The fifth annual Athena Film Festival celebrating women and leadership kicks off this week and will run February 5-8 at Barnard College in New York City. This year's festival includes the world premiere of the upcoming HBO documentary Rosie O'Donnell: A Heartfelt Stand Up with O'Donnell introducing the film and participating in a panel on women's heart disease following the screening. Out actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster will also be honored with the Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award during the festival.
Check out some highlights of the LGBT-inclusive films screening at the fifth annual Athena Film Festival below, tickets are available now.
The GLAAD Media Award nominated film Dear White People from out writer/director Justin Simien will screen February 7. The comedy centers on four Black students (one of whom is gay) at the fictional Winchester University and their encounters with racial politics in the weeks leading up to a "black themed" party where white students don blackface, afro wigs and more. Obvious Child, a film about an unemployed stand-up comic dealing with an unplanned pregnancy after a one night stand and the choice to have an abortion, features Joey, another comedian and the gay best friend of lead character Donna.
The documentary Rosie O'Donnell: A Heartfelt Stand Up features the out comic in a hybrid comedy set inspired by her recent heart attack and frank discussion of the joys and challenges of raising her five kids. Out in the Night is a social justice oriented documentary film which examines how the intersections of race, class and gender are inextricably linked to the case of The New Jersey 4, a group of Black lesbians from New Jersey who were convicted of assault after getting into an altercation with a man who cat-called one of the women. Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger documents the Gender Outlaws author and performance artist's life in NYC and on her tour and “offers fans new angles from which to consider her achievements.”
The ESPN Nine for IX short film Brittney Griner: Lifesize looks in depth at the out basketball star's inaugural season with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in the off season from her regular position with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury. Flying Solo: A Transgender Widow Fights Discrimination sees 92-year-old WWII veteran Robina Asti telling her story of transitioning in 1976 and having to fight for survivor benefits after her husband's death because she was ruled "legally male" at the time of their marriage. In 2014, Asti finally received benefits and the Social Security Administration updated its policies regarding trans individuals receiving benefits through their spouses.