Friday night was the "Juice It" screening at the Queens World Film Festival; and what a night it was! In a 400 seat theater, over half the seats were full with an enthusiastic audience - many connected to filmmakers there, some just attending for a night of indie film.
"Juice it" screened 1st of the 6 films, and it really opened the night up. People were LAUGHING, like really laughing all throughout, especially through the ending. The room was a roar at a certain dirty line (in reference to a pretzel) for anyone who's seen it before. I've grown accustomed to that being the biggest laugh at screenings, which is fun & refreshing. Clearly people are not expecting that at all.
After the screening, audience members were raving about the film. I got such wonderful & insightful comments. Also, people were all over Ricardo & his performance! It was very exciting. I tweeted some quotes about the film from people here & here. I was also interviewed by a reporter from the Queens Courier, so hopefully that'll come out this week. Afterwards, we went to a local bar & hung out with some friends and a few audience members turned fans. It was a great night. And, overall, it was lovely being part of this particular festival where the people who run it are so clearly sincere in their support of local filmmakers and trying to create a sense of community between us. I enjoyed how interactive they made the build up to the screening and will surely submit future films shot in Queens. Until then, I'm excited to see the film in front of an audience again on May 11th at the DAMN! Film Series.
