By Lisa Autz
Take advantage of the last warm summer nights with free outdoor movies across Queens.
On almost every day of the week parks, shopping malls and even bars are screening movies for every age and taste. Options include catching the Hitchcock classic “North by Northwest” on the grass at Cunningham Park, a goofy flick like “Team America” in the backyard of Hell Gate Social bar or discovering a new international film at Socrates Sculpture Park.
The rolling grassy knolls in Queens parks make for a movie night under the stars with incredible city views.
Astoria Park attracts visitors from Manhattan as well as Queens for its skyline settings and movie showings. The park has been screening free films in the summer for more than five years and has been known for movies that are both thought-provoking and family-appropriate.
“We choose quintessential New York movies and our family movies have to be good quality and there has to be a moral to the story that opens up discussion for families,” said Marie Torniali, executive director at Central Astoria Local Development Coalition Inc. Every Monday at 8:30 p.m., the park is covered with about 3,000 people equipped with picnic blankets and beach chairs. Coming attractions include “Annie” and “Juno.”
Just down the road a bit from Astoria Park, sits Long Island City’s Socrates Sculpture Park, which each summer promises quality cultural films and cuisine. The 15th annual International Film, Music, Dance, and Food festival offers a foreign sampling from countries like Turkey, Chad, Romania and South Korea every Wednesday night at the park.
Wednesday will feature a French film, “Gleaners and I,” which comments on the survival of art in a consumer society. Nearby French restaurants and French musicians or dancers will give the audience a greater sense of the film’s cultural background. It has also been a way for the park to give back to the community.
“It is our way of reaching out to restaurants that might be new to the area. We also want to extend and bolster the economy in the area,” said Shaun Leonardo, director of public programming at Socrates Sculpture Park.
Leonardo still is surprised at the eclectic crowds the film series reels in.
“We had a Kazakhstan movie here and a huge community of Kazakhstan people came out. That’s Queens for you,” said Leonardo. “We choose critically acclaimed but under-seen foreign film classics that highlight the diversity of Queens.”
Film buffs can also check out global flicks near the crash of the ocean at Rockaway Civic Beach Flix’s Queens World Film Festival Night. After some destruction from Hurricane Sandy, board members agreed to return the beach movie series. The Queens World Film Festival Night will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17 and features independent films from around the world as well as local directors. The beach movie organization also screens weekly movies every Friday, the next one being “Moonrise Kingdom” on Aug. 23.
For a shopping fix and a free flick, Atlas Park in Glendale offers movies on its lawn after a long day at the stores. This summer is the first year for the film series and the event has been attracting a bigger crowd each week. The first showing had only about 100 people, but has grown to about 500 at the last movie event, according to Peter DeLucia, marketing manager at Atlas Park.
“We choose movies geared towards kids like the original Karate Kid and Pirates of the Caribbean,” said DeLucia who explains that the film series is part of the park’s attempt to re-engage with the community by hosting five to six events a week including fitness, concerts, and book events on the lawn.
Crocheron Park and Flushing Meadows Corona Park also offer free movies for the remainder of the summer.
