The Athena Film Festival at Barnard College's Work-in-Progress Program
As part of our Creative Development Program to support women and non-binary filmmakers, the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College conducts a Works-in-Progress Program.

What is an Athena Story?
Our festival focuses on women's leadership onscreen. In our view, women’s leadership takes no singular form. Stories of women leaders, in all their forms and all their complexity, are rarely shown on the big screen. Women whose leadership has been questioned, dismissed or erased, women who have risen up, spoken truth to power, women who empower their communities, inspire and educate, or women who simply survive – these are the stories we want to see. These are Athena's stories.

The Works in Progress Program is an intensive pitch training and storytelling strengthening opportunity that will take place in early 2023 and will culminate at the Works In Progress Pitch Forum during the Athena Festival on Friday, March 3, 2023. (The program will be in person in 2023) Each filmmaker participates in intensive pitch training with Peabody Award-winning filmmaker/teacher/Co-Founder of Chicken & Egg Picture, Judith Helfand.

The training includes:
-Story Development and Pitch Training
-Live pitch in front of a panel of esteemed industry representatives
-Introductions to a network of potential supporters and partners
-Peer-to-peer mentorship as well as potential mentorship from experienced
professionals.

Awards & Prizes

Each project receives a $500.00 honorarium

Rules & Terms


-This program is for documentary feature-length films, and short films (over 25 minutes) ;
-Films must have a woman (girl) or women character(s) in a leadership role(s) or
position(s) on screen;
-Projects from all genres are accepted, and stories about women from all racial, ethnic,
socioeconomic, and cultural groups are encouraged to apply;
-Filmmakers who apply MUST NOT have completed more than THREE feature-length
documentaries;
-Films need to be in production or at least have some footage shot to submit to the
program. Projects that are in development without any footage are not eligible;
-Projects must have a producer attached to their film in order to be considered;
- Films that don’t focus on women's leadership WILL NOT be considered;