#InTheLoop | Queens World Film Festival Runs (In Person + Online) from June 23 to July 3
BY QEDC It's In Queens
The show must go on and in … in person, that is.
Queens World Film Festival 2021 will unfold via a live/virtual hybrid format from Wednesday, June 23, to Sunday, July 3.
The 11th annual extravaganza will screen live at locations in Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Jackson Heights, and Long Island City. Plus, the entire schedule will stream on Film Festival Flix.
This year’s theme is HOPE (Healing Opportunities Promote Equity), and Queens World will share 193 related films from 33 countries, selected from a pool of almost 500 submissions from 40 countries. Categories include animation, comedy, documentary, LGBTQ, mystery, narrative, and thriller.
Features will show alone, while shorts will be grouped into themed blocs with titles like “Therapy This,” “Dirty Dogma,” “Angst R Us,” “Tales of Connectedness,” and “Coloring Outside the Lines.” Attendees simply choose the blocks, which average about 90 minutes of video with a conversation.
The host venues are Culture Lab LIC at the Plaxall Gallery, Museum of the Moving Image, Queens Theatre, The Local NY, and the United Sherpa Association.
Prices vary depending on consumption (live or virtual). General admission for each live screening is $10, while a day pass is $25. A full festival pass for virtual screenings (two screens per household) costs $125 until June 15, when the price rises to $150. Click here to get the schedule and details on how to watch a movie.
“The very act of making art is hopeful, telling your story is healing, and recognizing that every human being has a story and that establishes equity among us all,” said Queens World Executive Director Katha Cato, who noted that 42 percent of the selectees are by female filmmakers and 50 percent are by those who identify as BIPOC.
Queens World Artistic Director Preston Cato, who is Katha’s husband, added: “We are selecting 100+ incredible films that reflect the common yearnings, hopes, observations and experiences of our global storytellers. Expect to experience cinematic treasures exploring the human experience by filmmakers residing from all over the globe—yet all engaged in similar conversations.”
Over the last decade, Queens World shared 1,444 films from more than 70 nations, while attracting an estimated 74,000 attendees.
Film Freeway, a global platform for submitting independent works, recently ranked Queens World as a Top 100 festival. Chosen from more than 7,000 contestants from around the planet, Queens World ranked higher than such operations as Cannes, Sundance, and Tribeca.
Images: QWFF