Film fest feted in Queens

Election Day dominated the news, but some important voting in Queens takes place at the end of the week - when a distinguished panel of judges selects the best of the best at the 6th Annual Queens International Film Festival.
From Thursday, November 6 through Sunday, November 9, more than 80 works by foreign and independent film makers are scheduled at the celebration which is hosted this year by the Crowne Plaza LaGuardia Hotel.
“This is a great opportunity for the new generation of film makers who don’t have access to festivals like Tribeca,” said Terri Osborne, director of Queens Tourism and Affairs, speaking on behalf of Borough President Helen Marshall.
“With the international attention this festival is getting, it’s the people from Manhattan who will be the ‘bridge-and-tunnel crowd,’ ” she predicted.
Board members of the Queens International Film Festival include festival president, Marie Castaldo from France; producer/director James Acuri, who founded the Long Island Film Festival; festival marketing president and Forest Hills businessman Joseph Lara; and most recent addition, Marsh Schneider, CEO of Casting for Disabled Actors.
Each spoke of the increased recognition the festival is receiving here and in other parts of the world at a press conference in the Bellaire Theatre in the Crowne Plaza on Monday, November 3, from their own personal perspective.
Showings range from short films like Brant Bambic’s two-minute, two-actor oeuvre “The Evil Ones” to the opening-night feature “Looking for Palladin” starring Ben Gazzara, Talia Shire, David Moscow and Vincent Pastore. Directed by Andrzej Krakowski, and shot in Guatemala, this 115-minute voyage of discovery was featured at the Cannes Festival.
The four-day fest is scheduled to kick off with a 4 p.m. screening at the Bellaire Theatre in the Crowne Plaza, located at 104-04 Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria. There will be an 8 p.m. opening ceremony by City Councilmember John Liu, 9 p.m. opening night party in the hotel’s elegant Pavilion Grille and “midnite screenings” starting at 10:30 p.m.
In addition to screenings, book signings, a silent art auction, parties and VIP events at locations like London Lennies in Rego Park and CAVO in Astoria, there are workshops and networking events scheduled the Crowne Plaza at LaGuardia and offsite at the Youth Initiative at Charter School, 36-12 35th Avenue in Astoria.
For more information about the Queens International Film Festival, email info@queensfilmfestival.com or visit the website at www.QueensFilmFestival.com.