Here's What to Watch at This Summer's Rockaway Film Festival

The co-directors behind Rockaway Film Festival have been working hard all summer long, putting on indoor and outdoor screenings at the Arverne Cinema, both as an organization and alongside other very cool New Yorkers, like the team behind Screen Slate or a certain independent worker-owned publication that shall remain nameless. But now, it's almost time for the main event: the eighth annual Rockaway Film Festival, which will run from Wednesday, August 20 until Sunday, August 24. 

This year's festival features a characteristically wide swathe of films: feature-length documentaries and narrative movies, shorts, animation, world and regional premieres, a restoration, panels, live musical accompaniments, and a whole lot of delicious food served by the teams behind Brothers and Insa. "We took a lot of inspiration from stories where things are breaking down and in moments of decay, and then that leads to new life in some way," RFF Program Director Courtney Muller told us, when we asked about throughlines for this year's festival. "I personally get very overwhelmed by the images I find myself seeing every single day, and so I appreciate moments of coming together and watching movies where there is hope and joy." 

Still, RFF8 is notably shorter than previous years, condensing what was previously more than a week of programming into a tight five days—a shorter duration designed to enhance the overall vibe, because attendees will need to stick around from day to night to catch everything they want to see. "Our venues are special, because both the outside cinema and the inside cinema have spaces where you can grab food and hang out before and after the screenings," RFF Managing Director Kathy Del Beccaro said. "We'll open a couple hours every night before the evening screening actually begins, so there's even more opportunity to just hang out with the community." 

Tickets for individual screenings, except Sunday's free children's cinema program, will cost $10, the same price as most other screenings RFF organizes year-round. For access to the entire festival, you can buy a Shell Pass for $75—or a Supporter Shell Pass at $125.

We spoke to Muller, Del Beccaro, and RFF Artistic Director Sam Fleischner to hear about what they're most excited to screen as summer winds down. Spoiler alert: They named almost everything, but for a full program, you can visit their website here.