New York, NY –The Athena Film Festival: A Celebration of Women and Leadership, announces its 2011 lineup of narrative and documentary films.
Straight from the Sundance Film Festival, the New York City premiere of Miss Representation, a film about the media’s disparaging portrayals of women, punctuated by candid interviews with Katie Couric, Nancy Pelosi, Rosario Dawson, Lisa Ling, Catherine Hardwicke, Geena Davis among many others.
Desert Flower, a film based on the bestselling book recounts the incredible journey of African refugee Waris Dirie who became a top international model. The Festival is also proud to announce the U.S. premiere, in partnership with BBC Worldwide, of Mo, in which award-winning actress Julie Walters portrays Mo Mowlam, the charismatic woman whose no-nonsense approach to politics helped achieve one of the monumental landmarks in recent British history, the Good Friday Peace Agreement. The festival will also present three shorts programs — including 12 features and documentaries all directed by women.
“We are extremely proud to announce the diverse slate of films we have selected for our inaugural season. The films we’ll screen exemplify our mission—to bring women’s unique and powerful voice to the forefront,” said Kathryn Kolbert, co-founder of the Festival and director of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College. “It is an honor for us to bring films with distinguished, creative and innovative visions and voices from all over the world, to our community,” said Melissa Silverstein, co-founder of the Festival and founder of Women and Hollywood.
Hosted by Barnard College and Women and Hollywood, the festival takes place February 10 -13, 2011. Films will be shown on Barnard’s campus in Morningside Heights. For All Access tickets or more information, visit www.athenafilmfestival.com.