FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MARСH 19, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 49
buzz
Queens World Film Festival will stream
live online due to coronavirus outbreak
BY BILL PARRY
give creators a global alternative distribution
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
source for music, fi lm and TV,”
@QNS
DISCOVERED.TV Co-Founder Charles
Pankey said. “We are delighted to launch
Th e Queens World Film Festival, which
the DISCOVERED Film Festival channel
was set to launch its 10th anniversary run
with the Queens World Film Festival
on Th ursday at the now-closed Museum
in a way that enables them to celebrate
of the Moving Image in Astoria, will
their 10th anniversary through our platform.
stream live online with screenings from
Th is pioneering eff ort will set a
March 19-29.
new standard for fi lm festivals worldwide.”
Th e festival was set to screen more
than 200 fi lms from around the world,
Don Cato, the festival’s artistic director,
as well as many that were created here in
reviewed nearly 800 fi lms that were
Queens, at several locations around the
submitted from 61 nations selecting 220
borough. Now those fi lms can be watched
from 32 nations, 24 of them from Queens
in the comfort of your own home on
and 26 from Brooklyn, and 10 by children
DISCOVERED.TV with a schedule at the
participating in the festival’s education
festival’s website.
program.
“From the beginning of time, we have
caves, but the impulse to gather endures.
the 10th Annual Queens World Film
“We selected 200-plus incredible fi lms
gathered together around the fl ickering
In these times of crisis, it is even more
Festival, the fi rst international fi lm festival
from around the globe,” he said. “We literally
lights in our darkened caves to share
important that we gather around the
to screen on their site.”
have something for everyone. Expect
our stories,” Queens World Film Festival
humanity provided in fi lm. We are grateful
To virtually attend the Queens World
to be delighted by cinematic treasures presented
Director Katha Cato said. “Although the
to DISCOVERED.TV for providing
Film Festival go to DISCOVER.TV’s website.
in thematic blocks from fi lmmakers
fl ickering lights have become zeros and
their free online platform to make our
residing from all over the globe, yet all
ones, we’ve changed the nature of our
fi lm screenings possible, and for making
“We developed DISCOVERED.TV to
engaged in similar conversations.”
Photos courtesy of the Bayside Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
A shot from the 2019 parade.
Organizers cancel Bayside Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Bayside Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
committee and the Bayside Business
Association (BBA) announced their
decision to cancel the third annual
parade over growing coronavirus concerns.
Th e cancellation follows the Center
for Disease Control (CDC) recommendation
to cancel or postpone in-person
events involving 50 people or more for
the next eight weeks in order to reduce
the spread of COVID-19.
“In light of the current situation in
our country related to the coronavirus
and its escalation in recent days, we
have decided to cancel the Bayside St.
Patrick’s Day Parade march scheduled
for Saturday, March 28,” BBA President
Ed Probst said in a statement.
“We would like to take the opportunity
to thank our sponsors, without whom
the parade would still be a fl edgling idea.
An immense amount of work goes into
the event every year, from our golf outing
to our dinner dance and many fundraisers
in between; all with the goal of
making the parade down Bell Boulevard
as enjoyable as possible,” said the parade
committee on Facebook.
Prior to the parade’s cancellation, organizers
said that this year’s event was dedicated
to the memory of Phil Brady, an
aide to the grand marshal who passed
away in October 2019. Th e committee
also recognized the parade’s Grand
Marshal Eileen Flannelly Mackell and
Aides Tommy Mulvihill, Robert Lynch,
Joe Donovan, John Golden, Tom Golden
and Father Chris Henue.
“Th e BBA wants to do our part to practice
safe social distancing in an eff ort to
combat this disease. We look forward to
restoring normalcy in the near future
and seeing you at a future event,” said
Probst. “If we’ve learned anything over
the past years it’s that our country and
particularly New Yorkers are very resilient.”
Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo
announced the postponement of the
New York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade for
the fi rst time in 258 years.
Photo by Dean Moses
Jackson Heights couple Katha and Don Cato at the Queens World Film Festival kickoff party in
Woodside last month.
/WWW.QNS.COM
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