Athena Film Festival
March 6-9, 2025 at Barnard College
Founded in 2011, the Athena Film Festival champions diverse, nuanced, and complex stories of women leaders through its annual showcase of narrative films, documentaries, and short films, alongside powerful and thought-provoking conversations, and its numerous year-round creative development programs. To date, more than 540 films have been screened at the festival — 90% directed by women or nonbinary individuals — and Athena’s creative development programs have supported more than 700 filmmakers.
Check out this year’s Latin American selections.
MEXICO 86
A film by César Díaz
(Mexico/France, 2024, 99 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
1976. Death threats force Maria, a Guatemalan rebel activist fighting against the corrupt military dictatorship, to flee to Mexico, leaving her son behind. 10 years later, when he comes to live with her, she is forced to choose between her duties as a mother and continuing her revolutionary activism. After winning the Camera d’Or with Our Mothers, César Díaz returns with the tense and intimate thriller Mexico 86, inspired by his own story.
POWER ALLEY / LEVANTE
A film by Lillah Halla
(Brazil, 2023, 92 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
On the eve of a future-defining championship, promising volleyball player Sofia (17) is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an illegal termination, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost – but neither Sofia nor those who love her are willing to surrender to the blind fervor of the swarm.
NORITA
A film by Jayson McNamara and Andrea Tortonese
(Argentina/USA, 2024, 88 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
Norita takes viewers on a gripping journey through Argentina's tumultuous history, where Norita's personal tragedy becomes a catalyst for change. As a mother seeking justice for her disappeared son during the dark days of Argentina's dictatorship, Norita's unwavering determination and fearless activism led her to co-found the renowned Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a pivotal human rights organization. The film chronicles her journey to seek justice for the past while inspiring the next generation of women’s rights activists. Norita has been held up as a symbol by the women’s movement, dating back to the 1980s, and is seen as a fundamental fixture in the movement’s success during Argentina’s 2020 vote to legalize abortion.
INSTANT / INSTANTE
A film by Paola Veiga
(Brazil, 2023, 15 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
There are things in life that we do because we have to.
SOL IN THE GARDEN
A film by Débora Souza Silva, Emily Cohen Ibañez
(USA, 2023, 20 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
After 16 years of incarceration, Sol is released from prison, when she discovers that coming into her own freedom can be as challenging as living behind bars. Through a community gardening collective of formerly incarcerated horticulturalists in East Oakland, Sol strives to recover her humanity and sense of self.
Friday, March 7, 6pm at Glicker-Milstein Theater, Diana Center
