The second annual Athena Film Festival was held February 9-12, 2012 at Barnard College on the Upper West Side (right by the 1 train stop at 116th St) of Manhattan in New York City.
T”he Athena Film Festival is a production of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College and Women and Hollywood. The Festival highlights 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.”
Just like last year, there are a few workshops to attend during the day and then after some of the films there are Q&A sessions with filmmakers and/or cast and crew. This time around they also streamed those Q&As on Ustream, to give people at home a taste of the festival. This is a fantastic idea and am very happy to see that they are embracing the online world to promote great film.
Here is a list of the films screened at this year’s festival:
- Sneak Preview: Ann Richards’ Texas – see mini-review below, I really can’t wait to see the finished film. Very topical from a political point of view.
- The Whistleblower – I saw this but did not review. Very powerful film and amazing performance by Rachel Weitz.
- Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour
- Black Butterflies
- The Naked Option
- Apache 8
- A Marine Story
- Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock
- Women, War & Peace
- Gloria: In Her Own Words
- The Legend of Pancho Barnes
- Tomboy – see mini-review below, Innocence personified.
- Oranges and Sunshine
- Wish Me Away
- Borgen
- The Rescuers
- All She Can
- Work in Progress: Half The Sky
- Circumstance – read my review from New Directors/New Films, I really enjoyed this emotional and liberating film.
- The Education of Dee Dee Ricks
- Off the Rez
- The Lady
Ann Richards’ Texas – Friday night I attended a sneak preview where we were shown an extended trailer for the film, as it is not complete yet. The documentary focuses on the Governor of Texas from 1991-1995, Ann Richards. It features interviews from President Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Lily Tomlin, Nancy Pelosi and Michael Dukakis while mixing in lots of TV footage from the time. It will no doubt be a fascinating look at the life and career of an influential leader who happened to be a woman. After the preview, Marie C. Wilson (founder of White House Project), moderated a discussion with the directors, Keith Patterson and Jack Lofton and Erin Vilardi a trainer for women political leaders. The discussion turned out to be longer than the sneak preview as many stood up not only to ask questions, but to share their experiences. Although it was in a public setting and in an auditorium, the mood was very intimate and inviting. I find Q&As to be inspirational when the audience truly participates in the discussion. This was no exception.
I was delighted when I saw the lineup included Tomboy, as I had heard about the French film from a colleague a few months ago. It’s the story of a young girl, who after moving to a new town, presents herself as a boy because it’s how she’s most comfortable. This does lead to the eventual discovery by others, but rather than being a tragic and earth-shattering event, it is simply treated as a miscommunication. I found this to be incredibly refreshing and so subtly profound. I heard comments after about how they were expecting a more dramatic ending, but I came out of the film with the sense that it’s ok to just be yourself. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone else. What a wonderful message for a child, for anyone.
I was only able to attend one full film this year, as the screening schedule is not setup for successive viewings. I really wanted to attend more, but honestly, I didn’t want to hang around for and hour and a half until the next movie. It’s too bad, I would have loved to have seen so many.
If you live in NYC and are interested in the many festivals going on all the time, check out my google calendar.
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