Founded in 2010 and nurtured into existence by Queens residents/filmmakers Donald Preston and Katha Cato, Queens World became a 501c3 non-profit in 2014. In 2019, the live festival, multiple Encore Screenings, and media events served over 11,000 participants with 65% of those coming from outside the Borough of Queens.

The 10th Annual Queens World was set to open on March 19, 2020, when the city was closed down and the festival became the first in the world to move online in response to COVID 19. Queens World ran March 19 – 29 on DiscoveredTV.com with 191 films from 31 nations and with 30,000 views we brought the world together in the first days of the pandemic. In May of 2020, Queens World launched Wednesday Nights @9  a weekly live broadcast that raised awareness and volunteers for 20 non-profit organizations.

In early 2021, Queens World was included in MovieMakerMagazine’s Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Price of Submission. In June the 11th Annual Queens World Film Festival featured 198 films from around the world and around the corner. All the films ran on our streaming partner FilmFestivalFlix.com and 142 films were presented by BRG live at Queens Theatre in the Park, The Local, The Sherpa Association, Culture Lab, and The Museum of the Moving Image.

The festival was dedicated to all 5,977 staff members of Elmhurst Hospital Center for their tireless dedication to serving the health needs of Queens. The festival programmed free screenings for the staff and provided all of them with an all-festival pass for the virtual screenings. It was our 2nd festival during the pandemic and we are thankful to everyone that worked hard to make it possible.