The sixth annual Queens World Film Festival, which is scheduled for March 15-20, 2016, is no small enterprise. With 140 films from 29 countries, cinephiles are in for a feast…even though most film lovers, including yours truly, will limit themselves to “select” items from the menu.

But organizers Don and Katha Cato are more than your average film lovers. After five successful annual festivals, each larger than the last, they are committed to presenting a quality experience to the public. That means each selection has been screened in its entirety and viewed by the selection committees for its professionalism and entertainment value; some teeth-gnashing arguments are guaranteed.

But finally, after all 400 submissions, the final film schedule was completed on January 10th. Don and Catha told me how pleased they were with the entries, and are confident that this is the best year ever. The finalists in all 20 categories have been selected, and all 112 are listed on the website.

My hat’s off to Don and Katha and all the jurors. Now, in its sixth year, the festival has amassed an international following. By all indications, it should be even larger in the future.

You can see the full schedule and order tickets at the festival website:

www.queensworldfilmfestival.com

I’ve looked at the entire schedule, and know there’s simply no time to see everything that looked good. So, relying on a lifetime of trusting my movie appetite, I’ve selected some of the tastiest looking to write about. I’ll discuss one of those films now, more later.

Queens resident Elliot Cowan’s entry is his first animated feature, The Stressful Adventures of Boxhead and Roundhead. With over twenty years experience as a professional animator, he was finally able to finance a full-length feature with a grant from the Roumanian government.

The title characters are two friends who live in a hostile unidentified place. A natural disaster destroys their home, and they have to go to the city to get help from the government, where they must contend with an indifferent bureaucracy. The results follow a reliable formula: Government + Pain = Comedy.

Cowan created the toon pair for a short about ten years ago, liked the result and starred them in eight others. These can be seen on youtube and vimeo now. But he always felt they were perfect for his first full-length film, and he’s satisfied with how it turned out.

Well, let me qualify. From my interview, I got the feeling that Cowan is never satisfied. He is a perfectionist, which explains his revising the film extensively after submitting it to the Roumanians. It is this version, which is shorter than the original, that will be shown at QWFF. Expectations should be high because the film has already won first prize at three fests, including the Expotoons International Film Festival. Sure enough, the QWFF jurors have selected this highly original film as one of the seven finalists in the best animated film category.

Cowan will be there for the screening on March 18th at 8:00 P.M. Tickets can be ordered at the QWFF site:
www.queensworldfilmfestival.com