For the 12th Queens World Film Festival, 157 independent films will be screened over the course of six days. The schedule includes films made by artists from 27 different countries—Ukraine, Iran, and India among them—and they’ll be shown at five different venues across Queens. The festival kicks off with six short films on the evening of November 1 at Queens Theatre. This year the festival has chosen five honorees, all of whom are recognized for their quick and creative pivot to virtual film events during the pandemic lockdown in Queens. —Jensen Davis