Kew Gardens Film Festival Is Moving Out Of Neighborhood

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS -- After a successful inaugural year, the Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema will make a comeback this summer - It just won't exactly be in Kew Gardens.

The Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema, housed last year at none other than Kew Gardens Cinemas, will this year move to United Artists Midway Stadium 9 in Forest Hills under a new sponsorship with the theater's owner, Regal Entertainment Group, organizers announced this month.

The festival's organizers said in a statement they were "saddened" to leave the Kew Gardens Cinema but "very excited for what this means for the future of the film festival."

This year's 10-day affair from Aug. 3 - 12 will feature 110 independent feature and short films, documentaries, animations, web series and music videos from across the globe, organizers said. The lineup - chosen from more than 350 submissions - has flicks from 23 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Italy, South Africa and Turkey.

The festival will kick off this year with the New York premiere of Ari Gold's award-winning film, "The Song of Sway Lake," at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 3. View a full lineup of the week's screenings and locations here.

But Kew Gardens, don't worry. Just because its films are being screened in Forest Hills this year doesn't mean the festival will lose its local touch.

Most of the festival fun - like the after parties, networking events, and drunken trivia and karaoke nights - will still happen right here in Kew Gardens, organizers said. Likewise, the festival office headquarters will remain in Maple Grove and the filmmaker lounge in Ateaz Cafe.

The Center At Maple Grove will host two festival panels on Aug. 12: "The Jury’s Out," where participants can meet the 2018 festival jurors, and "A Change Overdue: Diversity in Cinema," where the festival's featured filmmakers will discuss diversity in independent film.

Organizers also promised to promote Kew Gardens during the festival and encourage attendees to check out its businesses, which will still offer discounts to ticket and badge holders.

The Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park will also have a heavy presence in the festival, starting on July 31 with "A Midsummer Night's Feast: A Celebration of Food, Art and Cinema." Guests can buy film festival tickets and merchandise in the museum at the $15-per-ticket event from 6 to 9 p.m. while sampling food and specialty cocktails from more than 30 local vendors at $5 - $10 a pop.

Throughout the festival, the Queens Museum will offer free web series, special filmmaker presentations and a workshop explaining the contracts available for independent films.

Regular screening tickets at the festival are $15 each. Tickets to opening, closing and mid-week premieres go for $25 and include entry into the open-bar after parties that follow them.

Find tickets and more information about the Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema here.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.