Queens World Film Festival Prepares To Celebrate Their Fifth Year!

The Academy Awards may be over, but Queens movie buffs are lucky enough to have another film event to look forward to: the Queens World Film Festival! Featuring 117 films from 30 countries, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Festival Week Kicks off March 17 and concludes March 22, with screenings and events taking place at The Museum of the Moving Image, P.S. 069 Jackson Heights, The Secret Theatre, and Space Gallery.

Here are the highlights of Festival Week 2015 (March 17 – 22):

March 17, 8 p.m.: Opening night at MOMI – Screening World of Tomorrow, the 2015 Sundance Short Grand Jury Winner by Don Hertzfeld and our Queens Spirit Honoree, Cuban Director Leon Ichaso.

March 18, 7:30 p.m.: Tribute to IndieCollect and Leon Ichaso’s Bitter Sugar.

March 21, 7:30 p.m.: Closing Night Awards and Screening of DUKHTAR (Daughter), Pakistan’s 2015 Oscar Submission directed by Afia Nathaniel.

March 22: the Winner’s Circle with the Best of the Fest Encore Screenings

I spoke with Executive Director Katha Cato, who has an energetic enthusiasm for the festival that’s completely contagious. It’s clear that she and her husband, Creative Director Don Cato, have put their heart and soul into the festival, and plan to blow us away and put Queens on the map as a filmmaker mecca. Katha believes that Queens has all the key elements to nurture the next generation of international filmmakers: two airports, boutique hotels, an unparalleled variety of ethnic cuisine, and an audience for every type of film.

And there is much to be excited about! On Opening Night, the 2015 Sundance Short Grand Jury Winner, World of Tomorrow, will be screened at the Museum of the Moving Image. Directed by Don Hertzfeldt, World of Tomorrow is an animated short that follows a young girl taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future.

Youth is not only represented in animation: one festival participant, The High, was directed by Ralph Sepe Jr., a seventeen-year-old from Long Island. Other festival highlights include Pakistan’s 2015 Oscar Submission DUKHTAR, (Daughter)  and Leon Ichaso’s Bitter Sugar.

With the major award season over, and months to go before summer blockbusters, the Queens World Film Festival provides an opportunity to catch films from all over the globe, right here in our borough. I hope to see you there!

Check QWFF showtimes, tickets, and news, be sure to check out http://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com.