4 JULY 1, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Local documentary shows audience what happened when
an entire industry was laid off during COVID-19 pandemic
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
A film documenting the hard
times many in the restaurant
and bar industry faced during
the COVID-19 pandemic will
premiere on July 3 at the Queens
World Film Festival.
“Last Call: The Shutdown of NYC
Bars” was filmed at the height
of the pandemic after all indoor
dining was banned by Governor
Andrew Cuomo in mid-March last
year. The documentary shows the
heartbreaking mental, social and
economic impacts the pandemic had
on the hospitality industry.
The bar and restaurant industry
are essential to New York City’s
tourism industry, which brings in
$46 billion a year.
In February of 2020, over 315,000
people were working in the hospitality
industry.
By April, hospitality employment
had dropped to 91,000 jobs as restaurants
closed.
The film focuses on Queens as the
hardest-hit borough and highlights
one restaurant and employee in particular.
Jena Ellenwood, a bartender Jena Ellenwood sits in The Sparrow in Astoria during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Courtesy of “Last Call”
at The Sparrow Tavern in Astoria,
takes the audience through her
struggles with unemployment
and mental health during social
isolation.
At one point in the documentary,
the director, Johnny Sweet, asks her
how long she can last until her bank
account hits zero. As Ellenwood
sits in her apartment, wiping tears
away, she says she has three months.
Viewers are taken back to the
anxiety-inducing time where nothing
was certain and the future was
unknown.
Now, as almost 50 percent of
New Yorkers are fully vaccinated
against COVID-19 and the industry
is reopening, the film can act as a
reminder of what the city endured.
“We owe it to all the people we lost
to document this and have this be
a reminder of what it was like,” said
Lisa Edward, the film’s producer.
The filmmakers also hope that
people can watch the documentary
and have a greater understanding
and empathy for hospitality
workers.
“Not everyone could work from
home during the pandemic,” Edward
said. “We were not all having
the same experience. Hear the accounts
and what people were going
through, there were a lot of people
going through really hard stuff.”
Ellenwood said that the film will
also provide comfort for those who
struggled with their mental health
during social isolation and who may
still be struggling with it.
“It’s OK to not be OK right now. We
don’t need to rush back to normal,”
Ellenwood said. “This has been a
really traumatic year.”
The documentary features testimonial
interviews from other
workers and business owners in the
industry. There are also hospital
workers featured in the film.
To put the film together, creators
had to get inventive with a twostory
studio that was adapted to be
a no-contact space.
One person upstairs remotely
directed and operated the lighting,
cameras and audio. Subjects would
be interviewed via Zoom in the
studio, never coming into contact
with anyone.
“We really felt that what we were
documenting was essential. It truly
became a time capsule,” Edward
said. “Everyone needed a purpose
and we felt like documenting what
was happening in the moment
was our purpose and we did it in
the safest way that we possibly
could.”
Tickets are available for an inperson
viewing on July 3 at 1 p.m.
in the Queens Theatre. A virtual
showing will be at 8 p.m. the same
day.
For more information visit the
“Last Call” website or the Queens
World Film Festival website at
queensworldfilmfestival.org.
/queensworldfilmfestival.org
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