The inaugural Athena Film Festival was held February 10-13, 2011 at Barnard College on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.
The Athena Film Festival is a production of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College and Women and Hollywood. The Festival will highlight the wide 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. Our goal is to open a robust dialogue about women and leadership: what it takes to excel, collaborate, lead, and inspire.
I had the privilege of attending the festival and the following are the short reviews of some of the films I attended. Check it out after the jump.
Desert Flower (Spoilers for those who know nothing of the biography of Waris Dirie)
Desert Flower follows the story of Waris Dirie, based on her worldwide bestselling autobiography of her journey from African nomad to international supermodel. German director, Sherry Horman, approaches the biography from a positive perspective, but there are many aspects that are not pleasant. Because I did not know anything of her story when watching the film, I found it quite shocking when it is revealed that she was a victim of female genital mutilation. I felt the film almost tricked me into thinking it was fluffy then pulled the rug from underneath me.
Liya Kebede was mesmerizing as Waris and will no doubt continue to shine in future roles. Sally Hawkins brought a cluminess and realness to her character which grounded the relationship between the two girls. Timothy Spall has become one of my favorite actors in recent times. He’s currently in The King’s Speech as Winston Churchill and always seems to bring a level of sweetness to every role he’s in. Don’t even get me started on Juliet Stevenson, as the hard-ass model manager, she’s a tremendous force.
Putting this story to screen must have had many challenges with determining the tone of the film and it really seems like two different movies cut together. On one hand is the story of a rising supermodel and the other is a woman struggling with her past. It’s eye-opening, but not a light movie for a Friday night.
Some people are just born to lead, and Benazir Bhutto was one of those people. Her story is one that begins even before her birth; with the early years of her father’s quest for democracy in Pakistan. This documentary by first time directors Duane Baughman and Johnny O’Hara, maps out her story with incredible detail and really should have been a mini-series with the amount of material that is covered. The story is very interesting, and even though it keeps at a good pace, I felt it drag just because of everything that is happening. Just when you think things are getting better, you get hit with another blow. I understand that you can’t change history, but I feft that it followed such a straight chronological order that it doesn’t give you a chance to breathe. I recommend, but again, not for a light movie on a Friday night.
I knew there were women priests, but I didn’t realize the evolution or how recent of a phenomenon it is. This documentary explores the struggles of the women who have achieved this position and how they still face adversity. First time director Jules Hart spends most of the film focusing on why these women want to become priests and how much of an obstable was for them. I wanted to know more history, more backstory. It only briefly touches on the topic of why priests are required to be celibate, which I think is much more interesting. You want to know? It’s so they couldn’t pass on church land to their children. Crazy. See? Much more interesting. They might has well not even mentioned anything else after that, I wanted more of it.
There is a lack of representation of women in Hollywood. Shocker, right? Everyone knows it and this movie underlines it. We hear from woman after woman talking about the struggles they still face and how they deal with it. We are presented with fact after fact to amplify the effect. In the film she talks of how she wanted to do something to raise awareness so when her daughter grows up, it might be a little easier for her. In the panel after the film, first time director Jennifer Siebel Newsom describes her struggles when going up for acting roles as an aging woman.
Everyone should be measured equally. Hollywood is just another barrier to break down. In order to get more woman in Hollywood, there need to be more women in Hollywood. Paradoxical, right? Growing up, everyone should have an equal opportunity to pursue what interests them without someone steering them away from it because of the social norms. I’ll get off my soapbox now. Check out missrepresentation.org to find out more.
After most screenings a Q&A session was held with an actor and a moderator. Sometimes the session ran long, but it was always informative and gives you a unique perspective on the process.
I enjoyed the festival and will definitely attend next year. The campus was very easy to navigate and had plenty of places to relax between movies. There are a lot of restaurants near by and a very busy Starbucks.
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