Sunnyside Shorts Brings Film to Queens
Film Fest Showcases Indies
By Noah C. Zuss

Coming Soon to Queens, the best in short film!

This September, Sunnyside shorts will bring independent films back to Queens. This year, the festival has been expanded to two full days of cinema.

The event intends to be a yearly grassroots film festival and will be held on Sept. 6 and 7.

The Sunnyside film festival will be held Sept. 6 and 7.

Sunnyside Shorts is now accepting short films in all genres including animation, narrative, documentary, short fiction music/dance and concept films are also welcome.

The festival features work from local artists as well as national and international filmmakers.

Criteria for the festival are simple, as short films and videos are limited to 15 minutes in length. On the first night, films will be shown outside on a big screen at the Sunnyside Gardens Park, located at 39th Ave. and 49th St. beginning around sunset.

Before the show begins, revelers can come early at 7 p.m. and listen to traditional Irish music performed by Donie Carroll, Dan Neely and members of The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra.

Should the skies open and rainfall spoil the outdoor enjoyment, the films will move indoors into the Sunnyside Community Center, located at 41-31 39th St. between Queens Blvd. and 43rd Ave.

The mission of the festival is "Bringing communities together through the art of filmmaking," an ambitious objective founder Shinichi Murota believed in strongly.

In 2001 Murota began the Sunnyside Film Festival in the historic neighborhood. After Shinichi abruptly returned to his homeland in Japan, the festival was forced to go on hiatus for two years.

Then in 2007, film producers Sherry Gamlin and Teresa Ward brought the festival back to the neighborhood, and renamed it the Sunnyside Shorts Film Festival.

The first year back was successful, paving the way for an annual festival with some minor changes, including a one-night extension.

The 2007 festival was a one-night event, held Sept. 9. This year Sunnyside Shorts is expanding to two nights, one indoors and one held outdoors under the night sky.

Those attending should know, due to the nature of outdoor showing, any artist submitting work to be shown outdoors will have to abide by strict PG-rating guidelines.

Sunnyside Shorts does not offer any prizes or awards, declining to choose among all of the fine films and their filmmakers.

The filmmakers are not required to attend the festival, but the event encourages attendance.

So come out to the Sunnyside Shorts Festival, staged in one of the most diverse places on earth. It is held in a lovely neighborhood, and with a diversity of submissions reflects the differences of the city while building bridges between cultures through film.