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Kew Gardens Film Fest Teams Up with Queens Museum to Screen Movies For Free

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | April 7, 2017 2:45pm | Updated on April 9, 2017 10:09pm
 The historic Kew Gardens Cinemas at 8105 Lefferts Blvd. will host the inaugural Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema this summer.
The historic Kew Gardens Cinemas at 8105 Lefferts Blvd. will host the inaugural Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema this summer.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — The inaugural Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema slated for this summer is teaming up with the Queens Museum, which will show some of the festival movies for free, the organizers said.

The 10-day long event, scheduled for Aug. 4 to 13, will take place primarily at the historic Kew Gardens Cinemas at 8105 Lefferts Blvd., screening more than 100 independent movies from all genres, including documentary, horror, comedy, animation and experimental, the organizers said.

But from Aug. 9 to 12, some of the films will also be shown free of charge at the Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the organizers said.

The museum will also hold a free outdoor screening on Aug. 10.

Jayson Simba, the festival's founder and executive director, said that when the organizers announced the festival last December, a lot of Queens institutions including the museum expressed interest in working with them.

"The Queens Museum wanted us to bring a selection of films to screen during the festival, as well as have an outdoor screening, which would be perfect for a summer evening," Simba said.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Queens Museum, extending the festival experience to our filmmakers, and giving Queens residents even more to look forward to," he added.

Several local businesses also got involved in the festival, including coffee shop Ateaz at 116-29 Metropolitan Ave., which will serve as the Official Filmmaker Lounge, offering discounts to participants and providing a hangout space for those involved in the project, the organizers said.

Shake Shack will be also hosting a movie trivia night at its Forest Hills location at 71-26 Austin St. during the run of the festival.

Kew Gardens residents can also participate in a poster and logo design contest (submissions can be sent to kgfcpostercontest@gmail.com and kgfclogocontest@gmail.com), which is open till May 1. The winning designs will be featured on signs as well as shirts and other merchandise sold during the festival.

A group of judges — including filmmaker Rodney Ferrer, known for his web series “City of Mercy,” actress Marlene Forte, who recently appeared on “Fear the Walking Dead” and film editor Sam Adelman, who worked on "Desperately Seeking Susan" — will select the best entries from about 400 submissions. The full film lineup for the festival will be announced in early July, organizers said.

For more information and to submit entries, go here. Organizers are accepting submissions until April 23.