By Mabel Pais

Women’s History Month 2021 is celebrated by ‘The Athena Film Festival’ during the entire month of March 2021

Catch up on several of the films, panels and conversations available until the end of March at athenafilmfestival.com/2021

 As an organization dedicated to showcasing the best films about women leaders, the festival team felt compelled to curate a program that receives, reacts and responds to this past year. With all of its programming, the members hope to examine the challenges all around us, celebrate those who have taken up the task to solve them and use this moment as an opportunity to rebuild and envision the kind of world we want to live in.

The areas of focus in the Fest are:

A LOOK AT HEALTH

Physical health, mental health, community health, public health, socioeconomic health – we’ve thought about it constantly for the past 12 months. In a year where every email starts with “hope you are well,” we are asking ourselves “what does it mean to be well?” Why are there so many different ways of talking about health? What does holistic wellness look like? Who has access to health? Do people have autonomy over their health? We’ll dive into these questions with films about health, with a focus on the ongoing fights for reproductive rights, justice, and disparities in maternal healthcare.

COME AS YOU ARE

Women, femmes, and trans and non-binary folks are constantly being told how they should look, how they should act and how they should live. For years feminist and queer movements have been breaking down those expectations while also reclaiming things that were once seen as restrictive and stereotypical but now they’re powerful but are these things reclaimed or are we just perpetuating old stereotypes OR is it now such a stereotype that the mere act of embodying it makes it subversive? It is so confusing! In this section we throw all of that out the window and celebrate just being who you are, whatever that means to you. Whether that’s wearing makeup or not, wearing your natural hair or not, shaving or not. It’s all good here as long as it’s what you want! Come as you are.

DISCOVERY

Fall in love with new voices. Celebrate the inspiring new works of first time and student filmmakers as they discover and unlock their creativity, and support a filmmaker on the brink of success with our second annual Breakthrough Award. It has been a difficult year for filmmakers with theater closures and production halts — among those hit hardest are emerging filmmakers. But as you’ll see here, emerging filmmakers are resilient and the future of the industry is bright.

IMAGINING A NEW FUTURE

When so much has changed so fast, when in the span of just a few weeks, people started talking about the “new normal,” how does that change our ideas of what is possible? While so much of this rapid change has been difficult and even traumatizing, it has shown us things that things don’t have to be the way they were. How do we use this newfound possibility to build a better world? How do we take this new perspective and turn it on institutions or systems that up until now we just accepted as the way things had to be? The future is wide open. What will it look like?

NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US

This rallying cry, which began in the disability rights movements in South Africa in 1993, has since been applied to multiple movements and causes. In the film community, it has been picked up as a way to discuss authorship. Too often we see new voices represented on screen but not behind the scenes. In this program, we dive into representation. Who is at the center of the story? Who is telling the story? These films examine, celebrate, and dissect representation and visibility as it appears in everyday life and in wider communities. In these times of great change, we must keep this rallying cry ringing in our heads. We must keep asking, who is this change serving and who is leading?

MAKING IT HAPPEN: WOMEN IN STEM

In a world where we’re fighting a global pandemic, staring down the eye of climate change, and on the brink of groundbreaking AI technology, we need the best and brightest leading the way. Too often women are left out, underrepresented or intentionally sidelined in the STEM fields. We’re excited to once again partner with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to tell the stories of fierce and fearless women working in STEM. We’ll see the discoveries they make and the challenges they face as they uncover the truth about our world and break down social barriers.

RESILIENCE THROUGH UNCERTAINTY

What keeps us going? How do we move into the future when we have no idea what it will look like? Humans, women, leaders are resilient. What does resilience look like? How do we move through the fog of uncertainty and come out on the other side? Through films and conversations we’ll investigate and showcase the exhaustion and devastation, and the powerful manifestations of perseverance and hope that keeps people going.

TEAR IT DOWN: DISMANTLING WHITE SUPREMACY

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare that which already plagued our country, including police brutality, structural racism, and economic inequality. We’ll take a look at people organizing and taking action to tear down systems of oppression. You’ll see stories of activists organizing to fight white supremacy in the many forms it takes, whether that is hair discrimination, mass incarceration, or continued disrespect for indigenous communities and their sacred land.

Panels and Conversations

All panels and conversations are free of charge and open to the general public, but registration is required. Information on how to access the panel will be sent to all registrants in advance of the event.

Use this link to register for panels and conversations of your choice airtable.com/shrmnASUe1HOXH64b

All of the panels and conversations listed below will be pre-recorded and made available on the dates indicated in the list.

The following available conversations include:

This is a featured conversation of the Nothing About Us Without Us program area.

March 20: Producing During and After COVID

The conversation will also include where they see the industry going.

March 20: Writing Roundtable

This is an invitation-only event.

March 23: Deconstructing Whiteness

This is a featured conversation of our Tear it Down: Dismantling White Supremacy program area.

March 23: The Push for Decarceration

This conversation will be in conjunction with The Third Strike.

This is a featured conversation of our Tear it Down: Dismantling White Supremacy program area.

March 25: Creating Utopias: Science Fiction as a Model for Future Planning

This is a featured conversation of our Imagining a New Future program area.

 

March 25: Black Feminist Future: Reconceiving Freedom for Collective Power and Justice

This is a featured conversation of our Imagining a New Future program area.

To learn more or purchase tickets, visit athenafilmfestival.com/2021

(Mabel Pais writes on Social Issues, The Arts and Entertainment, Spirituality, and Health & Wellness)