Queens World Film Festival

Film Festival Makes Its Debut In Jackson Heights

March 2, 2011 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. Thursday, March 3rd, the Queens World Film Festival opens at the Jackson Heights Cinema on 82nd Street just south of Roosevelt [see map link below], with a reception beginning at 6.30 pm. The Jackson Heights Cinema is a classic 1920's movie theater that has been remarkably well preserved on the interior. We visited it some time ago and were given permission to shoot photos, one of which is shown below.

Queens World Film Festival Opens Thursday March 3rd

Opening remarks will be followed by a block of three films, two of which will be shorts by Queens film makers and one of which will be a documentary about Afghanistan running nearly hour and a half. The films will be followed by Q&A. There will be an after party at the La Pequena Restaurant on Roosevelt and 84th.

Queens World Film Festival Runs March 3rd Through March 6th

On Friday the Queens World Film Festival opens at both of its film showing locations [the second of which is the Renaissance Charter School at 81st Street near 37th Avenue - see map link below]. There's a schedule of events on the Queens World Film Festival website and it provides lists of movies being shown, the times, and the viewing costs.

Tickets cost $6 for adults, and $3 for children. On Friday the shows run from 6 pm until 11 pm at which time there will be a party at Novo on 37th Avenue. On Saturday the shows begin at 11 am and run until about 10 pm at which time there will be another party, back at La Pequena. On Sunday the shows begin at 10.30 am and end around 10.30 pm after which there will be a final party at La Pequena.

Click this link to go to the Queens World Film Festival website.

Queens World Film Festival Organizers

The Queens World Film Festival was founded and organized by a husband and wife team Don and Katha Cato. I had the opportunity to meet Don and spokeswoman Celeste Balducci at the screening of Julio Of Jackson Heights, where I queried Don a bit about the planning for the Queens World Film Festival.

He told me that they had begun the planning about a year ago. He and his wife, Katha, sent out a call for film submissions, screened most of the films themselves, and culled them down to a little over one hundred films. Many of the films are shorts, but the list also includes feature length films and provides a wide selection from dramas and comedies to documentaries and kids films.

Queens World Film Festival Locations & Maps

Click the following links to view maps showing locations of the Queens World Film Festival. The Jackson Heights Cinema is located at 82nd Street just off Roosevelt Avenue and the Renaissance Charter School is located at 81st Street just off 37th Avenue - both in Jackson Heights.

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Queens World Film Festival

Click here for Queens World Film Festival 2013

You Might See The Next Oscar Film Here

February 29, 2012 / Jackson Heights / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. I visited the home of Don and Katha Cato this past weekend. Don and Katha are the duo that are organizing the second annual Queens World Film Festival, which opens Thursday night, March 1st at the Museum of the Moving Image – and then returns to its home in Jackson Heights for the remainder of the weekend.

I spent hours talking to Don mostly about the films, and talking to Katha about film as well as various aspects of planning and organizing the film festival [they are shown in the photo to the right]. The following report includes a general overview of the Queens World Film Festival logistics, as well as many previews of the films that will be shown. The festival includes about twenty films by Queens based film makers. And who knows, perhaps one day one of them will be receiving their Oscar from the Academy in Hollywood.

Click here to read our report about the Queens World Film Festival 2012.

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Queens World Film Festival

Film Festivals In Queens 2012

Continued. February 29, 2012 / Jackson Heights / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. For those that are looking for a quick overview of the film festival, scroll down to the end of the story for event schedule links, ticket prices and locations.

When I arrived at the Queens World Film Festival HQ things seemed pretty calm, given it was the weekend before the big event. The troops were busy helping organize the tickets, the schedules, the films and so forth. Greg Stowell was there, helping Don organize the films, Keara of Astoria was there helping Katha organize many of the logistics and details, Jay and Regina were working on various projects and Jordan Mattos is the Associate Programmer for the festival.

Film Festivals In Queens – History I

I learned that Don’s passion has long been film. It led him to meet, Katha, in Oregon while both of them were working on a film project quite a while ago. Eventually they both ended up here in New York Queens, where they eventually tied the knot.

Fast forward to 2007 when both of them volunteered to work on the Queens International Film Festival. For the next two years they volunteered to help with the Queens International Film Festival because they loved film, and loved interacting with all of the people involved in creating film works. The Queens International Film Festival ended its run in 2009.

Film Festivals in Queens History II

In 2010, Don and Katha began working on the first annual Queens World Film Festival, which opened in the Spring of 2011. We attended the festival and enjoyed watching several flicks including Maggie Marvel. Use the search function to find reports on prior and related film festivals in Queens.

Queens World 2012 – Film Festivals in Queens

This year Don and Katha began to hit their stride, making the Queens World Film Festival a year long labor of love. They screened nearly 200 films and will be showing about 130 of them. Many are shorts of only a few minutes, many more run about twenty minutes and there are also a number of feature length films.

The stories run the gamut from documentaries, to comedy, to drama and romance, animation and at least one musical. Don and Katha organized the films into film blocks, so that one interested in a certain theme might be able to see others like it. You can browse through the theme categories to find one or more that suits your interests, but the following will give you a small sample of the thirty or so category themes: a) Don’t Stop The Music, b) Murder, Neat, c) Absolutely Beautiful, d) LGBT, e) Remembrance and f) Occupy This.

Queens World Film Festival Organized Into Viewing Blocks

Don Cato has been teaching film at the Digital Film Academy in NYC. Katha also has a passion for film, which as mentioned above, is the medium through which they met. Katha told me that Don has produced nearly 200 different films about various subjects and spanning various film categories from shorts to drama to features.

As I sat down to talk film with Don, I wasn’t prepared to become so deeply immersed in the Queens World Film Festival, and by association, into Don’s appreciation for the digital arts. But I remembered how much I enjoyed Maggie Marvel last year, and so I listened attentively and here is what I learned.

Don informed me that there were about 30 blocks, which encompassed about 130 movies. The following will give you a solid sampling of the blocks and the movies contained within. You can click the link at the bottom of this story to visit their website where you can read even more than I’ve published here, as well as buy tickets.

Don't Stop The Music - Film Festivals in Queens in 2012

Can’t Dance is part of the Don’t Stop The Music block of films that is being shown on Saturday at PS69 at 8 pm. The romantic comedy, by Richard Uhlig, is set in Jackson Heights. The film is about a retired widower, who following his wife’s death, becomes engrossed in his train hobby. His wife, now a ghost, isn’t pleased with the situation and enlists the help of a neighbor.

The other two films in the Can’t Stop The Music block are Tenant, which is a fast moving, guitar strumming, short film about a girl talking to a guy about renting an apartment from him. And another film, entitled One Night Stand, is about writing, casting, rehearsing and performing a show within a 24 hour period.

Murder, Neat At Film Festival In Queens 2012

I met Conrad Stojak of Woodhaven Queens in 2009 at my first experience with the Queens International Film Festival. At the time Conrad was showing Woodhaven Pause, which was a very interesting and intelligent peek into a number of different social issues surrounding aging parents and caring for them. Not uplifting mind you, but very well written and acted. Click here to view our review of Conrad Stojak’s A Woodhaven Pause.

Fast forward to 2012 and Conrad is back as the Director of 100 Proof, a story written by Douglas Russo, also of Woodhaven. In this film a young’ish man “must deal with his mother’s death and face the darker side of his humanity, where violence and murder become common, and justified.” Sounds like fun … not. But I hear that there is some gallows humor included in the show. This film is part of the Murder, Neat block which shows at 5 pm at the 82nd Street Cinema. China Doll is also included in this block which is the story about Little Italy and Chinatown doing battle over a symbolic sword.

Mr. Bricks is described as a ‘heavy metal murder musical’ and is not included in any category as the film runs 87 minutes on its own. It’s about a crook who is wounded and seeks revenge on the policeman who shot him, and took his girl. After he kills the policeman, he goes berserk. Not for the kids and it’s full of blood and gore. Produced by Justin Martell and directed by Travis Campbell and starts at 10.30 pm on Friday, March 2nd at the 82nd Street Cinema.

Occupy This - Film Blocks At Queens World Film Festival

Occupy This is a block of films being shown on Friday evening starting at 6.30 pm at the Jackson Heights Cinema. The block includes a mix of intermediate and short films about social issues. Don and I watched one of the shorts entitled Gak Gak which is an animated film about chickens working in what seems to be a Wall Street office. The animation was beautiful and the storyline disturbing, but isn’t that the nature of a lot of realities in the world today?

Another film in the block is entitled GREEN The AmeriCan Dream which was directed by Robert Sarnoff. It’s a ten minute documentary about the people who pick up and recycle cans to make a living.

While We Watch is a documentary film about the Occupy Wall Street movement. It chronicles the efforts made those who made the un-institutionalized movement into a statement, “We are the 99%” because of their staying power and use of the social media.

Reconciliation Films at Queens World Film Festival 2012

The Reconciliation block is scheduled for 1 pm on Sunday at PS 69 in Jackson Heights. There are two movies in this block. One is about a Japanese woman who flies to NYC, after her boyfriend tells her “he’s living with god”. What ensues is a triangular relationship of Mariko [the Japanese woman], Tesuji [the boyfriend] and his god. Directed by Haruhito Naka of Queens.

The Reconciliation block also contains a film about the civil war in Sierra Leone, Africa entitled Fambul Tok [Family Talk]. It’s about tribal rites where forgiveness and truth telling go hand in hand. Apparently there’s a grass roots effort going on there which has met with some success.

Self Preservation & Absolutely Beautiful - Film Blocks QWFF

David Dixon Is Dead is included in the Self Preservation Block which is being shown at 5.30 pm on Saturday at the Jackson Heights 82nd Street Cinema. Director David Dixon wants his skull to be cleaned and transformed into an art piece after he dies. This is a mix of documentary – working through the issues with having this request fulfilled – and fiction – pretending David Dixon actually died.

Absolutely Beautiful is a block of films being shown at 3.45 pm on Saturday at the Jackson Heights 82nd Street Cinema. Don told me that the cinema, storytelling, animation and narratives were ‘beautiful’.

Aging - Film Block At Queens World Film Festival

One of the last two blocks we discussed including one on aging which is entitled Old Spice which begins at 11.30 am at the Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights. This program will be moderated by a woman, Marlyn Mason, who acted in a 1972 film, The Trouble With Girls, starring Elvis Presley. Marlyn has a film in the program entitled The Bag about a middle aged woman who learns of her parents death pact to administer all of the drugs they’ve been hoarding when the time comes for them to die.

Another film in this block is directed by Leslye Abbey and is about long time Flushing resident [since 1916] Catherine Papell. Ms. Papell talks about the process of aging through the lens of someone who has.

LGBT Films In Jackson Heights

The LGBT film block begins at 7.30 pm on Saturday at the Jackson Heights Cinema. There are eight films in this block most of which run in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 minutes. The following is a brief synopsis of a few of them. Uniformidas [Uniforms – as in school uniforms] is about a young eight year old girl in Spain who first realizes that she’s gay [English subtitles]. Queen is about a drag queen who documents the trials and tribulations of trying to adopt a baby when you’re a drag queen. And Rites Of Passage is about a Muslim who travels to Thailand to have a sex change operation.

Special Mentions - Queens World Film Festival

One of the films mentioned by Katha, which was produced by a Queens resident is entitled Hello Bambi, which is being shown at 12 noon on Saturday at PS 69 in the block entitled Alternate Styles. It’s about the Disney cartoon character Snow White and her hallucinogenic dream on her way to the emergency room. It’s an exploration of Jungian archetypes in life and film. The film was directed by Woodside resident, Faiyez Jafri.

And one of the films mentioned by Jordan Mattos was The Woods which is the first Kickstarter film to be premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. This 90 minute comedy is about a group of 20 somethings going into the Oregon woods and about how the wifi crowd grapples with nature.

Queens World Film Festival – Opening Night 2012 MOMI

For opening night only, you must come with a ticket, which you can obtain online by making a $25 donation. But note that as of Saturday evening, February 25th, there were only about 50 tickets left for opening night. Other tickets remain on sale and can be purchased at the door at the Jackson Heights locations.

Opening night runs from 6 to 9 pm and will be followed by an after party across the street. About eight films will be shown some of which are discussed in the report about the films in the festival that follows.

Queens World Film Festival – Event Times Jackson Heights

The film festival moves into Jackson Heights Friday evening, starting up at all three locations around 6 pm [click links to view maps for 82nd Street Cinema, PS69 and the Renaissance Charter School]. The festival resumes Saturday morning at 11.30 am and runs into the night and again on Sunday around the same time and running until late afternoon.

Queens World Film Festival Locations - 2012

Click here for maps to PS 69 in Jackson Heights, 82nd Street Cinema in Jackson Heights and the Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights. Click here to view the location of - Opening Night only – which will be held at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria.

Queens World Film Festival Ticket Sales & Prices

Tickets are $12 / $10 / $5 kids to view a block of films. You must come with a ticket to Opening Night [buy online for suggested donation of $25] as tickets won’t be sold at the door. An entrance pass to the after party at Studio Square is also included with the donation.

Queens World Film Festival 2012 Schedule & Film Descriptions

Click here for the contact info in our Business Directory for the Queens World Film Festival website, film schedule and tickets.

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Queens World Film Festival

The Leading Film Festival in Queens

Updated March 9, 2013 / Astoria, LIC & Jackson Heights / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. I attended the 3rd annual Queens World Film Festival opening Tuesday night at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. As I arrived, independent film producers, directors, writers, actors and actresses mingled in the lobby.

A local TV film crew was interviewing one of the festival participants as I started mingling with the crowd. I met one man who has film showing Friday, another with a film showing Thursday, and a Belgian couple who co-produced a thirty second short that was to be shown at the opener tonight [they’re shown conversing with City Councilmembers Dromm and Van Bramer]. The photo above is a still taken from the short Heads Up, which is part of the Unexpected Destinations theme.

It wasn’t long before the festivities began, which included several speeches by sponsors [some are listed at the end of this report] and the Queens World Film Festival founders, Don and Katha Cato of Jackson Heights.

Queens World Film Festival

The Leading Film Festival in Queens - Festival Locations

March 5, 2013 / Astoria, LIC & Jackson Heights / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. The evening was broken into two film viewing segments. The first block of films was entitled What’s Beneath It All and the second film block was entitled Unexpected Destinations. This sampler helps define expectations for the rest of the festival which continues Wednesday through Sunday at three different locations [Click for Queens World Film Festival Location Map: a) 82nd Cinema in Jackson Heights, b) the Renaissance Charter School also in Jackson Heights and c) the Secret Theatre in LIC].

Scroll down to end of the story for map links of the viewing locations. The photo above shows Don and Katha Cato opening the Queens World Film Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria.

Queens World Film Festival Founders - Don & Katha Cato

The Queens World Film Festival was founded by Don and Katha Cato. Don Cato teaches film and leads the curatorial effort of the event, while Katha is in management and has a flair for sales, marketing and organization, as she adeptly handles many of the business aspects of the event. As they are a husband and wife team, there’s a steady stream of consultations by both about everything associated with the week-long film festival. Katha Cato is shown at left and Don Cato shown at right, with Daniel Turkewitz shown in the middle.

Film Blocks & Film Categories - Queens World Film Festival

The festival is organized into film categories which Don & Katha created [they gave special mention to Jordan Mattos the Associate Programmer for helping organize the films]. And they group films into each category, so when you go to an event showing, you get about a couple of hours of viewing time.

QWFF Film Categories by Day Beginning Wednesday March 6

There are thirty two viewing categories / blocks in all including: 1) Beneath it All - which is about what happens when our love, trust or security is challenged, 2) Unexpected Destinations - which when we think we know where we are going [see photo to your left], 3) Summer Memories - which includes a film about nature and another about love in summer, 4) Sound of Music - which includes films with solid musical scores of various genres, 5) Grace Under Fire - which is about the trials and tribulations of people questioning the state of their lives, 6) Dinner Crumbs - which is about films where the action centers around the dinner table and meals,

 

Queens World Film Festival - Thursday March 7

7) Off The Beaten Path - which is about investigations into worlds beyond our comfort zones, 8) Southeast Asian Mysteries - which is about the haunting by a mythological creature or the loss of a loved one, 9) Letting Go - which is about Jewish culture, 10) Love with a Twist - which is about the beautiful, simple, reckless and destructive nature of love, 11) Tales of No Remorse - which is about people with a dark side, 12) LGBT Short Stack - which are short films about coming out, 13) Against the Odds - which is about going to places we've never seen, 14) A Fork in the Reality - which is about landscapes from earth and further out, 15) Ch Ch Ch Changing - which is about deep life-changing crisis arising when least expected ...

 

Queens World Film Festival - Friday March 8

Themes continued ... 16) O .. M .. G!!!! - which is about love, lust, loyalty and clashing personalities, 17) It's All About New York - shot in NYC, 18) Tales of Peace - which is searching for something to soothe the soul, 19) Reluctant Reunions - which is about the challenges of making and maintaining human connections, 20) Tales of Reconciliation - which is about the West Bank of Palestine and siblings, 21) It's All About Women - which is about women, 22) Tales of Precious Little Ones - which is about love, loss, healing and rebirth, 23) Men Are Dogs - which is about men, 23) It's About Jobs Stupid - which are comedies about the economy ...

Actress Karen Black is shown in a still taken from the Great Gatsby.

 

Queens World Film Festival - Saturday March 9

Themes continued ... 24) Around the Corner with Local Filmmakers - which are a collection of shorts by indies, 25) Old Spice - which is an eclectic collection of shorts, 26) Artist Profiles - which is about artists going public, 27) Boxed In - which is about finding a way out, 28) Genre Bending Music Verite & Remix - music related films, 29) The Emerald Isle - films about Ireland, 30) Love's a Bitch - love post passion, 31) The Good Fight - documentary about community building & sustainability, and 32) Together ... Almost, LGBT Love Stories - films about longing.

Noteworthy Events of the Queens World Film Festival

A few of the highlights of the festival, which are free admission, include: 1) Young Filmmakers Program at PS 69 in Jackson Heights beginning Thursday morning 3/7 at 8.45 am and 9.45 am. Don Cato worked with a class to create films with the theme of America in 2020 when these kids will graduate high school. 2) Industry Panel at the Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights beginning Saturday 3/9 at 10 am. The panel includes a lawyer, a financier and a producer who will talk about the challenges of financing, creating and marketing films. 3) Awards Ceremony on Saturday 3/9 beginning at 8 pm [awards at 9 pm] honoring filmmakers at the Renaissance Event Hall in Astoria.

 

Tribute to Actress Karen Black - Stars In Friday Film: Vacationland

They also included a tribute to American actress, Karen Black, who stars in Vacationland, one of the films being shown on Friday at the 82nd Street Cinema in Jackson Heights. Karen has played a myriad of roles in well-known movies such as the Great Gatsby with Robert Redford, Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson and a long list of others. In addition to her roles in Hollywood Studio films, Karen also performed in a host of independently produced films, one of which was directed by Don Cato [Dixie Lanes], one of the Queens World Film Festival founders.

Preview of Queens World Film Festival Themes

We watched two consecutive blocks of films, broken up by the tribute to Karen Black who appeared in a video [see paragraph above]. As I had mentioned in the beginning of this report, the first theme was entitled What's Beneath It All. The first film is Heads Up, a short where two guys are sitting across a card table - one with a knife in his hand and the other with a gun in his. It's a short with an expected, unexpected twist [see photo in story opening above]. Lonely Eros, is a very short film, so there's no time for expectations, and it's kind of funny in a bizarro world. The Tits on an Eighteen Year Old is a short that lasts the length of an Italian cab ride. It's about a cabby and in a very short period provides an interesting cinematographical sketch of the man.

The second block of films we saw came from the theme entitled Unexpected Destinations. Planet Utero is an animated sci-fi, with a bit of Matrix in it. This was followed by At The Formal, where you don't want to be the guy they're railroading around as the film opens. Uh La La is a mix of cute, comedy and it made me feel a bit uneasy, which is some of what art is all about. It's about a homeless couple planning their Paris vacation. And lastly we saw Pollicino which is about a guy with Alzheimers. Beautifully shot, and open ended.

The evening ended with the introduction of the film producers, directors, writers and actors, many of whom were in attendance with the audience. An after party ensured at Studio Square in Astoria. Click here for our report on the Queens World Film Festival of 2011 and here for our coverage of the Queens World Film Festival of 2012. Click here for the Business Listing of the Queens World Film Festival where you can find contact information including a link to their website where you view individual movie descriptions, locations & times and purchase tickets.

Click here for maps to 82nd Street Cinema in Jackson Heights, the Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights and the Secret Theatre in LIC.

Sponsors & Photos - Queens World Film Festival 2013

The Queens World Film Festival was funded in part by funds from the offices of City Councilmember Daniel Dromm and Jimmy Van Bramer of Districts 25 and 26 respectively. Kaufman Astoria Studios provided film / video equipment, each location venue was acknowledged for their contributions, as was Amalgamated Bank one of the founding sponsors. There were other contributing sponsors including one of our clients BRG LIC / Beaudoin Realty of Jackson Heights.

Click here for a photo album containing photos of the Queens World Film Festival 2013 as show below.

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Saving Jamaica Bay

Local Documentary Film At The Queens World Film Festival

March 21, 2016 / Astoria Neighborhood / Jamaica Neighborhood / Queens in Film / Queens Buzz.

I attended the 6th annual Queens World Film Festival on Thursday where I had an opportunity to view a film that's been years in the making by a local filmmaker, Dan Hendrick. The film is entitled Saving Jamaica Bay and it's an hour and 16 minute documentary about the ecosystem of New York City's Jamaica Bay.

The film storyline and cinematography capture the juxtaposition and the intensifying struggle, between man and nature. The beauty of the bay is captured on film, showing us that the fair maiden is in distress. But she's being rescued, or at least fought for, by a naturalist and former manager of the National Park Service Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in tandem with a retired fireman and his son, who've taken upon themselves the mission of protecting what was shown to us to be an area of great urban abuse and refuse, but even greater beauty.

• Click here to see more still photos and a review of the film entitled Saving Jamaica Bay at the Queens World Film Festival in March. The film is scheduled to be shown at other film festivals throughout the year, a few of which will be listed at the end of this report.

Saving Jamaica Bay

Local Documentary Film At The Queens World Film Festival

March 21, 2016 / Astoria Neighborhood / Jamaica Neighborhood / Queens in Film / Queens Buzz. Continued.

I arrived on time to see the 8.15 pm showing of the Queens World Film Festival [QWFF] program entitled How Green is my Garden. This particular program of the Queens World Film Festival included two films – an eleven-minute short entitled Christopher’s Garden by William Torgerson, and a 76 minute documentary entitled Saving Jamaica Bay by Queens film maker Dan Hendrick. The programs are curated by Queens World Film Festival co-Founder Don Cato [see photo at right].

The Catos Introduce Queens World Film Festival Program

Prior to the film screening, Queens World Film Festival co-Founder, Katha Cato [see photo at right], made a few remarks about the composition of the films in the Queens World Film Festival being shown at four Queens locations including Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside and Jackson Heights. I’ve included excerpts from those remarks at the end of this report, which outline the depth and breadth of the Queens World Film Festival offerings, as well as its efforts to nurture and showcase local film making talent.

How Green is My Garden Program Features Christopher's Garden

Christopher’s Garden chronicled the work of an artist / farmer who opened up his private yard space to the public as a quasi-public garden. The film was a journey of sorts, into Christopher’s Garden which appears to be an actualization ofChristopher’s spiritual,philosophical and gardening self. It was a nice warm up to Saving Jamaica Bay, as it eased us back into the comfortable chairs at the Museum of the Moving Image, and left us with a zen-like feeling.

Saving Jamaica Bay

Documentary Film by Dan Hendrick

Saving Jamaica Bay was next on tap and the documentary film opens with a number of beautiful, sweeping vistas of the paradise and the dumping pile that we know as Jamaica Bay. Off we went on a journey into an area at the southern edge of Queens and Brooklyn that includes fresh water, wetlands, marshes, salt water, beaches and rain forest-like abundance of species of wildlife.

Saving Jamaica Bay captures the tension of modern life, the yin and the yang, the dot within the whole, the public good versus the private profiteering, the natural beauty and the man-made trash, and one might even go so far as to say the struggle between life and death.

 

Explores the Struggle between Man & Nature over Preservation of our Ecosystem

The last phrase is a philosophical one, begging the question we must ask of ourselves as the ruling planetary species,

“If we don’t begin conforming to nature’s way or nature’s laws - which require holistic, cyclical, regenerative processes - how long before we go the way of the dinosaur?”

 

For us to survive on the bone dry, oxygen-less Moon or Mars, we would have to develop our own man-made ecology built in accordance with nature’s regenerative ways. Which leads me to contemplate that if we continue on the path we’re now on, we may eventually have to do that here on Earth. And places like Jamaica Bay … real natural paradises … would be gone forever. But I digress [click here for related fictional short story about climate change].

 

Meet Jamaica Bay Eco-activists: Don Riepe & Dan Mundy Jr. & Sr.

In the film, Saving Jamaica Bay, we met several local eco-activists whose interest in Jamaica Bay arose from living there. The three primary characters in the documentary are Don Riepe of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and the Mundys – a father and son team comprised of a former and a current NYFD fireman [see photo at right - as they attended the QWFF premiere]. The Mundys joined Riepe [pronounced Reep] to help make the people and the government aware of a rapidly deteriorating eco-system that is home to numerous species of flora, fauna and aquatic life.

The three men who become the protagonists in this film were self-selected and self-organized. They were residents of Broad Channel [the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay] who noticed a rapidly changing ecology in the bay and they took it upon themselves to do something about it. In the process a concern and an interest, and over the course of time, became something like a life mission. One might call them the Paul Reveres of Jamaica Bay, who instead of shouting,

“The British are coming. The British are coming.”

Began spreading the word that,

“The Marshes are dying. The Marshes are dying.”

Dan Hendrick finds a Way to Help Save Jamaica Bay thru Storytelling

Enter film producer, Dan Hendrick, of Grounded Truth Productions, who first met Riepe & the Mundys while covering events in southern Queens as a journalist for one of the local Queens newspapers [Queens Chronicle]. Their passion, in time, became his passion, and so Dan began contributing to the conservation effort the best way he knew how … through story telling.

Hendrick spent five years creating this film. Like the other characters of this documentary, Dan’s interest in making the film, arose from his interest in Jamaica Bay. Over the years Hendrick collected and then crafted a holistic look at Jamaica Bay and its many issues.

 

Jamaica Bay History Begins After the Civil War

In Saving Jamaica Bay, Hendrick includes some of the history of the bay, referring back to an area of Jamaica Bay once used to dump the carcasses of dead horses. This practice was prevalent in the latter half of the 19th century [1800’s], when horses were still one of the leading forms of transportation. The area of Jamaica Bay where the horses were dumped is still called Dead Horse Bay, and it’s located just east of Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Floyd Bennett Airfield & Jamaica Bay

Jamaica Bay history isn’t complete without talking about the emergence of air travel. Floyd Bennett Field was the first airport of New York City and it was located along the northwest edge of Jamaica Bay. The first trans-Atlantic flight departed from Naval Air Station Rockaway in Queens in 1919. And prior to Lindbergh’s historic flight, blimps were floated above New York City during World War I to protect the city from airborne threats.

Floyd Bennett Field was replaced by a more conveniently located LaGuardia Airport in the mid 1930’s. But it wasn’t long before New York City required even more airport capacity and in the early 1960’s JFK Airport was built in Queens only a couple miles west of Floyd Bennett Airfield, and also along the perimeter of Jamaica Bay.

JFK Airport & Jamaica Bay - Expansion vs Ecology

Today JFK is New York City’s largest airport and it’s looking to expand, citing capacity constraints. As a modern industrial air transportation hub – JFK Airport is seeking to add runways and some of the recent expansion proposals appear to be detrimental to the eco-system of Jamaica Bay. But this isn’t the worst of it.

Beginning in the mid 1990’s [1995 – 1996] Jamaica Bay began losing marshland at a rapid rate. With the marsh losses, the numerous species that relied on marshland for survival, began disappearing. And if I heard correctly, Jamaica Bay is home to as many or possibly more species than currently exist in the Adirondacks [eg. more than 330 bird species have been recorded at Jamaica Bay]. It’s ironic that the marsh losses are coming today from some as-of-yet unidentified cause, when not long ago Jamaica Bay was the home to four landfills, which began in the 19th century, and only ended in the 1990’s. Things got so bad, that at one point, some folks referred to it as garbage bay.

Queens Broad Channel Island at Sea Level in the Bay

As mentioned previously, Hendrick found the film protagonists living on the Queens island of Broad Channel, the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay. The island is located at sea level, and on a periodic basis, the inhabitants of Broad Channel adjust to pools of water entering their homes. They’ve made adjustments over the years by locating electrical, heating and cooling equipment and wiring at elevated levels within their homes, so that it’s not damaged by high waters.

The offset of this great natural inconvenience is that the Broad Channel residents live amidst great natural beauty. Hendrick captured the beauty and some of the unusual, quirky, wildlife characters that share living in Jamaica Bay with the Broach Channel residents. Hendrick’s storyline and the Saving Jamaica Bay cinematography is sure to win the hearts of many viewers, and in the process has the potential to further the effort of Saving Jamaica Bay.

Jamaica Bay is a Part of the Gateway National Recreation Area

According to Wikipedia, Jamaica Bay covers a large area, some 25,000 acres, which is the equivalent of nearly 30 Central Parks [843 acres]. It’s a nutrient rich ecosystem which is home to many species of turtles, snakes, birds, oysters, clams and all kinds of aquatic and plant life.

Hendrick uses his film, Saving Jamaica Bay, to take us on an intermittent National Geographic-like tour of Jamaica Bay, through vignettes filmed over the course of the five years this film was in the making. Hendrick told me that Director David Sigal shot most of the film, that Hendrick had shot a portion of it and that some of the film crew, and folks like Riepe, the Mundys, and others contributed the rest.

 

 

Meet Igor, a Bona Fide Member of the Jamaica Bay Ecosystem

In one of the scenes, Hendrick, with the help of Riepe, captures some of the human-like characters who drop in for a kitchen visit which includes a quick conversation, rewarded by a bite to eat. I’m talking about Igor, who you’ll get to know better if and when you see the film.

The human history of Jamaica Bay begins following the Civil War, when residents were looking to escape the big city. By the late 19th century beach resort hotels lined the Rockaways, ferries steamed to and fro New York City, and fresh clams and oysters satisfied feasting fellows. A rail track was built to make visiting Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways more convenient. But storms and hurricanes were always a part of the landscape, causing incredible losses and destruction, and eventually some measure of abandonment by the general populace by the middle of the 20th century.

As mentioned above, in the mid 1990’s, Riepe and the Mundys began noticing rapid erosion of the marshes. They became concerned and began documenting the changes with photos and maps. With the marsh losses there were related eco-system losses, as Jamaica Bay is comparable to a rain forest for its bountiful wildlife, but also fragile ecology.

Saving Jamaica Bay Film Cinematography

The exploration of real nature so close to the city has not gone unnoticed and school groups have begun booking visits to Jamaica Bay to give their students a chance to observe wildlife in nature. Hendrick included some footage showing a snapper turtle taking down a duck in the marshland. It’s not just a dog-eat-dog world, but in Jamaica Bay it’s also a turtle-eat-duck world too - so beware.

The beauty of the bay is shown through the seasons. The inherent stillness of the bay in winter is captured on film, as is the busy season when the birds are migrating north and south and take a pit stop in Jamaica Bay. Hendrick through Riepe and Mundy introduces us to some of the habitat issues faced by some of the resident fowls.

The osprey had all but abandoned Jamaica Bay a couple of decades ago, due to the significant levels of chemical pollution that nearly destroyed their food supply. *****

The osprey are sea hawks and they only eat fish. The Jamaica Bay waters were put under the protection of the Gateway National Recreation Area in 1972 and as the water began improving, the sea hawks began returning.

The diamondback terrapins are another group that nearly vacated the marshes of Jamaica Bay because all of their eggs were being eaten by raccoons. But then the raccoons left because the bay had become so polluted and they had eliminated their food source. Again, due to environmental / conservationist efforts, the terrapins have returned.

Of course the star of the show from a wildlife point of view was Igor, who I mentioned and introduced you to earlier in this report.

Non-profits, School Groups & Community Organizations Show Interest in Helping

While school groups have taken up visiting the bay to treat their students to a day trip in the wild, other groups have also begun taking an interest in doing what they can to help save Jamaica Bay. Riepe told about how several community and non-profit groups have contacted him [he’s the Northeast Director of the American Littoral Society] to organize clean ups. Saving Jamaica Bay captured one such effort, which we were told resulted in filling 13 dumpsters of crapola left by prior generations.

Jamaica Bay is a lot like Cinderella – a great beauty hidden by wash pails, garbage and tattered clothing. But even underneath all of that, her great beauty is recognizable by the Princes and Princesses who have come to her aid.

Glass slippers? No. It’s more like removing ancient beer bottles.

In one such case a Hindu group started using Jamaica Bay to celebrate Ganga Puja, a waterside ritual rooted in ancient Indian traditions. Nearby Richmond Hill is home to a number of south Asian peoples, so these types of collaborations strengthen the communal bond and the bond with nature. As part of their celebration, they clean up the area before they depart.

Ecological Crisis: Eroding Marshlands in Jamaica Bay

The thrust of the film is about the Jamaica Bay ecology and the current threat of eroding marshlands. The Mundys starting taking note of the marshland erosion in the mid 1990’s when Riepe and the Mundys started documenting it.

The Army Corps of Engineers had been using satellite photos to track the erosion as early as 1951 [see photo at right from National Park Service]. The Mundys and Riepe met with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation [DEC] and showed them their photos and maps and together they compared notes. The DEC concluded that the erosion was happening faster than they previously thought. And they validated the multi-year efforts made by these valiant Queens and Jamaica Bay community eco-activists.

A Jamaica Bay Task Force was formed and at some point the National Parks Service and local agencies began rebuilding the marshes. To date the new marshes are doing well, but the old marshes are still dying. Marshes and other natural configurations were called ‘soft infrastructure’ in the film as they mitigate storm damage.

 

Hurricane Sandy & Hurricanes in Jamaica Bay

Hurricane Sandy hit while they were filming. Part of the saga of dealing with a hurricane was included in the film, showing the evacuation preparation, evacuation and return. Dealing with hurricanes is a part of life for those who live in Broad Channel, as Gloria [1985], storms in 1991, 1992 and about three in this decade too.

 

In another battle, Riepe, Mundy in tandem with others threatened to sue the city using the Clean Water Act, which enables communities and residents to use the courts to require the government to do their job and to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink. The Bloomberg Administration met with them and after several rounds of negotiations, made an 11th hour concession to making changes at the Brooklyn 26th Ward Waste Water Treatment plant which reduced the toxic levels of nitrogen flowing into the marshes. This was a victory for the Don Quixotes of Dan’s story, as well as for the Broad Channel community and Jamaica Bay.

 

JFK Airport Proposes Expansion into Jamaica Bay

But the threats to Jamaica Bay haven’t been vanquished by any means. The RPA, FAA and PA [also known as the Regional Plan Association, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Port Authority] are discussing proposals to build new runways right into Jamaica Bay. RPA's report on this plan contained numerous flaws and it’s possible the most flawed proposal has been sidelined, but the initiative and the effort to expand JFK Airport have not.

Ironically, it was this proposal that got filmmaker Dan Hendrick on his horse, as he challenged himself to make a contribution to the effort to save Jamaica Bay. So along with Riepe, the Mundys, other Broad Channel residents and a growing number of conservation groups [Littoral Society, Audubon Society] and agencies [Environmental Protection Agency] they are galloping toward windmills or rather airplanes in an effort to save from extinction a small part of paradise: Jamaica Bay.

 

Saving Jamaica Bay & the Queens World Film Festival

Saving Jamaica Bay is an important film because of the important message it carries, and the graceful delivery and beauty of the messenger. Susan Sarandon donated her time to narrating the film, which she made seem effortless because it was done so well.

 

And the Queens World Film Festival showcased not only an important documentary made by a local filmmaker, but like the film itself, helped draw attention to the lady in distress – Jamaica Bay. I’ve traveled through Broad Channel on my way to the Rockaways, but never stopped. Having seen this movie, I plan to correct that sometime in the near future.

 

 

 

Institutions & Organizations thru which you can visit Jamaica Bay

Dan Hendrick told me that there are several venues through which to see Jamaica Bay including those already mentioned including the Littoral Society for which Riepe is a Director, as well as the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge which is on Broad Channel island in Jamaica Bay, and he also mentioned the Ryan Visitors Center at Floyd Bennett Field which was named after the Congressman who helped put the bay under federal jurisdiction.

 

I have included a couple of maps taken from the National Park Service which show the salt marsh erosion from 1951 – 2008. The National Park Service refers to Jamaica Bay as the Gateway National Recreation Area and I found these under ‘maps’.

 

Saving Jamaica Bay - Future Showings

Saving Jamaica Bay will be shown at film festivals around the nation in 2016 including:

• March 24 at 6:30 pm - DC Environmental Film Festival - Washington, DC
• April 7 at 7 pm - Princeton Environmental Film Festival - Princeton, NJ
• April 10 at 4 p.m., April 12 at 4 pm - Palm Beach International Film Festival - Palm Beach, FL
• April 14 at 9.25 am - John Jay College / Eco Cinema Festival at 524 W 59th St, New York, NY 10019
• The film will also appear at the Bershire International Film Festival in June.
• The Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, which will take place sometime this summer in New York City.

The production company is Grounded Truth Productions and future film showings are listed at www.savingjamaicabay.com.

 

Queens World Film Festival Nurtures Local Film Talent

The Queens World Film Festival is in its sixth year and this year presented 144 films. About 71 of the films submitted were created by Queens-based producers, of which 29 of them were shown in the festival this year.

QWFF Provides Women and Foreign Filmmakers with an NYC Venue

A bit less than half of the films were created by women, which is far higher percentage / representation than the film festival industry average, which if my memory serves me correctly we were told is in the high single digits or low double digits [% percent by women]. Also this year, 22 of the films came from other nations. The films were grouped thematically into program blocks which this year included: 1) the planet, 2) children, 3) women and 4) green / environmental. You can learn more about the Queens World Film Festival at www.queensworldfilmfestival.com.

Queens World Film Festival - Technicians Behind the Scenes

This year I went behind the Wizard of Oz curtain to talk to one of the technicians about the important behind-the-scenes role they play in the festival. Sam Berland has been with the Queens World Film Festival since its inception, helping order the rental equipment for the festival, building the play lists used at each location and standardizing the sound tracks of the films for the play lists as they vary with each film submission.

 

The photo at right shows Sam in action at PS 69 in Jackson Heights on Wednesday, March 16th. Sam is also a technician for the Tribeca Film Festival which begins in the middle of next month.

 

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Queens World Film Festival 2017

Labor of Love on a Queens Corner

March 20, 2017 / Astoria Neighborhood / Cinema & Film in Queens / Queens Buzz.

I attended the 7th annual Queens World Film Festival on Sunday at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. I chose to view the Queens Corner block of films, which showcased some of the films made in Queens and / or by Queens filmmakers.

 

Queens World Film Festival Opening Night

I had missed opening night, but so did most others, as the snowstorm shut down the Museum of the Moving Image that night. Don and Katha Cato, Founders of the Queens World Film Festival, improvised and held opening night at Armando’s Restaurant in Jackson Heights. They showed the films on a screen at the bar and read subtitles, which were too small for the audience to read. Katha told me that it wasn’t perfect, but with the food and wine served at Armando’s – it was fun.

The Queens World Festival includes a mix of locally made films, as well as films made around the world. Don and Katha solicit the films via exchanges dedicated to facilitating film festivals and submissions – including using some websites from other parts of the world. Katha mentioned that people flew in from as far away as Nepal, Germany, Italy, England, Canada and other states such as California to participate in the festival.

QW Film Festival Attendance & Locales

This year the Queens World Film Festival aka QWFF consolidated its viewing locations to the Museum of the Moving Image and the Zucker Theater in Kaufman Astoria Studios, which helped give the event more of a consolidated feel versus prior years when screenings were spread throughout Astoria, LIC and Jackson Heights. Both the Museum of the Moving Image and the Zucker Theater are within a block of one another. And the Astor Room, a restaurant located in a subterranean portion of Kaufman Astoria Studios, was used to host the awards ceremony and became an interim gathering space.

The festival attracted in the neighborhood of 5,000 visitors in 2016, and while the figures were not yet in, Katha thought they might not match the prior year due to inclement weather and the consolidation of screening rooms and locations this year.

QWFF Films Curated by Don Cato

The Queens World Film Festival is curated by Don, who is aided by Jennifer Griffith. They received about 500 films this year and narrowed the submissions down to 135. Of the 135 about 26 were made in or by Queens filmmakers. A number of the submissions also came from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island, so New York City is well represented.

The film viewing blocks are arranged in an intuitive fashion. Don takes notes while reviewing the submissions and over time similarities, differences, subjects and themes emerge. Katha adds her two cents to the emerging categories while the couple is consolidating the choices and organizing the films into viewing blocks.

Don & Katha Cato Founders Queens World Film Fest

Don and Katha are pursuing a labor of love … literally … as the couple met while collaborating on a film / theater project many years ago. The couple continues to pursue their passion outside of the Queens World Film Festival as Katha is an actress and Don produces films. Don currently teaches at the Digital Film Academy in Manhattan.

• Click here for the rest of our story including brief reviews and photos of some of the films I saw at the Queens World Film Festival in 2017.

Queens World Film Festival 2017

Labor of Love on a Queens Corner

March 20, 2017 / Astoria Neighborhood / Cinema & Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. Continued.

Queens: Directors, Actors & Actresses in Queens

So the following is a short synopsis of what I found while viewing the Queens Corner block of films. The Queens Corner block of films included eight short films, with the entire block running about two hours. These films were a subset of the Queens films shown at the festival. I heard talk about some of the other Queens films, such as Cook by Anne Hu of Sunnyside, which I unfortunately did not get a chance to see.

 

Kill the Witness

The first film in the block ‘Kill the Witness’ by Justin Ferrato, was rather obtuse. There were takes of somebody struggling with their notes, scribbling and scratching and tearing up the paper. This segued into animation of the hand(s) in motion and we were taken on a subway ride and into a late night discotheque as the writer struggled with what to do with his ideas. Don described the film as an abstract, impressionistic look of a musician / writer dealing with the creative process.

 

The Last Tip

The next film entitled ‘The Last Tip’, was directed by Patrick Chen and is a film about an Asian man who came to dine at one of his favorite restaurants for the last time.

 

The film takes us into the man’s thoughts as he remembers his wife on their first date at the restaurant and leaving a dollar tip which was still hanging on the wall with their writing on it. It was a nice sentimental vignette about a longstanding Queens restaurant which recently closed.

 

Two Gays & a Girl

The third film was entitled Two Gays & a Girl and directed by Christina Raia. This short film was modern upbeat comedy about a gay man and his female friend. The gay man joins his friend at yoga class to watch the male instructor who has been replaced by a woman.

Walking home the woman recalls a wild weekend of sex as her roomie was away. They encounter the girl’s third roommate whose been absent from the apartment since the girl moved in. The roomie is a lesbian who just got out of jail, and who hits it off with the girl’s gay friend.

This film struck me by its cultural currency and the cinematic appeal of the actress, Lauren A. Kennedy. Kennedy’s allure was well complemented by co-stars Hayward Leach [gay man] and Melody Vargas [lesbian roomie], as the film’s authenticity reminded me a bit of the film, Return of the Secaucus 7, which was the forerunner to The Big Chill.

 

I Am Them

I Am Them was the next film. In this film the Director / Actress Kel Haney, plays three different people at critical junctures in their lives, in three short vignettes. The first vignette is named Penny who tells her friends about helping her mother commit end-of-life suicide on a camping trip.

The second vignette, entitled Meg, is about a woman on the verge of having sex with a man, who stops abruptly because she was abused as a young girl. She opens up and entrusts her boyfriend with the story of her past.

And the third vignette is entitled Kay and it’s about a woman who just got news that she has cancer. We tune in as the woman is having a conversation, alone with herself in her car, about how she’s going to deal with her cancer. The short episodes were thought provoking and convincingly portrayed by the Director who was also a convincing dramatic actress.

 

The Fisherman

The Fisherman by Anoah Levine shows the dichotomy of two different world’s of Queens. We are batted back and forth like a ping pong ball - or a daily commuter – between the noisy urbanity of Long Island City at the Queensboro Bridge and the quiet zen of fishing off the bridge in Broadchannel.

 

The filmmaker does a nice job of capturing the yin and yang of the two Queens locales through sound – juxtaposing the gnarly traffic sounds at the Queensboro Bridge and quiet pierced by seagulls chirping at the Broadchannel bridge; and through focused close ups that include – a coffee cup atop the rail of the Queens Plaza subway overpass and an old bottle half buried in the sand along the Broadchannel shore.

 

Man's Best

Man’s Best directed and acted by Seth Mctigue is about a guy struggling with the sudden and accidental death of his brother and father by withdrawing into himself through conversations with his dog aka ‘man’s best’ friend. The film explores the psychology of loss, using the dog as a metaphor. Many of us in the audience didn’t get that the dog was a psychological construct for the man’s subconscious crutch, but the story was engaging and mysterious enough for us to have to ponder the concept.

 

Lovestruck

Lovestuck directed by Ethan Buskirk, and acted by Katrina Medoff and Victoria Moyer, was an interesting comedy about two female roomies who witness each other’s dating experiences.

We’re taken through the four seasons of the year as each roomie returns from a date, talking about their experience. One of the roomies seems to find her lover of a past life [many times over], and with each new season, she seems to experience a deeper memory of her past life. Meanwhile, her bookish counterpart, seems to ‘end up’ with guys who are so, so ... or not so good kissers or … something else is wrong with them.

I found this film to be an enjoyable, humorous look at dating through the portrayal of two different people by a couple of convincing actresses.

 

Dillzilla: Titan of Terror

And last but not least is Elizabeth Pasieczny’s Dillzilla: Titan of Terror. This is the frightening story of an animated / puppet pickle’s life.

The poor puppet Pickleman is found one day roaming the seas, and the next washed up on shore having survived bioradiation. Through a freak of the bioradiation, the Pickleman’s anger causes him to become greatly enlarged. Not used to his new size, Pickleman then unintentionally terrorizes a small town. The U.S. Military is called to pursue and destroy him. After a standoff battle, Pickleman is finally saved by a mother’s love.

It was a quirky tale that 'pickled' me to death.

There was a Question & Answer session after the program, some of which I may have included in the narrative above. In any case it was a wonderful weekend of film at the Queens World Film Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image.

 

Queens World Film Festival Sponsors & Staff

The Queens World Film Festival aka QWFF organizes other programs throughout the year, some of which we post as they arrive. One of the most popular is the summer film screenings of movies shown at the QWFF this and in prior years.

Many thanks to Don and Katha Cato for organizing these programs, as well as their sponsors and volunteer staff.

Sponsors include Investors Bank, Queens Council on the Arts, Kaufman Astoria Studios, Museum of the Moving Image, New York Community Bank, NYC Media & Entertainment, Queens Post, Yelp, Times Ledger, Hunters Point Conservancy, Jackson Heights Green Alliance, Queensboro Hill Flushing Civic Association, Jackson Heights Beautification Group, Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce and others.

Jurors include Cynthia Lopez, Josh Green, Michael Lieber, Christine Burrill, Sebastian Rea, Jamil Lahham, Jennifer Griffith and Gy Mirano.

Others are also involved and you can find them in the About section of the Queens World Film Festival website.

• Click here to view the reports in our section about the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria Queens NYC.

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Queens World Film Festival 2018 To Begin

The Queens World Film Festival Comes to the Museum of the Moving Image Astoria

March 12, 2018 / Astoria Neighborhood / Queens Neighborhoods / Film in Queens / Queens World Film Festival / Queens Buzz NYC.

The 8th annual Queens World Film Festival begins on Thursday, March 15th at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. This year the festival will run eleven days, present 189 films, from 36 countries, in three screening rooms at the Museum of the Moving Image and the Zukor Screening Room at KAS in Astoria.

Tickets cost $15 per show, which you can obtain online at http://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com, and you may obtain a discount of $3 [$12 per ticket] by inputting the promo code qwff8.

The photo at right shows a scene from one of the films, entitled Lilly Riggs, by Brooklyn filmmaker Naman Gupta, which I'll tell you about later in this report while providing highlights about several films in the eleven day event. The information contained in this report was collected from the Queens World Film Festival website and in an interview with the Queens World Film Festival Artistic Director, Don Cato, and the Executive Director, Katha Cato.

Click here for an overview of the schedule and films for the Queens World Film Festival 2018.

Queens World Film Festival 2018 To Begin

The Queens World Film Festival Comes to the Museum of the Moving Image Astoria

March 12, 2018 / Astoria Neighborhood / Film in Queens / Queens Neighborhoods / Queens Buzz NYC. Continued.

Queens World Film Festival Founders in 2018

The first thing I’m going to do is provide a bit of an update about the Queens World Film Festival and its founders, and then briefly describe a few of the films that caught my interest that were highlighted in the trailer on the Queens World website and that I briefly discussed with Don Kato who curates the films shown in the event.

Don and Katha Cato are a husband and wife team, where the boundaries between their roles oftentimes blurs, as they interact and act as a holistic unit that’s driven by their ‘baby’ the Queens World Film Festival. But that said, Executive Director Katha Cato handles a lot of the organizational and marketing aspects of the festival; while Artistic Director, Don Cato, curates the films and oversees some of the video production aspects related to the marketing. And both interact with the film makers.

Depth and Breadth of Local Films Shown at the Queens World Film Festival

Katha told me that 31 of the films were made by folks from Queens and another 30 of the films were made by people living in three of the other four boroughs – Manhattan 18 / Brooklyn 14 and the Bronx 2.

Now in top 2% of film festivals rated by film makers. 6,000 film festivals. # 4 destination film festivals in America. Hamptons – for nightlife and QWFF – for food and curation.

Queens World Film Festival App & After Parties / Best Overview & Great Chance to Meet People

The Queens World Film Festival has also created an App which may be downloaded from their site. There will be an after party Thursday, March 15th, opening night at nearby Studio Square at 35-33 36th Street in Astoria, which is only a block away.

Queens World Film Festival – QWFF Kids Film Programs

Katha embarked upon a new venture a couple of years ago to give life to the Queens World Film Festival year round, by presenting some of the films in educational, community and social forums where the content of the films was relevant to the groups to which they were presented. She also began working with a few of the local schools – to date in Queens and Manhattan only – teaching school children about filmmaking.

Some of the films made by the kids involved in these programs will be presented on Friday night, March 16th in the Kids Corner block of films. That night is the only night they are ‘going to roll out the red carpet’ for the contestants.

QWFF Provides Film Packages Covering Assortment of LGBT Themes

Also on Friday night, March 16th, in the Zucker Theater at Kaufman Astoria Studios a block away they will be showcasing three LGBT themed film blocks throughout the evening entitled Coming Out, Living Out and Older & Out. I inquired if this was a sort of lifecycle approach to LGBT themed films, and Katha replied in the affirmative.

On Saturday & Sunday, March 17th and 18th, there will be a whole host of films covering a breadth of themes and issues and from – as Katha & Don like to say – “Around the World and Around the Corner”.

On Monday, March 19th there will be a film making workshop beginning at 5 or 6 pm that will show folks how to use the infrastructure in New York City and New York State to make films [Governor’s Office]. And from 7 pm to 9 pm there’s a workshop on how to crowd fund a film project [private company – Seed & Spark].

On Tuesday, March 20th there will be a presentation of the film Thank You & Good Night by Jan Oxenberg who is one of the Spirit of Queens Honorees. The film is a 4K restoration of her 1991 genre bending Sundance Film Festival documentary about death and dying.

On Wednesday, March 21st there’s the presentation of After Louie which is a film by another Spirit of Queens Honoree, Vincent Gagliostro, and starring Alan Cumming who plays an aging AIDS activist struggling to find new meaning in the post gay rights world.

Katy Honen, who organized the DNA Info reporters union, shortly before DNA Info was closed will also be there and be honored.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 22nd through 24th there will be a variety of films shown with themes addressing immigration, use of the internet and freedom of speech. People involved in the making of these films will be present for conversations / Q&A after the films.

On Sunday night, March 25th, they will end the festival by showing a film block entitled Queens Korner, which includes eight of the 31 films made in Queens. This will be in the Redstone Theater beginning at 5.30 pm and many of the film makers, actors and participants are expected to be there. There will also be an after party / awards presentation at the Astor Room beginning at 8 pm, following the last screening previously mentioned on Sunday, March 25th.

Don Cato – Curator / Artistic Director for QWFF

After Katha and I discussed the general outline of the eleven day long festival, I started talking to Don about some of the specific films. As mentioned previously, Don is the Artistic Director or curator of the films, which he selects with the help of a dedicated committee [members names forthcoming]. It’s also worth mentioning that Don teaches film at the Digital Film Academy in Manhattan.

Film Blocks Arranged in Themes

I had developed a list of films that caught my interest after scanning through the Queens World Film Festival website. I began by asking Don about them and what follows is a summary of our discussion. We started discussing the films and filmmakers, and the Queens World Film Festival website also does a nice job of providing viewers with relevant info.

For your convenience we included in which film blocks and on what dates you may view these films, and a few are also shown individually, which is more likely when those makers of the film will be present. So let’s begin with the film featured in the first photo shown in the introduction to this story.

Narrative / Documentary / Animation / LGBT / Feature Lengths & Shorts / Females

I. Black Cop – is a film about a black cop struggling with the issues of being an African American cop today. Not trusted by colleagues, nor his community and harassed by a radio talk show host, I’m told that BLACK COP rises to the occasion. PG13 for strong language.
a. This film is being shown individually at 7:30 PM | Sunday March 18 | KAS Zukor. The film is included in one of the film blocks on Sunday, March 25th.
b. Don told me that last year the filmmaker ran a short in the Queens World Film Festival called Black Cop, which ran 10 minutes. This year the same director made the film into a feature so it now runs 91 minutes. Don also said the filmmaker has a distribution deal for the film. Toronto.

II. AFTER LOUIE - is a film about a former gay activist who’s confronted with generational differences of gay men today, versus the gay civil rights battles of the 1980’s and 1990’s when he was coming of age.
a. This film is being shown individually at 7 PM | Wednesday March 21 | MoMI – Redstone. The filmmaker Gagliostro will be at the Wednesday screening.
b. Don said this was a well-acted film by Alan Cumming about personal turmoil and recaptures the angst of a prior age. 100 minutes. NYC?

III. Lilly Riggs – A very cinematic film with good visuals, characterizations and music. Its about an ex-con, who upon getting out, plans one last job to set himself up for life … will things go as planned?
a. This film is being shown in the QWFF Film Block - Suspense & Neo Noir. At 9:30 PM | Thursday March 22 | Zukor.
b. Don said that Lilly Riggs was directed by Naman Gupta who lives here, and that it’s in the Neo Noir film block, which contains four films. All four films were nominated for awards, and Lilly Riggs was nominated for best narrative short and actor Paul Arthaud was nominated for best male actor. About 30 minutes. Brooklyn.

IV. Dalia – is a story about a post middle aged [50 to 60 years old] woman who is depressed and has a vengeful heart, because her husband left her for a younger woman. The film showcases her turmoil, emotional roller coaster and at times there’s humor via interactions with her maid who keeps here anchored. Pacing, acting, writing, cinematography, score all fit together well. The filmmakers of this feature won best feature at the Queens World Film Festival six years ago.
a. The film is being shown by itself at 3:45 PM | Saturday March 24 | Zukor.
b. Don told me that the filmmaker Rafael Escolar and one of the actresses are coming from Argentina. 84 minutes. Argentina.

V. Light – is a documentary film about famous photographer – Gjon Mili – a guy from Europe came to MIT studied strobe light photography. He’s been featured in MoMA. Music and visuals are beautiful. Built a relationship w/ Spanish distributor of short films including American filmmakers.
a. Being shown in Queens World Film Block – Shadows & Light on Saturday, March 24th at 1 pm in the Bartos at MoMI.
b. 54 minutes by Yilka Cjellecha and Suela Bako, two European women who are coming for the screening. Albanian.

VI. Silver Bangles – is based on true incident. A barren Asian woman has married someone below her caste and becomes untouchable. Her husband wants to “be a man” and thus wants a child. He can take second wife or adopt. This discusses how they deal with the issue, as they live in poverty in an area that has Maoist rebels.
a. Silver Bangles is a film short in the Repercussions film block, which contains stories about people trying to pursue a better life. The film block is being shown on Sunday, March 25th in the Bartos at MoMI from 3 to 5 PM.
b. The filmmakers will be there. 14 minutes. Nepal.

Queens World Film Festival in Astoria March 15 – 25, 2018

I commented to Don and Katha that the Queens World Film Festival was looking more and more like a foreign film festival. They didn’t disagree and in fact went on to say that Queens is home to folks who come from around the world.

All in all it appears to be a pretty amazing line up for film lovers. Eleven days, 189 films from 36 nations, in three screening rooms in Astoria. Tickets are $12 with the discount code qwff8. You might want to order early as the festival has been growing in popularity over its eight years of existence.

Break a leg.

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