The Queens World Film Festival will launch the 2025 season with the annual Kick-Off Potluck Party, celebrating the filmmakers whose work will be featured in this year’s festival. On Saturday, September 27 at 7:00 PM, join us at The Local NYC in Long Island City to welcome 40–50 filmmakers and their teams into Queens World. They’ll be greeted by our Board of Directors, sponsors, community partners, and the loyal audiences who make this festival possible.

Each filmmaker will bring a dish inspired by, or reflecting their film, creating an eclectic and varied potluck buffet reflecting the diverse roster of films ready to shine in the 2025 Queens World Film Festival. You’ll sample tastes from around the world while getting to know the creative artists shaping this year’s international festival.

A live broadcast will be hosted by QWFF Board Member Montaigne Massac (owner, Shoot Films Not People Productions and The I Rant broadcast), giving filmmakers a platform to begin promoting their upcoming screenings.

Throughout the evening, we will screen a sampling of trailers to give our audiences a taste of what is to come in November. Filmmakers will hear from our board, sponsors, press, and arts supporters, along with special partners who keep the arts thriving in Queens: Queens Economic Development Corporation, Rise FLIX, City National Bank, and Queens Memory. We’ll also be joined by FilmShop, NYSCA, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, and surprise guests yet to be announced.

Come hungry for food, for stories, and for the electric energy of a new festival season.