The 6th Annual Queens World Film Festival Kicks Off Tuesday, March 15th at The Museum of the Moving Image- with a VIP Reception, the Screening of 3 Shorts and Presenting from IRAN, the award winning film Oblivion Season
MARCH 4th, 2016, New York, NY –. The 6th Annual Queens World Film Festival (QWFF) returns to the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) in Astoria, Queens, NY, and three other venues, the Secret Theatre, PS 69 and All Saints’ Episcopal Church from March 15-20, 2016. Festival passes and Individual Tickets are now available. For the schedule and to purchase tickets please visit: www.queensworldfilmfestival.com <http://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com>
143 films from 23 countries will be screened over 6 days including films from Haiti, Nepal, Germany, England and Finland. Featuring 29 world premieres, 22 US premieres, 38 feature length and 85 short films (Narratives, Documentaries, LGBTQ, Animation) with 29 filmmakers from Queens, 42 female directors and 30 female producers. This year the festival also includes a very special weekend of Family friendly films.
Opening Night events include a 7:00 PM VIP Pre-Screening Reception in the MoMI Café with Special Guest speakers and a very special greeting from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Sponsored by Investors Bank, Catered by Station LIC, Music provided by Michael Soloway, Film Screenings start at 8pm. The after party will be at Studio Square. General admission tickets for the evening are $10pp.
Oblivion Season is preceded by 3 two minute shorts that offer a brief provocative summary of this year’s festival content. imagine a waltz…short, short, short, long:
Perfect Houseguest, Golden & F…g Him. The 4 films support each other and the concept of the opening night program “ I Am, Are you?
Oblivion Season has been screened in numerous international festivals and garnered several awards. This film starring Sareh Bayat, narrates the story of a struggling but strong-spirited woman who, against all prejudices, tries to assert herself against working women and also against the hostility and contempt of the family of her husband. Director Abbas Rafei was born in 1962 in Shiraz, he is a graduate in cinematography from the University of Television in Dramatic Literature. Abbas established his film production company in 1995, when he produced his first movie “Mina’s Secret.”
QWFF Artistic Director Don Cato states, ”This film earns an opening night spotlight due to the fearless cinematic storytelling of a subject that is not necessarily a populist work. It underlines our festival’s underlying premise: we very much support challenging films from around the world and around the corner. It is our 2nd opening night film in 6 years to originate from Iran.”
The Queens World Film Festival (QWFF) awards prizes in all categories for those films in competition. The winners will be announced at the closing ceremony to be held Sunday, March 20th, at MOMI. The feature films selected for competition include 6 Narrative Features from 3 Female Directors and 3 Male Directors with 1 from Ireland/US, 1 from Nepal, 1 from Iran and 3 from the US.The 7 Documentary Features selected are from 3 Female Director and 4 Male Directors, with 1 film from Finland/Afghanistan, 1 from China/Germany and 1 from Haiti with 4 from the US.
Festival Highlights include- Each year, the Queens World Film Festival pays tribute to an outstanding filmmaker for his or her body of work. This year’s “Spirit of Queens” Award goes to independent film director Melvin Van Peebles. Van Peebles is most famous for his movie Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African-American cinema. It will be screened on the evening of March 16 at MoMI, followed by a Q&A with the legendary Mr. Peebles, moderated by MoMI trustee Warrington Hudlin, founder of the Black Filmmaker Foundation.
Other highlight’s of the festival include two screenings of the World Premiere of Saving Jamaica Bay,Thursday, March 17th at 8pm and 8:15pm at the Museum of the Moving Image, the first-ever feature documentary about the battle to save one of New York City’s most remarkable and important natural resources – told through the stories of the people who call it home. A tribute to the IndieCollect film preservation campaign. IndieCollect, headed by QWFF board member Sandra Schulberg, is dedicated to saving independent films before they are lost due to neglect, lack of funding and/or faulty preservation strategies. The Tribute features a screening of Susan Seidelman’s 1982 movie, Smithereens at MoMI on Closing Night, Saturday, March 19th. Smithereens was the first American independent feature to be shown in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Cannes_Film_Festival> .
The Festival’s Executive Director, Katha Cato, defines the ethos that makes QWFF so compelling. “From the beginning of time we have gathered in darkened caves around flickering lights to share our stories. We’ve upgraded the caves, the flickering lights are now zeroes and ones, but the impulse to gather, to tell our stories, remains. When we look at a QWFF film, we see that artists and audiences all over the globe are finding exciting ways to tell stories, both old and new. We are proud to be part of that conversation.”
Queens World Film Festival sponsors include: Investors Bank, Queens Council on the Arts, Kaufman Astoria Studios, Council Member Daniel Dromm and Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, and The Queens Post.
In addition to producing the annual Queens World Film Festival, the organization programs films year-round at a variety of borough venues through its “Encore” and “Old Spice” screening series, and through its “Young Filmmakers” training program.
Screeners, filmmaker interviews and photos are available. For Press credentials please e-mail- press@ queensworldfilmfestival.com
The Queens World Film Festival is a program of the Queens World Film Initiative, Inc., a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization.
Katha Cato,Director Queens World Film Festival like us on Facebook, love us in real life. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Queens-World-Film-Festival/131152030233616 @queensworldfilm www.queensworldfilmfestival.com <http://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com> http://www.lonelyplanet.com/north-america/travel-tips-and-articles/best-in-the-us-2015
Carol Ostrow and The Actors’ Temple Board of Directors