Queens World is centering the conversation around the First Amendment for this year’s annual film festival, emphasizing its importance in filmmaking and preserving the act of free expression. 

The Queens World First Amendment Film and Arts Festival, hosted in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and the Queens Memory Project, will take place Nov. 13-14 in Astoria.

Organizers stressed that filmmaking is about questioning, challenging, imagining and telling stories that might otherwise go unheard, making the festival a space for sharing Queens residents’ concerns, hopes and ideas about the communities they call home.

For the past five years, Queens World has been conducting the Listening Tour — an effort to meet community members of all ages from 38 neighborhoods across Queens to hear their stories.

Queens World is now expanding the ongoing tour through new partnerships to explore the freedoms protected under the First Amendment — speech, assembly, petition, religion and press — through film, performance, conversation and community gathering.

At its heart, the First Amendment festival is about participation, inviting filmmakers, artists, organizers, institutions, media makers and audiences to do more than talk about those freedoms.

Festival schedule and details
Kaufman Astoria Studios.QNS file photo

The festival will kick off the morning of Friday, Nov. 13, with “The Right to Assemble: A Queens Memory Listening Tour Stop” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hosted at Sac’s Place in Astoria, located inside the historic Kaufman Astoria Studios production lot, Queens Memory will provide participants to speak, listen and celebrate the right to assemble.

Artists, filmmakers and community members will will gather over lunch in small groups and respond to prompts inspired by the work Queens Memory does.

Queens Memory — a collaboration between Queens Public Library and Queens College, part of the City University of New York — is a community archiving program dedicated to documenting everyday life in the borough.

Later in the day, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., the MOME will host “The Right to Petition” with Commissioner Raphael Espinal and Deputy Commissioner of Film Kwame Amoaku at the Museum of the Moving Image.

The MOME will connect the Queens indie film community in conversation with Espinal and members of his team, along with community organizers and other community leaders. 

Museum of the Moving Image.QNS file photo

The session is part of Commissioner Espinal’s own city-wide Listening Tour, an initiative taking him to each borough to hear directly from creative communities about their challenges, needs and opportunities.

“Film and television production is back in New York City, but a strong industry also means making sure independent filmmakers can afford to create and build their careers here,” Espinal said. “The Queens World Film Festival has spent years listening to and supporting this community, making it a natural partner for our third stop as we look at how production incentives, permitting, and City resources can better serve independent filmmakers.”

On Saturday, the festival will resume with “Watch This! A Mixed Media Screening and Performance” from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Zukor Screening Room inside Kaufman Astoria Studios, located at the corner of 35th Avenue and 35th Street.

The event will feature an eclectic selection of film, dance, poetry and live performances celebrating what the First Amendment makes possible. Guests include Queens Historical Society, among others.

Immediately following “Watch This!” participants will head back to Sac’s where the festival will culminate with a celebration starting at 8:30 p.m. Participants will enjoy 15% off the entire menu and a signature cocktail or mocktail inspired by the festival. Proceeds of the cocktails sales benefit Queens World.

Sac’s Place in Astoria.QNS file photo
About Queens World

Queens World Film Festival is a filmmaker-focused, community-powered festival founded in 2011 and dedicated to connecting audiences and artists through independent film, conversation and creative exchange. 

The festival has presented more than 2,000 films from around the world with year-round programs that connect Queens artists with audiences, institutions and each other.

Through the Listening Tour, Queens World creates spaces for Queens residents to tell their stories, identify community needs and imagine what comes next. The conversations are archived with the Queens Memory Project.

For more information, visit QueensWorldFilmFestival.org and follow the festival on social media.