Announced Athena Film Festival Award Winners

Announced Athena Film Festival Award Winners 

 The Athena Film Festival which runs Feb. 5-8, is proud to announce the recipients of the 2015 Athena Film Festival Awards.

 The 2015 Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award Winner is actress/director Jodie Foster. Celebrating her extraordinary 49-year career including Academy Award-winning performances in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs, Foster’s influence also extends behind the camera as an acclaimed director and producer. Foster joins previous Ziskin honorees, recognized for their leadership, creative vision, and commitment to women in filmmaking, Sherry Lansing, Gale Anne Hurd, and Julia Barry who accepted for her late mother, Laura Ziskin. Barnard Alumna and President of HBO Documentary Films, Sheila Nevins will receive the President’s Visionary Award and Oscar-winning producer, Cathy Schulman (Crash, The Illusionist) and writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights, The Secret Life of Bees) are honored with Athena Film Festival Awards. Winners of the Athena List, an annual list of screenplays with strong female protagonists, will also be announced at the awards ceremony. This year’s lineup includes a number of great films including the Opening Film, Dreamcatcher, a portrait of Brenda Myers-Powell, a former prostitute who helps women and girls break the cycle of abuse; the world premiere of Rosie O’Donnell, A Heartfelt Stand-Up followed by a panel with O'Donnell; and our Centerpiece Film, Beyond the Lights where Director Gina Prince- Bythewood will join the audience for a Q & A. The festival’s closing film is Difret, a moving story about an Ethiopian woman’s search for justice and the clash between traditional culture and law. Tickets and passes are now on sale at AthenaFilmFestival.com, as well as a full schedule of the 40+ movies, panels, workshops and receptions. We hope you join us at this year's Festival to watch incredible films featuring women leaders in real life and the fictional world. A great opportunity to network with extraordinary women who share your interests in changing what leadership looks like. For more information on the Athena Film Festival,
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