At the eighth annual Athena Film Festival, 6,000 attendees celebrated the power of women on screen and behind the scenes. Tennis legend Billie Jean King spoke at a packed, opening-night screening of the 2017 film Battle of the Sexes. Documentarian Barbara Kopple received the Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award for her Academy Award–winning, social justice–focused films. British screenwriter and director Amma Asante received this year’s Athena Award in recognition of her extraordinary accomplishments and leadership. Writer, director, and producer J.J. Abrams P ’22 won the Leading Man Award for the strong female characters in his movies. And a surprise award in recognition of her service was bestowed upon Kathryn Kolbert, the Athena Center’s festival co-founder and departing director. •
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