via Boulevard Film Festival
July 6, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
Sunnyside’s annual film festival is returning to the neighborhood for a third straight year, with screenings set for next week.
The Boulevard Film Festival will go from July 13 to July 15, where 25 films will be shown at several neighborhood venues and all followed by Q&A sessions.
Thalia Spanish Theatre, located at 41-17 Greenpoint Ave., will kick off the festivities with a one-hour viewing of six comedy films beginning at 7 p.m. on July 13.
The films in this section are between one and 22 minutes, and include shorts like “Brooklyn?” a four-minute film about a group of Manhattanites making their way to Brooklyn; “Black?” a 10-minute film on two roommates navigating what it means to be black in the acting world; and “The Baby,” a 22-minute film about first-time parents navigating life with their adopted child.
Thalia will also screen two more events on July 14, where dramas and documentary films will be screened.
The documentary programming begins at 2 p.m., and includes a screening of six films with a total run time of 50 minutes.
Selected films in this category including the nine-minute “My dream at the other side,” which tells the story of an undocumented immigrant from Mexico torn between going home but staying for his American son; “America Heard: Refugee of Hope,” a 5-minute work on Syrian refugees based in Syracuse and local responses; and “Shinobu,” a film about musicians discussing Japanese music and reflecting on life.
In the dramas screening, to be held at 7 p.m., six films will be shown spanning between six and 15 minutes for a combined 63 minutes of viewing. Films include “Innocence,” a nine-minute short about a teenage girl dealing with the aftermath of being sexually assaulted, and “The Family Robinson,” a six-minute film on a young woman on the brink of confessing a secret to her conservative father.
Sanger Hall, the newly-opened bar at 48-20 Skillman Ave., will be the second host site for the film festival. The locale will hold a “Midnight Mischief” viewing, an experimental segment, with seven films premiering at 12 a.m. on July 15, and a closing party at 5 p.m.
Films like “Definitely Soy,” a surreal noir work on crime and punishment involving David and Goliath meet at a diner, will be screened, along with “Red Delicious,” about a man faced with an “unholy temptation.”
Tickets for either the drama, documentary, comedy, or midnight mischief events cost $10, and can be purchased online at Eventbrite.
The film festival was founded by artists Matt Carlson and Amanda Barker-Carlson, and is organized by a group of artists with the help of Sunnyside Artists.
Barker-Carlson said that about 1,300 films were submitted this year, but since the rules called for only New York City-based filmmakers this time, the number from the boroughs was actually between 600 and 800 films, with the rest of the submissions from outside the city.
The event usually sees a little over 100 attendees, but Barker-Carlson is hoping to up the number this year with the selected films and their local filmmakers.
All proceeds for the event will go toward operations and awards for filmmakers. At the end of each viewing, the audience will decide which filmmaker will be awarded a cash prize.
In addition, all 25 filmmakers this year will go home with a bag full of art supplies from Artist and Craftsman.
For more information on the film festival, including tickets, schedules, and how to volunteer, visit the Boulevard Film Festival online.
