M+E Daily

With 198 films from 33 nations around the world, the festival will run for 11 days. The entire festival will stream live on the user-friendly virtual platform Film Festival Flix, and 133 of the selected films will also have live screenings in 5 local venues that are ready to welcome the world back to Queens.

Beyond the hosting the virtual screenings and expertly guiding QWFF through the virtual festival process, Film Festival Flix has been an invaluable partner to QWFF in their efforts to honor local frontline hospital workers with the annual Spirit of Queens Award, which this year goes to the entire staff at Elmhurst Community Hospital.

Queens World committed to providing every Elmhurst Staff member with a complimentary Full Festival Pass, and Film Festival Flix reserved deeply discounted passes for the honorees, pledging a percentage of the sales to Elmhurst as well.

Film Festival Flix also matched Queens World with blk. International, LLC. as a sponsor, and the functional water brand immediately pledged a gift of $5000 to the Elmhurst campaign.

With HOPE for the Heroes of Elmhurst, and a vibrant, global community of filmmakers and film fans connecting virtually and in-person throughout the hybrid fest, QWFF is on track to see a successful year.

“Virtual Film Festivals lead to greater audience diversity and connection in underrepresented communities,” says Amber K. Davis Johnson, Director of Communications at Film Festival Flix. “We’ve seen it firsthand. Barriers to participation are not nearly as prevalent in the virtual world as they are in real life. Not only are film festivals with a more general programming theme and broader appeal seeing audience members from backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and age groups that they’ve not seen before, but smaller festivals—those with a unique, specific theme or purpose—are able to reach and welcome their target participants more readily than an in-person festival might ever allow. For a festival like QWFF to host both in person and virtual opportunities—their potential audience reach is enormous. We can’t wait to see this one open.”

Queens World Film Festival opens live and on Film Festival Flix on June 23 and runs through July 3.

The curated selection of programs includes 42 feature films and 156 shorts.

Mouse, a feature by local Queens-based filmmaker Adam Engle, will headline opening night. Mouse is a thriller inspired by true events, with Joel Bernard starring as local grounds-keeper Michael, who unwittingly witnesses a neighbor’s psychotic break shortly before a double murder rocks the neighborhood.

Tickets and a full schedule of events can be found at FilmFestivalFlix.com or QueensWorldFilmFestival.org.