Is Queens going Hollywood?
Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave.) presents the Afrikan Poetry Theatre’s Black History Month Film Festival on Saturday, Feb. 17, starting at 4 pm.
Then, Flushing Town Hall (157-35 Northern Blvd.) offers Crazy Talented Asians & Friends: Fourth Animation Shorts Festival on Sunday, Feb. 18, starting at 6 pm.
Afrikan Poetry Theatre’s Vernon “King Smij” Williams will host the first one, which is free with RSVP. The program, which celebrates the achievements of local Black directors, writers, and producers, includes a discussion.
Here’s the lineup.
Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between Director Claire Jeffreys, 2023, 70 minutes.
This documentary explores Garland Jeffreys’s 50-year music career. The biracial artist’s songs mix Dylanesque Folk, Reggae, and the Doo-Wop sounds of his Brooklyn childhood.
Sequin Director Averi Israel, 2022, 4 minutes.
This narrative is about the wisdom of children and seeing beauty in everyday interactions as a grandmother and her granddaughter sit on a bench, waiting for a bus.
Joekeim Chemist (Mic’d) Directors Karen Tamanji Stein and Craig Williams, 2023, 11 minutes.
A disgruntled chemist thinks he’s hit paydirt when he concocts a pill that allows him to hear people’s conversations.
Currency Director Crystal Z Campbell, 2019, 3 minutes.
The experimental sound film features a performance by Angela Davis Johnson.
The Bond Director Jahmil Eady, 2022, 16 minutes.
Pregnant and incarcerated, Aria fights for her most precious connection.
Invisible Man Director Ravi Vietro, 2020, 11 minutes.
Isaiah is a young Black painter who works as a security guard at the fictional New York Museum.
Flushing Town Hall
Crazy Talented Asians & Friends is a community-led series dedicated to promoting artists of Asian heritage. The Fourth Animation Shorts Festival ends with a meet-and-greet with the filmmakers and jurors at 7:30 pm.
General admission is $15.
This year’s schedule features 11 videos selected from more than 1,000 submissions for their extraordinary storytelling, art direction, animation, production, and sound design.
Some might not screen if there are time constraints, but here are the winners.
The Lost Courier by Zidong Ma.
Inspired by the artist’s real experience, this about some of the incredible things a courier experiences.
The Twins by Michelle Tang.
A sibling rivalry between twins gets out of hand one day after school.
Cycle by Chloe Ko.
Somewhere in the vast universe, an asteroid from a supernova explosion lands on a nearby planet, triggering life.
Make a Godby Jia-Zhen Jian and Wan-Yu Hong.
An unexpected creature is born in the magic circle of a higher species.
No Photography by Vincent Wang, Grace Redclift, Kaifu Tan, and Lance Haug.
A high-tech thief’s museum heist looks perfect until a peculiar tourist insists on taking pictures of every exhibit.
Grown Up by Jee Kim.
A precocious boy’s well-adjusted life comes to a halt when his long-lost father returns to make amends.
Head in the Clouds by Kaylee Tan.
A quirky student’s daydreams must creatively elude her strict math teacher to remain there.
In Sight by Wendy Lu.
A young troublemaker and her dog journey up a mountain to shoot down the brightest star in the sky.
0:00AM by Yuanshen Yang.
An exhausted commuter’s body reaches its limit but time is advancing.
Happy Green by Sonnye Lim.
An intimate look at a symbiotic relationship between a little green turtle and an elusive black flower.
Nurture by Ying-Fang Shen.
Breast milk comes quietly into the world at the time of birth to raise newborns.
Image: Museum of the Moving Image