QWFF 2019 part 2

Part two of my Queens World Film Festival report and while part of me feels a bit guilty over missing days, it's okay because I still saw some good movies.

QWFF 2019 part 1

I cannot believe this year's Queens World Film Festival is a week and a half long! While it's still not quite as huge as the Tribeca or New York fests, it has gained a whole lot of attention over the years as more and more filmmakers contribute to the event. Don & Katha Cato maintain the drive to keep it going, year in and year out, and they have a passion for film that has to be seen to be believed.

I, on the other hand, am not capable of keeping up for the whole eleven days, so this year's highlights are more abbreviated than usual. I still expect to find good stuff at the two venues, the Museum of the Moving Image and the Kaufman Astoria Studios, here in Queens.

This year I'm gonna try something different: because the majority of films at QWFF are shorts, I see lots of them. I think it'll be easier if I wrote about the ones that leave the biggest impressions on me. Trying to describe the more abstract ones is a pain in the ass and I don't like most of them anyway. Plus, I can say more about the ones I like most, and I'd rather do that.

QWFF 2018 part 2

Part 1

MARCH 21

What would QWFF be without snow? There was a hint of the white stuff as I came home last night, but this morning it started in earnest, and it went on all damn day, to the point where tonight's screening of Vincent Gagliostro's After Louie was cancelled. I was interested in that one too...

Here's an interview with Gagliostro from last fall about After Louie.

QWFF 2018 part 1

The Queens World Film Festival is bigger and better than ever this year, and as someone who has been coming to it ever since 2012, it's breathtaking to see. Don & Katha Cato both go to extraordinary lengths to make the show as inclusive as possible without sacrificing quality, and little by little, the rest of New York City is noticing. I'm grateful to be back writing about the movies here. Expecting some good stuff, as always.

Once again, the Museum of the Moving Image and the Zukor Theater at the Kaufman Astoria Studios are the venues. This year's report will be split into two parts, one for today and the other for next week.

QWFF 2017 All-purpose mega-post

It has snowed before during the Queens World Film Festival, but this is the first time I can recall the snow canceling a day of programming. Opening Night, no less! The Museum of the Moving Image opted to close last Tuesday, the 14th, meaning no gala first-night show, and I can hardly blame them for it, but I've seen worse blizzards than the one that hit New York last week. The roads in my neighborhood were clear relatively quickly. There was a party at a Jackson Heights restaurant, but I chose not to attend. Getting back home might not have been a problem, but I didn't want to take the risk. Besides, I'd see everyone during the week.

It was good to be back at QWFF after last year's hiatus. I've chosen to consolidate my report on the fest into one big post instead of a day-by-day account, to see if writing about it is any easier.

Kaufman, MOMI to be part of Queens art district

A new arts district in Queens will promote Astoria to visitors and potential new venues, local elected officials will announce Friday at the Kaufman Astoria Studios.

The 94-year-old film studio, which once set the stage for classic Marx Brothers movies and the Cosby Show, will partner with the Queens Council on the Arts and the Museum of the Moving Image to promote art in the 24 block zone.

This is wonderful news. To anyone who has been aware of the changes taking place in the Astoria/Long Island City area over the past decade or so, this is something that the neighborhood has been building up to, although I doubt anyone could've predicted that this might happen. Still, between the Kaufman and MOMI, the Queens Council on the Arts' recent move to Astoria, and Sinatra High School, not to mention the revived literary scene thanks to the presence of two new bookstores in the area (just outside of this district, though), plus an actual movie theater, there's a definite arts-related vibe that has intensified in recent years. This proclamation simply confirms to the rest of New York what Queens natives have recognized all along.

Of course, the joking(?) quote near the end of the article about the fear that Astoria will get too expensive as a consequence reflects a growing city-wide trend. Articles like this one, or better yet, this one, by musician David Byrne, are indicative of how New York (read: Manhattan) is perceived as stifling creativity due to its increasing expense. As a result, the arts scene is no longer centered around one borough, but is now spreading outward, and Queens, among other places, is a beneficiary. Hopefully, the benefits that come from this arts district will apply to all of Queens, and not just the elite.