About Kew Gardens Festival of CInema

I AM Kew Gardens Festival of CInema

Hailed by The Wall Street Journal as an event that New Yorkers are “taking note of,” and with coverage in major media including The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Time Out New York, Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema returns for it's second year, taking place from August 3 to August 12, 2018.

As a non-profit organization, KGFC Film Fest was established to support the development of and help expand the audiences for independent cinema from around the globe. Offering incredible exposure to fantastic filmmakers, KGFC Film Fest is quickly becoming the festival to have your film recognized. Our first year received 400 submissions, both feature and short length films from around the world, of which 157 were carefully selected. Two feature films acquired a sales agent (and are on the fast track to a distribution deal), while two more feature films earned the attention of an independent film distributor in Los Angeles leading to acquisition interest.

KGFC promises to offer as many promotional opportunities to our filmmakers by allowing them to participate on the KGFC Festival Talks Daily Podcasts. KGFC Film Fest also invites selected filmmakers to participate on their independent filmmakers panels, and works to get as much press coverage for all the films as possible. (our 2017 festival saw over 30 films being featured in numerous media coverage across Queens and NYC!) Because our festival takes place in a small town, we offer filmmakers a more intimate experience, allowing them to network with their audience and their peers, plus the Festival staff will be hard at work promoting every film that gets accepted, to ensure that audiences attend your screening.

Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema accepts all lengths and genres, so we encourage filmmakers from around the globe to submit their work for a chance to have it screened at The Kew Gardens Cinema. Built in the 1930's, it is Queens, New Yorks oldest and only operating Art House Movie Theater, and at Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. This Year, KGFC Film Fest is expanding their festival presentations to include music videos and web-series!

New this year, all selected films will be converted to DCP by the festival, at no cost to the filmmaker, for optimal viewing quality. Filmmakers will then have the opportunity to purchase the DCP at an incredibly discounted rate. In addition, all filmmakers who submit a film will have the opportunity to purchase a DCP conversion of their film at the same discounted rate, regardless whether or not their film is selected.

Every filmmaker that submits their film(s) will automatically be receiving a 1 year subscription to Videomaker.com, a leading subscription service that focuses on guiding independent filmmakers with online tutorials and publications (a $20 value).

As a competitive festival, award winning films will not only walk away with beautiful statuettes, but with various sponsor prizes including sales consultations and opt-in distribution offers.

You can rest assured that all submitted films are watched in their entirety by our programmers, which we know is a major concern when it comes to choosing which festival to submit to. Along with our daily screenings, we host intimate panel conversations with independent filmmakers, producers, distributors and sales agents. Something many festivals often overlook. You can expect red carpet premieres and familiar faces.

Finally, we want this to be an amazing experience for everyone that attends - so expect to have activities such as Karaoke, Movie Trivia night, Comedy Night, Outdoor Screenings and After Parties hosted by our wonderful sponsors!. .