66 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 15, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
queens world fi lm festival
Spotlight on two locally-made fi lms
debuting at Queens World fest
BY MADELINE NELSON
A horror short fi lmed in Long Island
City and a Bronx-based dark fairy tale
will grace the big screen for the fi rst time
ever this month during the Queens World
Film Festival.
On March 16, Ghostlight will premiere
at the Queens World Film Festival blocks
away from where it was fi lmed in the
Redstone Th eater at the Museum of the
Looking back at success stories born at Queens World fest
BY WILLIAM HARRIS
With over 800 fi lmmakers from more
than 60 countries making an appearance
at the Queens World Film Festival
(QWFF), many careers have experienced
a turning point aft er their participation in
the annual festival.
As the eighth-annual fi lm fest debuts,
let’s take a look back at the success stories
of some of the QWFF’s alumni.
Mars Roberge’s film, “Scumbag”,
made its North American premiere at
the QWFF, and was was awarded Best
Ensemble Narrative Feature. It now
has a distribution deal in place with
the Freestyle Digital Media company.
Roberge introduced his fi lm during last
year’s festival, where he enjoyed a successful
festival run.
Th e Canadian fi lm will be shown on
Mar. 23 at 8:15 p.m. in the Redstone theater
of the Museum of the Moving Image.
A 2015 QWFF alumni, director Craig
Calamis won the Audience Award
for his American fi lm, “Th e Drift er”.
Filmmaking has been Calamis’ passion
ever since he was fi ve years old when his
parents bought him a behind the scenes
documentary of one of his favorite movies
as a child, “Days of Th under” by Tony
Scott. Calamis received a worldwide distribution
deal with an LA based distributor
called Terror Films.
“Th e Drift er” is now being considered
for over 18 fi lm festivals in the world. Th e
fi lm is now also available for either purchase
or rental on Itunes, Google Play,
Amazon and more.
Another alumni who displayed his fi lm
at the 2015 QWFF, Peter Barton, has
enjoyed a successful run with his fi lm,
“Women of ‘69 Unboxed”. Unlike some
of the other fi lmmakers, Barton is a seasoned
veteran who has already enjoyed
successful fi lms in the past. Over his
career, Barton has received three Emmy
Nominations as well as three CINE Gold
Eagle awards added to his impressive
resume.
One of his fi lms, “Names Can Really
Hurt Us, a CBS TV Special” was awarded
the Edward R. Murrow award. Another
of his pictures, “Women of ‘69 Unboxed,”
was awarded the Best Documentary
Feature at the 2015 festival as well as
two more festival wins. In addition, the
fi lm was shown on WNET-TV on Dec.
12, 2016.
Th ere will plenty of new fi lmmakers
trying to make a name for themselves,
showcasing their respective fi lms. With
any luck, a few years from now, we’ll hear
about the success stories in short order.
For more successful stories from
past QWWF fi lmmakers, visit www.
queensworldfi lmfestival.com/sucess_stories/.
Moving Image.
Th is fi lm is acted by 11 to 13-year olds
who were students of Th e Secret Th eatre
Academy’s fi rst ever fi lm class. Th is short
narrative fi lm follows the classic horror
fi lm ‘don’t go in there’ recipe between
friends, a Ouija board, and an abandoned
theatre.
Ghostlight’s young cast came up with
the idea for the fi lm. Director and screenplay
writer Richard Mazda brought their
ideas to life.
Meanwhile, ‘Th e Fever and Th e Fret,’
premiering on March 23 in the Redstone
Th eater, is about a girl who escapes the
harsh realities of the world when she visits
her secret dimension at night. When she
meets a girl in her alternate universe, her
real life takes a wrong turn.
‘Th e Fever and Th e Fret’ personifi es the
diverse nature of Queens and the festival.
Th e feature fi lm has an all-female team of
producers, including the writer, director,
and editor. Th e actors are predominantly
Asian-American. One primary actor,
Ivory Aquino, was featured in ABC show
When We Rise and will be featured in
HBO’s High Maintenance next.
Th e Queens World Film Festival will
be premiering fi lms like these and many
more from March 15-25. Full festival
passes can be purchased on Brown Paper
Tickets.
/www.queensworldfi
/www.queensworldfi