The 11th annual Queens World Film Festival joins with blk. International, LLC, FilmFesivalFlix.com and others to present proceeds from the sales of Hero Tickets and enough bottles of the blk. functional beverage for all of the ‘Heroes of Elmhurst’ at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Monday September 20 @ 11am at the Broadway entrance of the hospital.
This year, Queens World bestowed the “Spirit of Queens Award” on the heroic staff of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst for putting themselves between the Covid 19 virus and the community.
When Queens World chose to honor the NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst staff, they pledged that all employees would be given a full-access pass via FilmFestivalFlix.com, the platform that hosted the hybrid-model 11th Annual QWFF. However, the festival fell short and FilmFestivalFlix.com and their leading platform sponsor, blk., stepped in to guarantee the passes.
blk. which stands for Balance, Love and Kindness recognized the strength and sacrifice made by all healthcare and frontline workers and purchased 500 of the Hero Tickets and now, have decided to further celebrate Elmhurst Hospital Center with enough bottles of blk. for the entire hospital staff. blk. is an ALL NATURAL functional beverage, which only uses organic ingredients and helps support a healthy lifestyle. It is a plant-based water, infused with fulvic trace minerals – a super nutrient and one of the most powerful polyphenols known for the entire hospital staff.
Other community minded donors stepped in to support the tickets including Benedict Realty Corporation, Resorts World NYC, Puckett Marketing and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, an alumni of Cardozo High School held a zoom fundraiser and a Queens Kinesiologist who put a jar in her waiting room raised enough to purchase 7 Hero Tickets.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst’s Executive Director Helen Arteaga will welcome the attendees, including Queens Borough President Donavan Richards, City Council Member Danny Dromm, Assembly Woman Catalina Cruz, Queens filmmakers, community members and other special guests.
“Ensuring this opportunity for the Heroes of Elmhurst aligns with our mission to make high-caliber independent festival films available to a diverse, global audience.” said Benjamin Oberman, CEO of Film Festival Flix. “We are honored to work with blk. to make this happen.”
Dr. Melina B. Jampolis, Chief Nutrition Officer of blk. and author of the newly released Spice Up, Live Long: A guide to using herbs and spices to live a longer, healthier and more vibrant life will speak on behalf of blk. and FilmFestivalFlix.com. “I’m honored to be taking part in this event thanks to the generosity of my husband’s company, Film Festival Flix, and blk. water, a company that is dedicated to improving our health and also committed to living up to its name with this incredibly kind donation.”
“The theme of this year’s festival was HOPE: Healing Opportunities Promote Equity and we continue to be humbled by the amount of hope our healthcare providers bring forward.” said Katha Cato, Queens World Executive Director. “We will be forever thankful to FilmFestivalFlix, blk. and all who stepped forward to make this happen.”
The festival will continue to support the hospital with a curated monthly screening series called Movies on the Menu. The hospital has selected a theme for each month and the festival is creating blocks of short in keeping with those themes that will run for limited time free on the hospital’s internal internet.
The 2021, Queens World reinvented itself to include streaming and live indie film experiences, providing a unique, in-depth look at the best in contemporary independent film. 198 films from 33 nations screened in curated blocs on Film Festival Flix, the cutting edge and popular film festival streaming platform https://filmfestivalflix.com/festival/qwff/#.YTu7P9NKhYx
In addition to the annual festival, Queens World includes year-round screening opportunities for festival alumni, special events to bring the Indie film community together, industry networking events, and an educational initiative for youth and seniors.
