64 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 15, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
queens world fi lm festival
Photo by Ken Brown
More than 180 indie movies will be screened
during Queens World Film Festival this March
BY MADELINE NELSON
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
Th e Queens World Film Festival
announced it will show more than 180
independent fi lms in Astoria from March
15 through 25.
Filmmakers from over 36 nations will
be featured in the festival. Th e opening
night gala takes place on Th ursday,
March 15, at 7 p.m. at the Museum of
the Moving Image. Before the opening
night festivities, guests can meet the fi lmmakers.
“We have themes from crimes against
women to the environment, loss, horror,
comedy, and so much more,” Queens
World Film Festival Executive Director
Katha Cato. “Th ere’s something for everybody
at this festival.”
Prior to the festival’s start, directors Jan
Oxenberg and Vincent Gagliostro will be
given the Spirit of Queens Honors to celebrate
their achievements in the fi lm industry.
Oxenberg directed “Th ank You and
Good Night,” and has also worked as a
fi lm editor, producer and scenarist. Th e
fi lm fi rst premiered at Sundance in 1991
and has since been restored.
“This genre-bending documentary
explores her relationship with her
grandmother as she neared the end of
her life,” said Cato. “It’s joyful, loving,
sweet and full of laughs. Anyone who is
alive and has a parent or a grandparent
will like it.”
Gagliostro directed critically acclaimed
“Aft er Louie” starring Alan Cummings.
“‘Aft er Louie’ is a fi lm that explores an
aging man who survived the AIDS crisis
and fi nds himself in a new age of confi -
dence and outness, but also struggles since
the passage of his friend Louie,” said Cato.
During the gala, there will be screenings
of short fi lms under the theme
“Emotional Punch.”
Th e festival stresses the importance of
diversity in fi lmmaking by programming
in thematic blocks and providing open
discussion aft erwards.
“Th e festival will continue many of
our signature elements: dynamic thematic
programming, hosted screening events
with engaging discussions, relevant networking
opportunities and maximum
access to the media,” said Cato. “We
are curating a festival that off ers exciting,
topical, bold and entertaining feature
and short narrative, documentary,
LGBTQ and animated fi lms of all styles
and genres.”
Th is year, the Queens World Film
Festival is incorporating a program in
which feature-length movies, documentaries,
animation fi lms and short narratives
will be shown in addition to commentary
by fi lmmakers to create more interactive
experiences.
Screenings will be held at the Museum
of the Moving Image and Th e Zukor
Th eater in the Kaufman Astoria Studios.
“We honored to be the steward of this
incredible festival,” said Cato. “From the
beginning of time we’ve gathered around
these fl ickering lights to tell these stories.
Th e impulse to gather and speak about
what we’re seeing the saving grace of our
species. We must continue to talk about
our victories and struggles. Th e fi lmmakers
know that Queens accepts people and
ideas, and it’s important to let that know
that Queens wants to hear from you. Ideas
and people are welcome in Queens.”
Tickets to the Queens World Film
Festival, co-sponsored by Investors Bank
and the Queens Council on the Arts, can
be purchased online from Brown Paper
Tickets. Use the discount code ‘QWFF8”
for $3 off your ticket price.
Emily Davenport contributed to this
report.
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