Founded by three local independent filmmakers, The Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema is the first and only film festival of its kind held in Kew Gardens, NYC, and its surrounding neighborhoods. Running for 10 days in August, the festival will showcase more than 100 films of all genres from around the world. Films will be shown at Queens' only operating art house theater—Kew Gardens Cinemas, located in the heart of Kew Gardens in Queens NY. The festival will culminate with a grand award ceremony gala on the rooftop penthouse of the world-famous Terrace on the Park, built for the New York World’s Fair in 1964. Conveniently located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, it features panoramic views of some of Queens' greatest landmarks, including the renowned Unisphere and the New York State Pavilion. Awards will honor the best films presented at the festival, and winners will walk away with beautiful statuettes. What makes our Festival stand out from the other opportunities available to filmmakers is that we are focusing on the TRULY independent film, not the film that is funded by the indie film division of a major studio. Nor are we focusing on what celebrity or 'name' actor may be in your film. We want to see the work of filmmakers and their teams who have poured their blood, sweat and tears into making their vision come to life. We are showcasing the best in all genres, including themes often overlooked by other major film festivals, like Horror, Sci-Fi, LGBT, Comedy, Animation and Experimental. We are a Film Festival founded by independent filmmakers, so we have a great understanding of the filmmaker needs when it comes to getting films made and in front of an audience. Along with filmmaker Q&A's after each screening, we will also be holding industry panels featuring some of the best names in independent cinema discussing their strategies, their struggles and how they broke into the film business. Other panels will consist of conversations with independent Producers, Casting Directors and Distributors. Our goal is to bring back and remind people why film festivals exist in the first place - which is to give otherwise unknown filmmakers the opportunity to screen their film in front of large audiences and have their work seen. In addition, we will be screening all our films in an actual operating Art House movie theater, unlike other festivals that show their films in screening rooms or otherwise other rented facilities that aren't prepared to screen films the way they should be. Upon acceptance each filmmaker will receive up to four (4) Filmmaker Badges that will allow access to all the screenings and panels being held throughout the festival, along with exclusive access to our Filmmaker Cafe & Lounge. Filmmaker badge holders will also be entitled to a 5% discount on all merchandise being sold at the festival. All selected filmmakers and respective cast & crew will be given the opportunity to purchase Gala Award tickets at a 30% discount. Opening night will consist of a meet the filmmakers mixer, where filmmakers will have the opportunity to network and promote their film with other festival attendees. Certain selected films to be featured in our Festival Spotlight programming will have a red carpet premiere as well as an after party hosted by the festival. Our Opening and Closing night films will consist of specially invited premieres following a red carpet event. While the festival will not be offering transportation or lodging for its inaugural year, through our sponsors we will be offering discounts and coupon codes to be used towards Hotel accommodations and commuting. We guarantee to have distributors and producers in attendance alongside our selected panel of industry professionals who make up our Jury. Winners for every category will each be receiving a personally engraved unique statuette. Industry guests who have expressed interest in participating in our festival are Lloyd Kaufman, founder of TROMA films; Larry Fessenden, actor/writer/director/producer with Glass Eye Pix; Joe Minion, writer of Vampires Kiss, After Hours. Our Festival will be taking place in Kew Gardens Queens in NYC, USA. Our venue, THE KEW GARDENS CINEMAS is Queens' only art house theater dedicated solely to playing independent and foreign films. Named one of the top 7 theaters in Queens, the theater was built in the 1930's and it is one of the oldest movie theaters still operating in NYC. A little known area of NYC, Kew Gardens and its surrounding neighborhoods - Forest Hills, Rego Park, Woodhaven and Glendale - are a major stomping ground for most television shows being shot today in New York. Not only is Kew Gardens known as the neighborhood that raised comedians Rodney Dangerfield and Ray Romano, but just a few minutes away is the recently built Broadway Stages. This area of Queens has now been featured in several blockbuster Hollywood films like The Babysitter, Goodfellas and Spiderman as well as major Network TV shows including- Daredevil, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, The Get Down, Luke Cage and SNL.

Kurdistan covers in big parts the region of former Mesopotamia. Being one of the oldest cultures in the world, Mesopotamia is widely considered as the cradle of civilisation, where writing was invented and the origins of philosophy can be traced back to. With its ancient, highly developed and socially complex states it had a profound impact on the development of the western civilisation and culture.

The Duhok International Film Festival wishes to return a cultural identity to this region, so that it is perceived again as a place of development instead of a place of political conflict. The fertile land that Mesopotamia once presented is now the land that can breathe quality, cinema and epic stories, growing to new strength.

The festival aims to showcase innovative films of high artistic value with a notable handwriting made throughout the world. It shall work as a pinnacle point for all wishing to learn more about the possibilities the Kurdish regions have to offer. Duhok IFF wishes to create an atmosphere of exchange between different cultures and human values. The city becomes an encounter of civilisations, where ancient culture connects with modern culture and the Kurdish film landscape with world cinema. Unique film experiences can be made and people can share their thirst for new discoveries and a passion for cinema in all its diversity.

A major task of the festival is to build a bridge between Kurdish film production and worldwide filmmaking. It wishes to create a launch platform for films from Kurdistan, taking the pulse of new tendencies and offering the opportunity to explore a terrain opening up in contemporary filmmaking. As a unique festival in this region, it understands itself as a forge for new talents and meeting place for up and coming filmmakers.

The programme does not only present a wide selection of international productions from all over the world, it also aims to spotlight Kurdish film in the world’s film landscape. It focusses both on new films from the four parts of Kurdistan (Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey), as well as on films from abroad including films made by Kurdish filmmakers who live in Diaspora.

It is time to open ourselves to the thoughts, images, myths and stories of Kurdistan, to its culture, to its films. Welcome to Duhok!

The Duhok International Film Festival is organised by the General Directorate of Culture, Arts, Sports and Youth of Duhok City and by the Cinema Directorate Duhok in cooperation with mîtosfilm Berlin.

The movie has been a means to represent the world as the most attractive culture genre since last 150 years. The film as a new communicator and a video call to share with lovers are already a movie. 29 Second Film Festival is the first digital convergence film festival in the world, which is united smart mobile phones, online and offline. Our purpose is the making a symathetic movie giving a impact within 29 seconds video to world citizens. In addition, according to smart and the digital age, we present new visual grammar and find new talents. Your active participation and your interest create a new film culture!

The FIFGG (Grenoble International Film Festival of Geopolitics) is a festival unique in the world, devoted to fictions and documentaries dealing with the current state of the world. This festival invites both worlds of the cinema and geopolitics to get together and debate in front of an interested public. Crossing artists’, specialists’ (researchers, journalists, politicians, NGO’s activists...) and citizens’ points of view, to humanize our perception of the world. Thus, the FIFGG wants to use this event to give artists from many backgrounds the chance to expose their own worldview.

For its first edition, the FIFGG will take place from the 23rd to the 27th of March 2011 in Grenoble (Isère, France). During these 5 evenings, 10 films and documentaries will be screened.

Grenoble Ecole de Mangement (GEM), a leading French business school, is the major partner of the festival. The art house cinema Club and La Cinemathèque de Grenoble participate in the festival program and welcome the films and documentaries. The French international news channel France 24 and Radio RFI are the first global media partners of the festival.

Ali Laïdi is the director of the International Film Festival of Geopolitics of Grenoble (FIFGG) and a team of ten students from Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) is responsible for the organization.