Date: Friday - October 16, 2026
Time: Doors open 6 PM​
Venue: Plainfield Public Library
800 Park Ave, Plainfield, NJ
PRESENTATION DETAILS
Every meaningful journey is marked by obstacles. Every lasting legacy is built through moments when giving up might have been easier—but moving forward mattered more.
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For the 9th Annual Queen City Film Festival, we celebrate Perseverance & Persistence: the courage to remain committed to purpose, the discipline to continue when the road becomes difficult, and the determination to transform challenges into opportunities for ourselves and others.
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This year’s honorees embody that spirit in extraordinary ways.
Together, our 2026 honorees represent different industries, disciplines, and journeys, but they share a common thread: they kept going.They persevered when circumstances changed. They persisted when opportunities were uncertain.They evolved without abandoning their purpose. And through their work, they created opportunities, inspired audiences, challenged convention, and helped move our culture forward.
For nine years, the Queen City Film Festival has carried that same spirit—believing that independent filmmakers, emerging artists, young people, and historically underrepresented voices deserve access, opportunity, mentorship, and a platform from which their stories can be seen and heard.
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As we celebrate our ninth year, we honor not simply what these remarkable individuals have accomplished, but what it took to get there.
Because talent may open a door. Opportunity may create a moment. But perseverance and persistence are what build a legacy.
Tracey Moore
LEGACY AWARD
Tracey Moore is an award-winning Director, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator, Casting Director, and Celebrity Acting Coach with more than three decades of experience across film, television, music, and theater. She is the Creator and Executive Producer of the Crackle+ series Inside the Black Box, co-hosted with Emmy Award-winning actor Joe Morton, and host of The Spirited Actor Podcast on iHeartRadio.
Throughout her career, Moore has helped discover, cast, and coach an extraordinary roster of talent, including Dave Chappelle, Kerry Washington, Michael K. Williams, Jeffrey Wright, Cardi B, P!nk, Missy Elliott, Common, and Ludacris. Her credits include New Jersey Drive, New York Undercover, Spike Lee’s Girl 6, and multiple Carl Weber film adaptations. She is also the author of The Spirited Actor: Principles for a Successful Audition and a longtime educator and mentor to emerging performers.
Ernest Dickerson
Vanguard Award
Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter of film, television, and music videos.
As a cinematographer, Dickerson is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee ever since they were classmates at the Tisch School of the Arts and worked together on Lee's 1983 master's degree thesis student film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, which ultimately won a Student Academy Award. Dickerson went on to shoot the Lee-directed films She's Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), and Malcolm X (1992).
As a director, Dickerson is known for crime thriller and horror films such as Juice (1992), Demon Knight (1995), Bulletproof (1996), Bones (2001) and Never Die Alone (2004). He has also directed several episodes of acclaimed television series, including Once Upon a Time, The Wire, Bosch, The Walking Dead, and Godfather of Harlem.
AMBASSADOR AWARD
Will grew up in Plainfield NJ and is an American actor, executive producer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his short film If Anything Happens I Love You (2020), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
McCormack is also known for writing the screenplay for Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) and the story for Toy Story 4 (2019), the former of which earned him nominations for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original. Hi latest film, The Invite, with writing partner Rashida Jones starring Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Directed by Olivia Wilde is on the short list for big wins in 2026
Will also appeared in the television series The Sopranos (1999–2001), Brothers & Sisters (2008–2009), and In Plain Sight (2008–2012), as well as the films American Outlaws (2001), Syriana (2005), and A Wrinkle in Time (2018). He won a Lucille Lortel Award for his role in the off-Broadway one-act play The Long Christmas Ride Home (2003).