Whirls With Merle

It’s the 6th Annual Queens World Film Festival where local filmmakers get to show their talents.  Katha Cato is the Executive Director and her husband Don, is the Artistic Director.

We are looking at 144 films; 23 nations, and 6 days scheduled to open on March 15th at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. 

MOMI is one of four venues presenting the films from March 15th to March 20th.  Opening night will take place at MOMI and continue with the option of seeing other films at: Secret Theatre, All Saints’ Episcopal Church and PS 69Q. 

Melvin Van Peebles was chosen as Katha’s “spirit of Queens”.  “He is a maverick”, said Katha. “He started going in a direction that he didn’t even know that it was going to go." It’s the impulse to gather; the impulse to tell your story.”

Susan Seidelman is the other filmmaker with a featured screening, Smithereens, about a narcissistic runaway who engages in a number of parasitic relationships amongst members of New York’s waning punk scene. It is part of a tribute to IndieCollect who arranged for the original camera negative to be archived at the Academy Film Archive and the first independent film accepted into Competition at Cannes. In addition, Susan directed “Desperately Seeking Susan”, the pilot for Sex and the City and “She Devil”. 

We will hear from Katha, Don and some of the directors,  filmmakers and perhaps one of the sponsors.  Scheduled are:  the festival directors; producer TaraFawn Maen (Pop Meets the Void); director Christina Raia (We Had Plans); director Tyrik Washington (Under the Heavens); director Anne Hu (Into the Woods); director Edward Schmit (Swimlapse).