The 2026 Athena Film Festival has selected this year’s honorees.
Oscar-nominated documentary Cutting Through Rocks, directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, received the Jaya Award in partnership with the Illumine Service Foundation, a $10,000 prize given to a film focused on women’s leadership.
Happy Birthday director Sarah Goher is being honored with the $25,000 Breakthrough Award in partnership with Netflix, given to a feature-length film directed by a first- or second-time filmmaker without a U.S. theatrical distribution deal.
The Syndrome writer Tamar Feinkind will receive the Chinonye Chukwu Emerging Writer Award in partnership with Christine A. Schantz, a $10,000 prize given to a feature-length writer who previously participated in an Athena Film Festival Writers Lab.
Additionally, Aquanauts writer Rachel Caccese received the $20,000 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Athena List Development Grant, given to an Athena List finalist or winner for a script focused on a woman in a STEM-themed project. The festival will feature actors performing a live reading of Caccese’s script.
And the festival is continuing its partnership with AMC Networks as part of its Future of Film initiative.
“The Athena Film Festival’s support of new and emerging filmmakers is one of our greatest points of pride,” Athena Film Festival co-founder and artistic director Melissa Silverstein said in a statement. “Through grants, fellowships, and mentorship opportunities, we have been able to consistently elevate films that might not otherwise reach the audiences they deserve. In 2026, with the help of our partners, the Festival is distributing $70,000 in awards to filmmakers — a guarantee that more stories about women’s leadership are told.”
Vice dean of campus life for Barnard College, where the festival is based, Nikki Youngblood Giles, added “Barnard College and the Athena Film Festival have always held a common mission — ensuring talented women have access to the support and resources to reach their highest potential. That is what has made Barnard the perfect home for the festival for over 15 years. These tremendous financial awards to filmmakers are a reminder to all of our students that their creative and professional goals are within reach.”
