The 11th annual Queens World Film Festival wrapped up on Saturday, and we screened “Game Brunch” in it this year. This is my favorite local festival and I’ve written about it many times in the past. So I’m not going to say too much about it in general here, just the highlights of 2021.
Usually held in mid-March, last year’s festival was one of the first to pivot to a virtual version - and just a couple days before the festival was meant to start. They weren’t able to create much of an experience with such short notice, but I appreciate that they didn’t cancel and that I was able to enjoy the full lineup online (and receive nice feedback on “Affliction” from other filmmakers who watched online as well). This year, they did a hybrid version, which included their usual kick-off trailer party a few weeks before the official start of the festival (which Kelsey attended with me), and then simultaneous screenings happening on a virtual platform and live at different venues around Queens.
Because of limited capacity, they didn’t have their usual MOMI and Kaufman Astoria theater venues (aside from their opening and closing night films at MOMI), but instead used more social-distance friendly event spaces, including our old IndieWorks venue, The Local. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t attend any in-person screenings besides my own because of two reasons. One, all the venues require masks and, while I strongly believe in the need to continue wearing masks indoors (unless they’re verifying vaccination status) to protect venue staff, I also strongly dislike wearing a mask while trying to watch something because it fogs up my glasses. And two, Queens World overlapped with the virtual runs of Blackbird Film Festival and Chattanooga Film Festival, (the latter’s program was especially enticing) and I was on a mission to watch as much as possible from all three programs; so watching online from my couch where I could hop back and forth between virtual platforms was the ideal way to “attend” all three festivals. So for this reason, I can’t speak to how the live festival went as a whole. But I really appreciate the team for taking on the challenge of essentially having two festivals running at once and accommodating all comfort levels.
“Game Brunch” first screened online on Thursday, July 1st, in the evening. One filmmaker reached out after to tell me how much she loved it, which was a sweet surprise. Then the following night, Ryan joined me for the live screening at the Local. Since it was starting at 9pm and a rainy evening, I was worried it’d be completely empty. But there were 30 people in attendance, which included one filmmaker whose film was also screening, the family members of another screening film’s director who couldn’t be there, and some other filmmakers whose films weren’t in the block. To be kind of frank, I found the placement of my film in this particular block to be a bit baffling. It was a strong group of films but all were very dark and serious. And while “Game Brunch” definitely plays with horror through its music and suspense, it’s completely for laughs (I’ve been referring to it as a fantastical farce). If the other films were dark but heightened genre films, I’d get it but the “Horrible Happenings” block was straight drama with horror elements. It was focused on the very real horrors of the world and was filled with a lot of trauma. So my silly film being spliced in the middle of some serious social commentary was a jarring experience. When the film started, I could tell the audience was unsure whether or not it was meant to be funny because of how nothing before had any intended laughs, so they were sort of stifling their laughter . But once people realized it was very much a comedy, the audience let loose and laughed a ton. The sound quality was great, since the front bar was fairly empty, and it looked great up on the big white wall. I enjoyed experiencing it with the audience and hearing the beats that made people chuckle the most.
The Q&A moderator did a nice job personalizing questions for me and the other filmmaker in attendance. Afterwards, I got a bunch of nice comments from the crowd about how “hilarious” it was; and there was an especial appreciation for how much “character” the film had in its use of sound. I think people were particularly grateful for how lighthearted it was amongst so many heavy pieces.
All in all, it was a nice night. And I’m glad I also got to enjoy so much of the lineup via the virtual version. I look forward to experiencing the festival in its full glory again in future years.
Catch the film next at:
Adirondack Film Festival (October 14-17 - details soon)