6th NY Reelabilities Film Festival Comes to Queens

 Stand Clear of the Closing Doors

The Central Queens Y will host the 6th Annual NY Reelabilities Film Festival on Sunday, March 9, and Monday, March 10 in Forest Hills.  The Reelabilities Film Festival, a film festival touring major cities across the country, will feature three films on living with disabilities at screenings over two days in Queens.  These rich and moving films are about the human experience, rather than about disabilities. Discussions follow each film, with speakers such as the director and lead actor of two films.  The festival plays at the Central Queens YM & YWHA, at 67-09 108 Street in Forest Hills.  Tickets and information are available online at www.cqy.org/tickets or by calling (718 268-5011, ext. 151.  All films are open to the general public, with an $8 donation requested.

Gabrielle

Eerily reminiscent of the recent tragic story of Avonte Oquendo, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors will be shown on Sunday, March 9, at 11 a.m.  Set in Queens during Hurricane Sandy, this powerful film tells the story of an autistic boy who runs away from home, but is found.  On Sunday afternoon, March 9, at 2 p.m. the festival features Gabrielle, an uplifting story about love and the redemptive powers of music among young people with developmental disabilities and living in a group home. On Monday, March 10, the festival continues with a screening of Do You Believe in Love, a film about a matchmaker whose tough love style of matchmaking brings together people with disabilities to find soul mates and partners through life.

The ReelAbilities Film Festival is the largest festival in the country dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. Post-screening discussions bring out the issues in each film and bring together the community to explore, discuss, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience.  The CQY festival also includes an unusual photographic exhibit, the Pearls Project, a groundbreaking exhibit featuring young people in disabilities programs throughout Queens.