarrett
Mother-of-two Judy Malinowski, then 31, was doused in gasoline and set on fireplace by her crazed ex-boyfriend — and have become one of many first ever to testify from past the grave, on the trial for her personal homicide. A narrative that lives on the intersection of true crime and #MeToo, THE FIRE THAT TOOK HER goes deep inside a landmark case to ask a well timed query: How a lot should girls undergo in an effort to be believed?
Jeannette
United States
Director: Maris Curran
Producer: Jon Coplon
JEANNETTE tells the story of Jeannette Feliciano, a aggressive bodybuilder and queer single mom, who struggles to deal with trauma after surviving the mass capturing at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub. Filmed in placing and intimate vérité, this documentary embraces the energy, hope, and humor of an unimaginable girl’s journey of therapeutic.
Judy Blume Forever
United States
Directors/Producers: Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok
Producers: Sara Bernstein, Marcella Steingar, and Justin Wilkes
Generations of readers have discovered themselves in a Judy Blume ebook. Her identify alone unleashes a flood of recollections for anybody who’s gripped certainly one of her many paperbacks. For a long time, Blume’s radical honesty has comforted and captivated readers — and landed her on the heart of controversy for her frankness about puberty and intercourse. Now the beloved American creator candidly shares her personal coming-of-age story.
Mama Bears
United States
Director: Daresha Kyi
Producer: Laura Tatham
This fascinating movie follows professing Christian dad and mom and LGBQT people who wrestle with a religion that always condemns their kids and themselves.
My Name Is Andrea
United States
Director: Pratibha Parmar
Producer: Shaheen Haq
MY NAME IS ANDREA is a hybrid documentary drama based mostly on the lifetime of author Andrea Dworkin, who a long time earlier than #MeToo known as out sexism with revolutionary aptitude. With this movie, the viewer is invited to rethink the legacy of one of the crucial misunderstood figures of the twentieth century. Shaped by the values of justice and equality discovered from the civil rights motion as a younger lady, Dworkin noticed the ways in which male chauvinism and discrimination affect each girl’s each day expertise and dared to demand that ladies be seen as equals.
Queen of the Deuce
Canada, Greece
Director: Valerie Kontakos
Writers: Christos Asteriou, Valerie Kontakos, and Despina Pavlaki
Producers: Ed Barreveld, Valerie Kontakos, and Despina Pavlaki
From the Nineteen Sixties to the ’80s, Greek-born Chelly Wilson constructed a porn cinema empire and a popularity as a savvy operator within the Times Square neighborhood often known as the Deuce.
SHORTS
CANS Can’t Stand
United States
Directors: Matt Nadel and Megan Plotka
Producer: Matt Nadel
CANS CAN’T STAND follows a gaggle of Black trans girls in New Orleans who’re preventing to repeal Louisiana’s unjust Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) legislation.
El Carrito
United States
Director/Writer: Zahida Pirani
Producers: Zahida Pirani, Mauricio Piratova, and Ran Yan
After a harrowing occasion, an untrusting road vendor discovers the embrace of her neighborhood.
The Feeling of Being Close to You (能靠近你的感觉)
Singapore/United States
Director/Writer/Producer: Ash Goh Hua
THE FEELING OF BEING CLOSE TO YOU paperwork a mom and daughter’s try at therapeutic the intergenerational trauma and abuse inside their lives.
Glazing
New York Premiere
United States
Director/Writer/Producer: Lilli Carré
The animated feminine nude shifts in smear frames via the historical past of portray, parroting well-known depictions of ladies. She checks the postures by inhabiting them and promptly discarding them, rejecting the fantasy that every represents.
Honey (Madhu)
India
Directors: Tanmay Chowdhary and Tanvi Chowdhary
Writer: Tanvi Chowdhary
Producer: Sue-Ellen Chitunya
Satakshi and Madhu, who went to high school collectively, reunite after years of being aside on an evening of festivities throughout the Durga Puja competition in Kolkata. As the night time progresses, we discover out that they’ve emotions for one another however aren’t capable of categorical them.
Lilith & Eve
United Kingdom
Director: Sam de Ceccatty
Writers: Manon Ardisson and Sam de Ceccatty
Producer: Manon Ardisson
That awkward second when the primary girl on earth meets … the primary first girl on earth.
Long Line of Ladies
United States
Directors: Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome
Producers: Garrett Schiff, Rayka Zehtabchi, Sam Davis, and Pimm Tripp-Allen
A woman and her neighborhood put together for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming-of-age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
Look Like You
United States
Director/Writer: Snigdha Kapoor
Producers: Pulkit Datta and Lauren Sowa
Tara, a South Asian queer girl, goes to see her 8-year-old organic son after a few years however is unprepared for the tensions that resurface together with his white adoptive dad and mom.
Love, Barbara
United States
Director: Brydie O’Connor
Writers: Brydie O’Connor and Matt Hixon
Producers: Brydie O’Connor and Myriam Schroeter
A brief documentary concerning the iconic legacy of pioneering lesbian experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer, as seen via the lens and love of her companion of over 30 years, Florrie Burke.
The Panola Project
United States
Directors/Writers: Rachael DeCruz and Jeremy S. Levine
Producers: Rachael DeCruz, Jeremy S. Levine, and Melissa Fajardo
THE PANOLA PROJECT follows Dorothy, a convenience-store proprietor, as she goes door to door in her often-overlooked rural Black neighborhood in an effort to persuade her neighbors to get their COVID-19 vaccines.
the ritual to magnificence
United States
Directors: Shenny De Los Angeles and Maria Marrone
Writer/Producer: Shenny De Los Angeles
Three generations of Dominican girls discover their relationship to stress-free their hair. By conjuring the magic of water and the facility of her ancestors, a daughter makes use of spoken phrase poetry as an incantation to interrupt the generational curse that has blocked the ladies in her household from finding the place pleasure lives contained in the physique.
Still Waters
United States
Director/Writer: Aurora Brachman
Producer: Mariales Diaz
A daughter asks her mom a query concerning the abuse in her mom’s childhood. Her reply begs them to wade via its rippling results all through their lives.
Talk Black
United States
Director/Writer: Destiny Macon
Producers: Destiny Macon, Jonathan Baty, Brad Jayne, Kisha Imani Cameron, and Smitha Lee
A timid engineer develops a wild and expressive cut up persona to assist her communicate as much as the boy’s membership at work.
To Wade or Row
United States
Director/Writer: Rebecca van der Meulen
Producers: Leanne Macaione and Dina Barossi
When Jane visits a small city motel, she places her belief in its covert clinic. A sheriff’s arrival locations her future in jeopardy.