The Athena Film Festival is gearing up for its 2020 edition. A four-day celebration of stories about fierce and fearless women leaders, the fest will be marking its 10th anniversary next year, and your film could be part of the program. The fest is now accepting submissions for short films and the Athena List, an annual slate of screenplays with women leaders that have yet to be made into films.
Short films can be from any genre, including but not limited to documentary, animation, and experimental. They must be under 40 minutes in length, and feature a woman leader or leaders as the central character(s). Non-English films must be subtitled. The deadline to submit a short is August 1, 2019. You can submit a short and find more information via FilmFreeway.
Screenwriters of any gender or identity are welcome to apply to the Athena List. Screenplays must feature and focus on women’s leadership, and/or strong, bold women from all walks of life. No short scripts will be accepted — screenplays must be feature-length (80-120 pages).
There is no entry fee. Over the course of six years, three Athena List films have been produced: “Little Pink House,” written and directed by Courtney Balaker and starring Catherine Keener, “On the Basis of Sex,” written by Daniel Stiepleman and starring Felicity Jones, and “Clemency,” written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu and starring Alfre Woodard. The latter won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and will be released theatrically on December 27. A fourth screenplay, “The Burning Season,” is heading into production this year. The deadline to submit a screenplay is September 1, 2019. You can submit and find more information via FilmFreeway.
The 2020 Athena Film Festival will take place February 26-March 1 at Barnard College in New York City.
