Films from across the globe are hitting the big screen at the sixth annual Queens World Film Festival. NY1's Clodagh McGowan filed the following report.
Filmmaker Daniel Maldonado uses the subway system and neighborhoods along Roosevelt Avenue to weave together stories in his film "H.O.M.E."
"What it means to connect and communicate in a big city, that a lot of us deal with urban alienation as well. So, it's about communication and interpersonal connections we can make despite all the technology around us," Maldonado said.
“H.O.M.E.” is just one of more than 140 films screening at the Queens World Film Festival next week. The movies are just as diverse as the borough, featuring everything from documentaries to short films.
"A celebration of the moving image is something that ties us together. And from the beginning of time we have been gathering around the flickering lights and talking about who we are to each other and who we are to this great universe, and it's no different now," said Katha Cato, the Queens World Film Festival’s executive director.
Katha and Don Cato are the driving force behind the growing film festival, now in its sixth year.
They received about 600 submissions from all over the world for the 2016 festival.
"It's an emotional process. I'm a filmmaker myself. I know how important it is. And we do our very best to get a representation of the very best of what we do have," said Don Cato.
The films will be screened at four venues throughout western Queens.
For local filmmakers, the opportunity to share their work on their home turf is priceless.
"It's like bringing the film home. We shot the film in a studio in Long Island City in Queens and having the opportunity to show it at the Museum of the Moving Image is a huge honor," said TaraFawn Maen, the producer of "Pop Meets the Void."
For tickets and a complete list of screenings, head to queensworldfilmfestival.com.