Our annual film festival, founded in 2011 and entering its 16th year, will be held next on March 5-8, 2026.

The annual film festival takes place on the Barnard College campus in Morningside Heights in New York City.

Passes for the 2026 Athena Film Festival, and registration for the Teen Immersive Program,  will go on sale in the fall. Individual tickets for film screenings and events will become available when the lineup is released in early 2026.

Each year, the festival features a program of narrative, documentary and short films, all featuring a strong woman (or women) protagonist at the center of the story. Filmmakers can be individuals of any gender, as long as the films themselves are advancing a nuanced, complex, authentic portrayal of what women’s leadership looks like.

Athena opens submissions for short films the summer prior to the festival. Short films submission for 2026 will open on June 2. The feature film program is curated by our programming team. If you have a film recommendation, please email athenafilmfestival@gmail.com.

The Athena Film Festival is committed to creating an accessible festival environment for people with disabilities. We are grateful to our partners at The Loreen Arbus Foundation for their support in helping us make our festival as inclusive as possible. A few examples of accommodations that are available include: open captions on select films, ASL interpretation at all panels, and intros/q&as/panels with open caption films, live captioning at all panels, and intros/q&as/panels with open caption films, assistive listening devices, large print materials, sensory friendly room, wheelchair seating in all venues, and a wheelchair-friendly campus. If you have specific accessibility questions or requests, please email us at affguestservices@gmail.com at least two weeks prior to the event.