FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 10, 2019 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 75
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Photos courtesy of Shubhra Breivogel
Sunnyside Shorts fi lm fest to return in November
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
Festival director Sherry Gamlin told
QNS that their mission is to showcase
fi lms that not only represent cultures
from across the world, but also depict
communities that are not always represented
in the entertainment industry
so as to build bridges within the community.
“It’s extremely important that people
who are neighbors know about each
other and diff erent cultures,” Gamlin
said. “It’s very important for people to
respect each other and diff erent cultures.
We need to have more knowledge
of each other, otherwise it breeds discontent
and wars.”
In previous years, Gamlin said the festival
has not only featured fi lms by professional
fi lmmakers, but also showcased
cartoons and
live-action shorts
created by teenagers,
for teenagers.
Th is year, the
focus feels particularly
tied to the
Sunnyside neighborhood.
For their special
afternoon event,
which will take
place from 1 to
3 p.m., the festival
will screen six
fi lms from previous
years and
host a screening of
Charlie Chaplin’s
1919 classic black
and white fi lm,
“Sunnyside.”
Tickets for the
aft ernoon event will
be free for people
over 65 and $5 for
everyone else.
On the evening
portion of the
event, from 7 to
10 p.m., they will showcase 11 fi lms that
come from not only the United States
but also France, Iran, Spain and Estonia.
Tickets are available for $12 online and
$15 at the door.
Th ere will be another neighborhood
centric fi lm in the mix as well, also
called “Sunnyside,” by director Jihyun
Shin, who is a Sunnyside resident.
Gamlin said she actually ran into Shin’s
fi lm crew shooting in Sunnyside one day
and suggested they submit their short.
Th e fi lm, according to Gamlin, will follow
the story of a “beautiful friendship
for those two who are unlikely to become
friends beyond age, gender and religion.”
Aft er the screening, which will have
a 15-minute intermission with light
refreshments, the audience will get to
vote on their favorite short (which range
in length from eight to 20 minutes).
Th e winner will then receive $200.
“Th e community loves it,” Gamlin said.
“People love getting together in the neighborhood
and watching something diff erent,
rather than watching videos online at
home. And it’s also inexpensive — cheaper
than going to the movie theater.”
Although the festival had a fi ve-year
break in between it’s inception in 2000,
Gamlin made sure to continue the tradition
when Shinichi Murota, the creator of
the festival, returned to Japan aft er studying
in Queens.
Gamlin, a former actress who appeared
on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” several
times as an extra, remembered how she
found out about the festival.
“I was doing my laundry and in the
laundromat there was a sign, that said
‘would you like to make fi lms?’” Gamlin
said, “And 19 years later, we’re still doing
it!”
She’s supported by a team of volunteers,
comprised of graphic artist Teresa Ward;
judge and public relations person Teresa
Bowers; judges Nicole Matarese, WB and
Amanda Rakker; photographer Shubhra
Breivogel; fi lm editor Sunit Shukla; Carol
Drosopolous and Adriana Tredanari on
refreshments; as well as Jim Drosopolous
in the front desk.
Gamlin is already thinking about next
year. Aft er receiving about 100 submissions
for this year’s event, she hopes to
expand the program and make it into a
two-day festival — one for Queens fi lms
and another for international fi lms.
For more information and to purchase
tickets, visit www.sunnysideshorts.com.
The 14th Sunnyside Shorts International Film Festival will take place on Nov. 2.
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