Summary: Queens World Film Festival programmer, Don Cato, is the guest. Don updates us on the upcoming season which run March 5 — 10th. Some of the films mentioned in this conversation include Adrian Manzano's BQE, Kirk White's F**K NEW YORK, Jaime Hook's VACATIONLAND (with Karen Black who is being honored at the festival), and Heather Freudenthal's NO REGRETS BUT... The Queens World Film Festival (QWFF) celebrates the independent filmmaking spirit by screening innovative and challenging from around the world and around the corner. QWFF includes an annual festival, industry panels, special screening events, and popular youth-oriented educational initiatives. Year round screenings provide ongoing opportunities for QWFF filmmakers, past and present. 2013 Award winners will be eligible for encore screenings at the Secret Theatre as part of the extremely popular LIC Arts Open and this year’s LGBT films will enjoy an encore screening as part of the Queens Pride free film series. A former Landscape Architect, Don Preston Cato was raised on a fruit farm in Fredonia, New York. He earned a BSLA and a BLA from Michigan State and his MLA from the University of Oregon where he also taught & worked on his MFA in Motion Graphics. At Oregon, he participated in Director workshops with Howard Hawks and Bugs Bunny animator Bob Clampett. At The Orson Wells Film School in Cambridge, MA. he studied with Cinematographer Austin DeBesche and participated in workshops under notable film Directors Sam Fuller, Paul Morrissey & Jan Kadar. He directed his first feature, DIXIE LANES, with Karen Black, Hoyt Axton, Moses Gunn, Tina Louise and Nina Foch, edited and released by Cinemavault Releasing in 1987 to over 40 countries & was twice, the CBS movie of the week & is currently a Turner Classic Movie. His last feature BE MY OSWALD appeared in and was nominated for best feature in eight festivals winning four. He just completed Producing, C0-Directing & Editing My Kansas a Bio-Doc written, narrated & Co-Directed by Richard Uhlig for PBS Kansas City & was DP / Editor on a theatrical short My Day by Writer/Director Paul M. Kelly with Judith Roberts (Eraserhead). Don was selected by the Queens Courier as one of the 2012 KINGS OF QUEENS for his contribution to the Boro as Program & C0-Director of the Queens World Film Festival .He teaches at the New York Digital Film Academy and is a Teaching Artist for Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side,
