FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 1, 2021 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
Film festival returns to the borough,
bringing ‘the world back to Queens’
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e 11th Queens World Film Festival
(QWFF) is back with a hybrid of live
viewings and online streaming aft er the
COVID-19 pandemic forced the festival
to go all-digital in 2020.
Th e 11-day celebration of 198 indie
movies from 33 nations kicked off with a
screening of “Mouse” by Adam Engel and
“Rewind” by Stephan Joseph Eigenmann
under the headline “All Wound Up” on
Wednesday, June 23, at the Museum of the
Moving Image in Astoria with a live audience
at limited capacity.
“Mouse” producer Vanessa Bontea
explained that they had intended to submit
the fi lm to festivals in 2020, but
because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they
were forced to delay introducing their
fi lm to an audience for an entire year.
She decided to submit the feature to
QWFF because the fi lm was entirely shot
in Queens, and the crew hails from the
borough. She was thrilled that the fi lm
premiered at the 11th annual QWFF.
“Having this as our world premiere and
being here and being so welcomed by the
festival — it’s so nice to cap off the pandemic
and do something like this,” said
Bontea, who also is an actor. “And being
in the theater again, it’s just extra special.”
Before “Rewind,” a story about a mother
who suppresses the fear of losing her
daughter to military service with futuristic
technology, and “Mouse,” a thriller about
a lonely groundskeeper who struggles
with the crushing guilt of a local murder,
were projected on the big screen for the
fi rst time, QWFF paid tribute to Elmhurst
Hospital workers with a short fi lm.
Arslan Braig, 17-year-old fi lmmaker,
tells the story of the Elmhurst Hospital
staff through personal interviews and
shares how they kept hope despite the
challenges and heartaches they encountered
dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Th e short was shot during the
height of the pandemic.
“It’s authentic. Braig had
access to people we would
have never been able to talk
to,” said Katha
Cato, executive
director
and
board president
of
QWFF.
Braig’s own mother works at Elmhurst
Hospital, Kato noted.
In May, QWFF honored Elmhurst
Hospital’s health care professionals with
the “Spirit of Queens Award” for their
heroic work during the COVID-19 pandemic
and raised money for all-access festival
passes for the entire workforce.
Cato shared that through contributions
from individual supporters, QWFF could
donate 2,229 passes to the health care
staff . Film Festival Flix stepped
and purchased the remaining
3,698 tickets.
Aft er the premiere of his
narrative fi lm, “Mouse,” Engel shared that
he had never attended a screening of his
productions before because it was too
nerve-wracking.
But this time, he said he was prepared,
because “I have something that I think
people are going to enjoy it. And I think
they did.”
Engel, who said that the premiere was
“the beginning of his fi lm’s life,” wants to
reach as wide of an audience as possible
and plans on introducing “Mouse,” to
other fi lm festivals and streaming services.
“For anybody that’s a lover of the cinema,
of independent cinema … I think
they’re really going to enjoy the story,”
Engel said about his fi lm, which is also
nominated for best cinematography, best
narrative feature and best male actor
award for Joel Bernard, who portrays
groundskeeper Michael.
For the fi rst time since its inception,
QWFF is screening 133 fi lms at fi ve venues,
including at the Museum of the
Moving Image, Th e Local NY, Culture
Lab, the United Sherpa Association and
Queens Th eatre.
“We’ve never screened anything in
Queens Th eatre before, so that’s new,”
Cato said. “We’re the fi rst event to open
them up aft er they were closed due to the
pandemic.”
Cato praised Taryn Sacramone, the
executive director of Queens Th eatre.
“She has opened up that magnifi cent theater
for us and we have incredible work in
that place,” Cato said. “And what’s so exciting
is that people from Brooklyn and Manhattan
are going to discover that theater.”
Cato added that they felt they needed
to be part of the eff ort to bring “the world
back to Queens.”
“Th ere were so many local fi lmmakers
— 20 from Queens, 24 from Brooklyn,
22 from Manhattan, one from the Bronx
and one is from Staten Island,” Cato said.
“So we just really felt like all fi ve boroughs
needed to be represented and to bring the
people to Queens.”
To learn more and buy tickets, visit
queensworldfi lmfestival.org.
Having some fun on opening night of the
Queens World Film Festival at the Museum of
the Moving Image.
buzz
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
The Queens World Film Festival team is set for opening night at the Museum
of the Moving Image.
The crew and cast of “Mouse” attend the opening of the 11th annual Queens World Film
Festival opens at the Museum of the Moving Image.
Step-and-repeat fun on opening
night of the 11th annual Queens
World Film Festival at the
Museum of the Moving
Image.
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