Tag: Athena Film Festival

February 10, 2020

by Carla Hay

The 10th annual Athena Film Festival—which takes place at New York City’s Barnard College from February 27 to March 1, 2020—is once again presenting a diverse and international selection of female-focused programming. This year, there’s an unusually high number of female-empowerment films about women who are involved in the legal system, war or politics. Most of the feature-length films are those that have already been released in theaters or have premiered at other events, but the Athena Film Festival has such a unique focus that it’s worth attending for people who haven’t seen these movies yet, want to see the movies again, and/or are interested in checking out the panel discussions or short films. In most cases, the films’ directors attend the festival and do intros or Q&As at the screenings.

The opening-night film is the Helen Reddy biopic “I Am Woman,” directed by Unjoo Moon and starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey as the Australian songstress. The narrative centerpiece film is the mystery thriller “Lost Girls,” directed by Liz Garbus and starring Amy Ryan as a mother searching for her missing 24-year-old daughter. The documentary centerpiece film is the Oscar-nominated “For Sama,” directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, which chronicles al-Kateab and her family’s life in war-torn Syria. The international centerpiece film is “The Perfect Candidate,” directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, a drama about a Saudi Arabian female doctor who ends up running for her local city council. The closing-night film is “Rocks,” a drama directed by Sarah Gavron, about a London teenager who comes home to find her mother missing.

The only feature film to have its world premiere at the festival is the documentary “Dying Doesn’t Feel Like What I’m Doing,” directed by Paula Weiman-Kelman, about female rabbi/activist Rachel Cowan and how she lived with terminal brain cancer before her death in 2018.

The festival has some movies that were originally released in 2019 and have been winning prizes and getting Oscar nominations. In addition to “For Sama,” there is also writer/director Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated version of “Little Women,” based on the classic Louisa May Alcott novel. Other films that received Oscar nominations are the animated sequel “Frozen 2” and the Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet.”

In addition, there are networking events (most are invitation-only), discussion panels and creative workshops.

Here is the programming lineup for feature-length the 2020 Athena Film Festival. More information can be found at the official festival website. (All descriptions listed below are courtesy of the festival.)

NARRATIVE FEATURES

Antigone

Director: Sophie Deraspe

Writer: Sophie Deraspe

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.

Black Christmas

Director: Sophia Takal

Writers: Sophia Takal and April Wolfe

As Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays, sorority girls on campus are being killed by a stalker. In this loose remake of the 1974 Canadian “slasher” classic, the killer is about to discover that today’s generation of fearless women are not willing to become hapless victims.

Carmen & Lola – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Arantxa Echevarria

Writer: Arantxa Echevarría

The love story of two Roma women: bride-to-be Carmen and street artist Lola find themselves in a secret love affair, having to hide it from their families and their community.

Clemency

Director: Chinonye Chukwu

Writer: Chinonye Chukwu

Chinonye Chukwu’s sophomore feature is an enthralling story of Bernadine (Alfre Woodard), a prison warden whose years working on death row takes a psychic toll. After a harrowing botched execution, her growing investment in the next prisoner to be executed encourages her to look more closely at her motivations and relationships and offers a tough-minded inquiry into the morality of capital punishment. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and a 2017 Athena List Winner.

Frozen 2

Directors: Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck

Writer: Jennifer Lee

Why was Elsa born with magical powers? What truths about the past await Elsa as she ventures into the unknown to the enchanted forests and dark seas beyond Arendelle? The answers are calling her but also threatening her kingdom. Together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, she’ll face a dangerous but remarkable journey. In “Frozen,” Elsa feared her powers were too much for the world. In “Frozen 2,” she must hope they are enough. From the Academy Award®-winning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez— “Frozen 2” features the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad.

Harriet

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Writer: Kasi Lemmons and Gregory Allen Howard

Directed and co-written by 2014 Athena Award-winner Kasi Lemmons, “Harriet” tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, whose courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

I Am Woman – OPENING NIGHT FILM AND NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Unjoo Moon

Writer: Emma Jenson

For the first time on screen, “I Am Woman” tells the inspiring story of singer Helen Reddy, who wrote and sang the song “I Am Woman” that became the anthem for the women’s movement in the 1970s. The film is a story of fearless ambition and passion, of a woman who smashed through the patriarchal norms of her time to become the international singing superstar she always dreamed of being.

Kuesippan

Director: Myriam Verreault

Writers: Naomi Fontaine and Myriam Verreault

Mikuan and Shaniss grew up as best friends in their Innu community. While Mikuan has a loving family, Shaniss is picking up the pieces of her shattered childhood. As children, they promised to stick together no matter what, but at 17 their friendship is shaken when Mikuan falls for a white boy, and starts dreaming of leaving the reserve that’s now too small for her dreams.

Little Women

Director: Greta Gerwig

Writer: Greta Gerwig

Writer-director Greta Gerwig ‘06 (“Lady Bird”), winner of a 2011 Athena Award, has crafted a “Little Women” that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life with her three sisters.

The Long Shadow – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Daniel Lafrentz

Writers: Daniel Lafrentz and Stephen Peltier

A Sheriff’s deputy takes on her Louisiana town’s old-money establishment when the woman she loves – an attorney fighting a corporate land grab that will displace the poor – is found murdered.

Lost Girls – NARRATIVE CENTERPIECE AND NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Liz Garbus

Writer: Michael Werwie

When 24-year-old Shannan Gilbert mysteriously disappears one night, her mother Mari embarks on a dark journey that finds her face to face with hard truths about her daughter, herself, and police bias. Determined to find her daughter at all costs, Mari Gilbert retraces Shannan’s last known steps and her discoveries force law enforcement and the media to uncover more than a dozen unsolved murders of sex workers, young lives Mari will not let the world forget.

Military Wives

Director: Peter Cattaneo

Writers: Rosanne Flynn and Rachel Tunnard

With their partners serving in Afghanistan, a band of women form a choir on the military base and quickly discover that they can rely on each other for more than beautiful harmonies. The women, who must confront the challenges of having a partner at war, find themselves at the center of a media sensation and global movement.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Eliza Hittman

Writer: Eliza Hittman

Written and directed by Eliza Hittman, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” is an intimate portrayal of two teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania. Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) embark across state lines to New York City on a fraught journey of friendship, bravery and compassion.

The Perfect Candidate – INTERNATIONAL CENTERPIECE AND NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Haifaa al-Mansour

Writers: Haifaa al-Mansour, Brad Niemann

Maryam is an ambitious young doctor working in a small town clinic in Saudi Arabia. After she is prevented from traveling to Dubai in search of a better job, a bureaucratic mix-up leads her to stumble on the application for her local city elections and she decides to run. She enlists her two younger sisters and while they face the restriction of women’s traditional roles in the Kingdom at every turn, Maryam’s audacious candidacy starts to build momentum and challenges her conservative community.

Radioactive  **UPDATE/NEWLY ADDED FILM**

Director: Marjane Satrapi

Writer: Jack Throne

From the 1870s through our 21st century, “Radioactive” tells the story of pioneering scientist  Marie Curie (Rosamund Pike) through her extraordinary life and her enduring legacies – the passionate partnerships, her shining scientific breakthroughs, and the darker consequences that followed.

A Regular Woman

Director: Sherry Hormann

Writer: Florian Öller

“A Regular Woman” tells the story of 23-year-old Hatun Ayhrun Sürücü, a Turkish-Kurdish woman living in Germany who in February 2005, was shot dead at a Berlin bus stop in an “honor killing” by her youngest brother. This film gives Ayhrun the opportunity to narrate her own story as she leaves her abusive marriage and struggles for a free, self-determined life in the face of her family’s opposition.

Rocks – CLOSING NIGHT FILM

Director: Sarah Gavron

Writer: Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson

In East London, teenager Shola is known as “Rocks” after protecting her childhood friend from bullies. Rocks has big dreams but one day she returns home from school to discover her life is radically altered: her troubled, single mother has disappeared, leaving her responsible for her younger brother.

Sea Fever – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Neasa Hardiman

Writer: Neasa Hardiman

Siobhán’s a marine biology student who prefers spending her days alone in a lab. She has to endure a week on a ragged fishing trawler, where she’s miserably at odds with the close-knit crew. But out in the deep Atlantic, an unfathomable life form ensnares the boat. When members of the crew succumb to a strange infection, Siobhán must overcome her alienation and anxiety to win the crew’s trust, before everyone is lost.

Sister Aimee

Directors: Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann

Writers: Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann

In 1926, the world’s most famous evangelist, Sister Aimee Semple McPherson, fakes her own death in order to run away to Mexico with her married lover. Once on the road, and equipped with new identities, they find themselves chased by the very persona Aimee so desperately tried to kill. They hire Rey, a former Mexican Soldadera turned smuggler, to help them cross the border, as detectives, the world, and Aimee herself all pose the question, “Who is Sister Aimee Semple McPherson?”

Stars by the Pound

Director: Marie-Sophie Chambon

Writers: Marie-Sophie Chambon and Anaïs Carpita

In this heart-warming story of friendship, acceptance, and the importance of loving yourself, Lois, 16, dreams of becoming an astronaut. Although gifted in physics, she has a big problem: she weighs over 200 pounds. When all seems lost, Lois meets three other teens who, like her, are shattered by life’s tough breaks yet ready for anything in order to leave with her for outer space.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

Butterfly

Director: Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman

Irma “The Butterfly” Testa, a talented 18-year-old, is the first female Italian boxer to be selected for the Olympic Games. Butterfly is an intimate portrait of this determined athlete in the run-up to the games and thereafter, when she has more time to be with her best friend and family.

Dying Doesn’t Feel Like What I’m Doing

– WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Paula Weiman-Kelman

Rachel Cowan was a civil rights activist, community organizer, the first female Jew by choice ordained as a Rabbi, a beloved and influential mindfulness teacher, a grandmother and wise elder. And then she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Living each day fully, she turned dying into an opportunity to experience gratitude.

For Sama – DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE

Directors: Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts

“For Sama” is 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. At its core, this documentary serves as a love letter from a mother to her daughter, as Waad captures deeply moving scenes of love, laughter, loss, sacrifice and survival.

https://vimeo.com/330097421

Objector – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Molly Stuart

Like all Israeli youth, Atalya is obligated to become a soldier. Unlike most, she questions the practices of her country’s military, and becomes determined to challenge this rite of passage. Despite her family’s political disagreements and personal concerns, she refuses military duty and is imprisoned for her dissent.

Power Meri – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Joanna Lester

“Power Meri” follows the PNG Orchids, Papua New Guinea’s first national women’s rugby team, on their journey to the 2017 World Cup in Australia. These trailblazers not only must win on the field but also beat intense sexism, a lack of funding, and national prejudice to reach their biggest stage yet.

Queering the Script

Director: Gabrielle Zilkha

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.

Sanctuary

Director: Andrea Cordoba

Amanda Morales, a Guatemalan mother of three U.S.-born children is the first immigrant to claim sanctuary in New York since President Trump took office, publicly resisting her deportation by taking refuge in a church. “Sanctuary” gains rare and intimate access to Amanda and her family as they fight to remain together and adapt to their daily life of resistance.

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am

Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

An artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio, to book tours with Muhammad Ali, the front lines with Angela Davis, and her own writing room—Morrison explores race, America, history and the human condition.

We Are the Radical Monarchs

Director: Linda Goldstein Knowlton

Set in Oakland, California, this film introduces the Radical Monarchs, an alternative to the Scout movement for girls of color, and its founders, two fierce queer women of color, who have inspired a new generation of social justice activists. The film follows the first troop and its co-founders as they respond to a viral explosion of interest in the troop’s mission while the girls complete programs on the environment, disability justice, and Black Lives Matter.

Woman in Motion **UPDATE/NEWLY ADDED FILM**

Director: Todd Thompson

In 1977, with just four months left, NASA struggles to recruit scientists, engineers and astronauts for their new Space Shuttle Program. That is when Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek’s Lt. Uhura, challenges them by asking the question: Where are my people?. She embarks on a national blitz, recruiting 8,000 of the nation’s best and brightest, including the trailblazing astronauts who became the first African American, Asian, and Latino men and women to fly in space.

A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem

Director: Yu Gu

Football and feminism collide in this documentary that follows former NFL cheerleaders who are battling the league to end wage theft and illegal employment practices that have persisted for 50 years.

March 4, 2019

by Carla Hay

The ninth annual Athena Film Festival—which took place at New York City’s Barnard College from February 28 to March 3, 2019—had another banner year for its female-centric programming. Most of the feature-length films at the festival have already been released in theaters or premiered at other events, but most of the films’ directors attend the Athena Film Festival to do intros or Q&As at the screenings. There’s also the Athena Film Festival Awards, which honor prominent people in the film industry. This year’s honorees were filmmaker Marielle Heller (director of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), attorney (and Barnard grad) Nina Shaw, filmmaker/actress Desiree Akhavan (director and co-writer of “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”) and Toronto International Film Festival co-head/artistic director Cameron Bailey.

The festival’s hottest ticket was for the closing-night film: director Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House,” a documentary about four very different female candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 mid-term elections. One of the candidates in the film is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who made history by becoming the youngest woman (at age 29)  to serve in Congress. After having its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival in January, “Knock Dock Down the House” was picked up for distribution by Netflix, which will premiere the movie on a date to be announced. At the Athena Film Festival, “Knock Down the House” sold out soon after tickets went on sale about two months before the screening, and the movie was so popular that it was the only film screening at the festival that couldn’t be accessed with a press pass.

Another movie that had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival before going to the Athena Film Festival was the Athena Film Festival’s documentary centerpiece film “This Is Personal” (directed by Amy Berg), which takes an inside look at the people behind the annual Women’s March that began in 2017. Although four women—Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland—are credited with being the chief organizers of the Women’s March (which also spawned the Women’s Convention), Mallory and Perez (and their personal lives) get the most of the screen time in the documentary. The movie doesn’t sugarcoat the problems in the group, namely the anti-Semitism accusations against most of the group’s leaders. Mallory, Sarsour and Perez have all been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks at private meetings (accusations which they have all denied), but the movie makes it look like Mallory is the only one who’s accused of anti-Semitism. It’s an accusation she finds difficult to defend because of her refusal to disassociate herself from Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who openly expresses hate speech toward Jews.

One of the most riveting scenes in “This is Personal” is when Mallory and a Jewish colleague meet with a lesbian rabbi named Rachel Timoner to discuss the anti-Semitism accusations. It’s an uncomfortable conversation that gets emotional, but it’s effective for showing that bigotry from people who consider themselves to be progressive liberals is a deep-rooted problem that undermines the credibility of those who claim to be fighting for justice for all. Mallory (who is African American) tries to understand Timoner’s perspective, but in the end, she still defends Farrakhan because she says he’s done a lot to help the black community, and if she condemns Farrakhan, she’ll alienate too many of her black allies.

When watching “This Is Personal,” there’s a sense that the Women’s March leaders, who didn’t expect their work to become such a massive, international business, are susceptible to being corrupted by the fame and power that have come their way. The movie doesn’t adequately address how all the media attention and money made from their activism have affected these women. When Perez’s mother is close to being deported, Perez uses her media connections to draw attention to her mother’s immigration case, and her mother ends up being allowed to stay in the United States. Unfortunately, the movie glosses over how much Perez’s fame played a role in this outcome. Undocumented immigrants who are in danger of deportation and who have no influential connections aren’t as lucky, and they usually do get deported.

“This Is Personal” was completed before the Women’s March further imploded in 2019, when several women’s groups disassociated from the Women’s March and organized their own marches because of the anti-Semitism accusations against the Women’s March leaders. The Women’s March leaders have also faced questions about how they are handling the group’s funds, which is an issue that “This Is Personal” did not cover. Because the Women’s March controversy is an ongoing and ever-evolving story, “This Is Personal” is unfortunately already outdated. It might have been better-served as an ongoing docuseries (much like Showtime’s “The Circus”) instead of trying to condense this complex, changing situation into a 97-minute movie.

The 2019 Athena Film Festival’s narrative centerpiece film was the crime thriller “Out of Blue,” directed by Carol Morley and starring Patricia Clarkson. Clarkson is a very talented actress who does the best with what she’s given, but this movie’s often-incoherent screenplay is the film’s weakest link. The supernatural element of the story is an unnecessary flaw, and the movie has an unbelievable premise that Clarkson’s police detective character is the only person doing the legwork on a high-profile murder case in New Orleans. And this is a bad sign for “Out of Blue”: Out of all the movie screenings that I attended at the festival, “Out of Blue” was the only one where no one applauded at the end of the movie. IFC Films’ “Out of Blue,” which had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, will be released in select theaters and on VOD on March 22, 2019.

“Ask for Jane,” which had its world premiere at the 2018 Hamptons Film Festival, is based on a true story of the Jane Collective, a Chicago-based underground abortion network that was run by female college students during 1969 and 1973, when abortion was illegal. The movie—directed by Rachel Carey—stars Cody Horn (“Magic Mike”) and Sarah Ramos (“Midnight, Texas”) as two of the founders of the Jane Collective.

One of the criticisms that “Ask for Jane” is bound to get is that it follows a “white savior” trope: All of the Jane Collective members in the movie are white, while many of the women who need their services are financially disadvantaged black women. The movie briefly addresses this racial discrepancy by having a black female character asking about it and being told that the Jane Collective didn’t invite black women to be members of the group because the Jane Collective members were in danger of being arrested, and they felt black members would be treated more unfairly by the police. The explanation is easily accepted by the black character, who responds by asking the Jane Collective leaders to contact her if they need any black volunteers. It’s a scene that many people might consider to be trite, inadequate or downright offensive, because the movie ignores the possibility that racism in the Jane Collective could have been the real reason why the group didn’t have women of color in any leadership positions.

Amazon Studios is making a movie with director Kimberly Peirce called “This is Jane” about the same subject matter. There’s also a movie in development titled “Call Jane,” starring Elisabeth Moss and Susan Sarandon (and directed by Sian Heder) that’s also about the Jane Collective. While “This Is Jane” and “Call Jane” are likely to get theatrical releases, “Ask for Jane” has the look and feel of a Lifetime movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s certainly not an Oscar-caliber film.

Speaking of Oscar-caliber movies, the Athena Film Festival had a few of them:  Oscar-winning films “The Favourite” (Best Actress for Olivia Colman) and “Period. End of Sentence” (Best Documentary Short) were part of the festival lineup, as were Oscar-nominated films “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and “Mary Queen of Scots.”

“I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story” was the only feature film to have its world premiere at the 2019 Athena Film Festival. The movie, directed by Janice Cooke, premieres on Lifetime on April 20, 2019. Ever hear about a “three-hanky movie”? It’s an old Hollywood phrase to describe a tearjerker film that makes people cry so much that that they need three handkerchiefs to get through it. “I Am Somebody’s Child” is that kind of movie.

The story is based on the real-life teenage experiences of African American beauty entrepreneur/author Regina Louise, who was made a ward of the state in the late 1960s after her biological parents rejected her. When a white social worker named Jeanne Kerr forms a close friendship with Regina, and tries and fails to adopt her, Regina ends up in an abusive system that turns her life into an emotional hell. She is shuffled around and often mistreated in several orphanages, foster homes and psychiatric facilities before she turns 18. The movie sounds an alarm about how foster care and adoptions are handled in the United States. Regina Louise’s story is a cautionary but ultimately inspiring tale on how to overcome the damage that the system might cause. At the movie’s Athena Film Festival premiere, which I attended, tears were flowing aplenty in the audience, which was a diverse mix of people in age, gender and race. I go to a lot of movies, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen so many people cry in a movie audience.

The average “women in peril” Lifetime movie usually takes the angle that a woman’s love life or bad choices somehow put her in danger. That’s what makes “I Am Somebody’s Child” especially tragic because it’s about how a child endured so much trauma for no reason other than because she didn’t have any biological family members to take care of her. The movie’s cast members include newcomer Angela Fairley (a real-life foster child) as a young Regina; Ginnifer Goodwin (“Once Upon a Time”) as Jeanne; and Sherri Saum (“The Fosters”) as the adult Regina.

Besides pushing emotional buttons, “I Am Somebody’s Child” is bound to trigger criticism over race issues from people who will call this another “white savior” movie. The situation is complicated because the movie’s biggest “villain” (besides the broken foster-care system) is Jeanne’s black supervisor Gwen Ford (played by Kim Hawthorne), who does everything she can to keep Regina separated from Jeanne. Gwen literally says in the movie that putting black kids in homes with parents of other races is committing “genocide” on black people. As a member of the National Black Social Workers Association, Gwen isn’t portrayed as a heartless witch, but as someone who genuinely did what she thought was in the best interest of black children at a time when interracial adoptions were still very taboo. Ultimately, the “white savior” criticism of “I Am Somebody’s Child” can only go so far because the last half of the movie shows that Regina is the one who actually saves herself.

Let’s be clear: “I Am Somebody’s Child” has plenty of melodrama that people expect from a Lifetime movie. But the situations depicted in the film can and do happen, and that’s why even the most cynical viewers might not roll their eyes and laugh as they would at overly dramatic scenes in a typical Lifetime movie. The emotions that people feel will tug at the heartstrings (and tear ducts) more than the need to expect Oscar-level acting.

Lifetime is also going the extra mile in social advocacy by partnering with the non-profit Promise House to show “I Am Somebody’s Child” at a March 7 charity event in Dallas to raise money and awareness for homeless youth. Louise will be a guest speaker at the fundraiser.

After the movie’s premiere at the Athena Film Festival, there was a Q&A panel that included Louise and “I Am Somebody’s Child” co-stars Fairley and Saum. Louise, who is the author of the memoirs “Somebody’s Someone” and “Someone Has Led This Child to Believe,” said that when she took a meeting years ago with Creative Artists Agency to make her life story into a movie, she met with a black female agent, who told her, “There are no black people to play you.” The agent’s negative reaction only made Louise even more determined to get the movie made. Louise remembered, “I thought, ‘Not only will there be someone to play me, I can’t wait until it airs in your living room.’”

Louise added that any black girl watching this movie “deserves to be represented, as well as be a representation for herself first and any other girl, no matter the race, creed or nationality.”

January 9, 2019

by Carla Hay

The ninth annual Athena Film Festival—which takes place at New York City’s Barnard College from February 28 to March 3, 2019—continues its tradition of offering an intelligently curated and diverse lineup of female-focused programming. Most of the feature-length films are those that have already been released in theaters or have premiered at other events, but the Athena Film Festival has such a unique focus that it’s worth attending for people who haven’t seen these movies yet, want to see the movies again, and/or are interested in checking out the panel discussions or short films. The event always has some gems to offer that catch on later with the general public. (In 2017, for example, Athena Film Festival had one of the first public screenings of clips from the first season of the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” long before the show would go on to win several major awards.) In most cases, the films’ directors attend the festival and do intros or Q&As at the screenings.

The 2019 Athena Film Festival’s opening-night film, closing-night film and the narrative and documentary centerpiece films will all have their New York or U.S. premieres at the event. The film that is probably getting the most buzz is Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House,”  a documentary about four very different female candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 mid-term elections. One of candidates in the film is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who made history by becoming the youngest woman (at age 29)  to serve in Congress. The opening-night film is “Fast Color,” directed by Julia Hart, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a superhero forced to go into hiding. The narrative centerpiece film is the detective thriller “Out of Blue,” directed by Carol Morley and starring the always-great Patricia Clarkson. The documentary centerpiece film is Amy Berg’s “This Is Personal,” which takes a look at the modern women’s movement.

For those on the lookout for movies originally released in 2018 that are getting awards buzz, the clear standout film is “The Favourite”—starring Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone—which has been collecting prizes at pretty much every major awards show. Also noteworthy is “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” which has been garnering a lot of praise and awards for co-stars Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant, as well as screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty. The performances of Regina Hall in “Support the Girls” and Rosamund Pike in “A Private War” have been getting notable recognition. For their respective roles in this films, Hall was named Best Actress by the New York Film Critics Circle, while Pike received a Golden Globe nomination. Meanwhile, the documentary “On Her Shoulders” made it on the Oscars shortlist for Best Documentary Feature. (The nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on January 22, 2019.)

Here is the programming lineup for the 2019 Athena Film Festival. More information can be found at the official festival website. (All descriptions listed below are courtesy of the festival.)

NARRATIVE FEATURES

A Private War

Director: Matthew Heineman

Writers: Marie Brenner and Arash Amel

One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.

Ask for Jane

Director: Rachel Carey

Writers: Rachel Carey and Cait Cortelyou ‘09

The true story of determined women in the 1960s who quietly provided the phone number of reliable abortion doctors to women in need. Operating like a spy network, using blindfolds, code names, and secret locations, the Jane Collective helped over 11,000 women receive safe, illegal abortions until they were legalized in 1973.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Director: Marielle Heller

Writers: Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty

Based on a true story, Melissa McCarthy stars as Lee Israel, the best-selling celebrity biographer who makes her living profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Tallulah Bankhead. Unable to get a new publishing gig, Lee turns to artistic deception, abetted by her loyal friend Jack.

Don’t Talk To Irene

Director and writer: Pat Mills

When an overweight and unpopular teenager is suspended from school, she must endure two weeks of community service at a nearby retirement home. She secretly signs up the residents for a dance-themed reality show to prove that you don’t have to be perfect to be perfectly awesome.

Fast Color – OPENING NIGHT FILM & NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Julia Hart

Writers: Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz

This fantasy, superhero re-mix stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a hero forced to run when her superhuman abilities are discovered. Years after abandoning her family, the only place she has left to hide is home. Lorraine Toussaint and David Strathairn co-star.

*February 12, 2019 UPDATE:

I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story

Director: Janice Cooke

Writer: Camille Thomasson

“I Am Somebody’s Child: The Regina Louise Story” tells the journey of a young African-American girl who navigated over 30 foster homes and psychiatric facilities before age 18, and the one woman, Jeanne, who believed in her. After 25 years, Jeanne is finally able to adopt Regina in the same courthouse that denied them previously.

Jinn

Director and writer: Nijla Mu’min

In writer-director Nijla Mu’min’s debut feature, an African-American teenager’s world is turned upside down when her mother, a popular TV meteorologist, abruptly converts to Islam, prompting both mother and daughter to reevaluate their identities.

On the Basis of Sex

Director: Mimi Leder

Writer: Daniel Stiepleman

The compelling story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s early years, as she crafts a national legal strategy to win equal rights for women and fights to succeed in a profession notably hostile to women. The screenplay was a 2014 Athena List winner.

Out Of Blue – NARRATIVE CENTERPIECE AND U.S. PREMIERE

Director and Writer: Carol Morley
Detective Mike Hoolihan (Patricia Clarkson) is called to investigate the shooting of a leading astrophysicist. As Mike tumbles down the rabbit hole of the disturbing case, she finds herself grappling with cosmic secrets that may hold the key to unraveling the crime, while throwing into doubt her very understanding of reality.

Rafiki

Director and writer: Wanuri Kahiu

In their community “good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but Kena and Ziki long for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls are forced to choose between happiness and safety.

Saint Judy – NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Sean Hanish

Writer: Dmitry Portnoy

Based on a remarkable true story, when an Afghan woman flees her home after being persecuted by the Taliban, immigration attorney Judy Wood (Michelle Monaghan) takes her case. In the process, she changes U.S. asylum law and saves the lives of countless people.

Support the Girls

Director and writer: Andrew Bujalski

The general manager at a highway-side ”sports bar with curves” who has incurable optimism and faith in her girls, her customers, and herself, is tested over the course of a long, strange day.

The Favourite

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Writers: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara

Set in early 18th-century England, this award winning comedy-drama stars Olivia Colman as Queen Anne and Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone as cousins whose quarreling take center stage as each jockeys to be the court favourite of a frail and mercurial Queen Anne.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Director: Desiree Akhavan

Writers: Desiree Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele

In this drama directed by Desiree Akhavan, Chloë Grace Moretz plays a teenager sent away to a remote “treatment center” after being caught in the backseat with the prom queen. As she is subjected to questionable gay conversion therapies, she finds both challenges from and solace in fellow residents.

Working Woman

Director: Michal Aviad

Writers: Michal Aviad, Sharon Azulay Eyal, Michal Vinik

Orna’s life at work becomes unbearable when her boss, a major Israeli developer, makes inappropriate advances. Caught between the need to support her family and the increasingly disturbing behavior of her boss, Orna fights for her job and her sense of self-worth.

DOCUMENTARIES

93Queen

Director: Paula Eiselt

Set in the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, a tenacious group of Hasidic women challenge stereotypes and power structures in their tight-knit community by creating the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. This film was a 2015 Athena Work in Progress film.

Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché

Director: Pamela B. Green

In 1896, Alice Guy-Blaché was the first female film director at age 23. She went on to write, direct, produce, or edit more than 1000 films and became one of the early film industry’s biggest stars. Then she vanished from history.

Dykes, Camera, Action!

Director: Caroline Berler

Stonewall, the feminist movement, and the experimental cinema of the 1970s, set the stage for lesbian filmmakers to transform how society views queerness. In this moving and often hilarious film, lesbian filmmakers share their stories and discuss how they express their queer identity through film.

Knock Down The House – CLOSING NIGHT FILM & NEW YORK PREMIERE

Director: Rachel Lears

A young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. One of their races will become the most surprising political upset in recent American history.

Lady Parts Justice in the New World Order

Director: Ruth Leitman

Led by The Daily Show’s co-creator Lizz Winstead, the Lady Parts Justice League barnstorms the country to support abortion providers and defend women’s reproductive rights. Using comedy as the ultimate weapon to mobilize voters for the 2018 elections, they use a boots-on-the-ground strategy to protect bodily autonomy for all.

Life Without Basketball

Directors: Tim O’Donnell, Jon Mercer

After the International Basketball Federation forbids head coverings, making it impossible for Muslim women to maintain their religious convictions while on the court, Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir fights to change the rules. With her victory, she becomes the first Division I basketball player to play wearing the hijab and inspires the young Muslim women she coaches.

Netizens

Director: Cynthia Lowen

The proliferation of cyber harassment spreads from the web to the most intimate corners of women’s lives. As the internet becomes the next frontier of civil rights, three women who are targets of harassment confront digital abuse and strive for equality and justice online. The film was a 2017 Athena Work in Progress film.

Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS

Director: Harriet Hirshorn

A compelling portrait of the inspiring and remarkable women at the forefront of the global AIDS movement who work tirelessly to end the 30-year old pandemic and help women around the world at risk of HIV and AIDS.

On Her Shoulders

Director: Alexandria Bombach

With deep compassion and an elegance that matches her calm and steely demeanor, 23 year-old Nadia Murad survives the 2014 genocide of the Yazidis in Northern Iraq and escapes ISIS to become a relentless beacon of hope for her people.

The Feminist

Director: Hampus Linder

This personal and compelling portrait follows Gudrun Schyman, spokesperson of Sweden’s Feminist Initiative political party as she moves between small towns, refugee camps, and the corridors of power. In the process, she inspires women across the globe and becomes one of Sweden’s most influential politicians.

The Great Mother

Directors: Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker

When two U.S. born children share that their mother is being deported, immigration activist Nora Sandigo steps up to become their legal guardian, saving them from the fate of  “immigration orphans’’ trapped in the foster care system. Six years later, Nora’s charges have grown to nearly 1,000 children.

This is Personal – DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE

Director: Amy Berg

While the 2016 election catalyzed the Women’s March and a new era of feminist activism, Tamika Mallory and Erika Andiola have been fighting for their communities for years. Their stories expose the fundamental connection between the personal and the political, and asks: how can intersectionality birth a new social justice movement?

Warrior Women

Directors: Elizabeth A. Castle and Christina D. King

Madonna Thunder Hawk, unapologetic organizer of the American Indian Movement,  has cultivated a ragtag gang of activist children—including her daughter Marcy—into the We Will Remember survival group. Through their story, the film highlights the struggle for native rights and how activists pass their legacies from generation to generation.

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael

Director: Rob Garver

This nuanced portrait of Pauline Kael, among the most famous and divisive film critics of all time, uses never-before-seen archival film, wide-ranging interviews and her own writings voiced by Sarah Jessica Parker, to capture her complexity while revisiting late-twentieth-century cinema through her lens.

Whispering Truth to Power

Director: Shameela Seedat

After her appointment as South Africa’s Public Protector in 2009, Thuli Madonsela immediately faces violent protests, court interdicts, political and personal attacks, and death threats, as this remarkably steadfast woman seeks justice in a country still coming to terms with its apartheid past.

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin

Director: Arwen Curry

Explore the remarkable life and legacy of the late feminist author Ursula K. Le Guin. She holds her ground on the margins of “respectable” literature until the sheer excellence of her work forces the mainstream to embrace her science fiction and fantastic writings.