Rockaway Film Festival

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Rockaway Film Festival

Bringing cinema to the film lovers of Rockaway Beach.

07/14/2026

Last month’s performance by Rockaway Chamber Music. We can’t wait to welcome them back on Sunday, July 26.

Tickets are $10 and include a screening of Werner Herzog’s spellbinding LESSONS OF DARKNESS.

More info at rockawayfilmfestival.org

07/13/2026

To conclude our Movies & Matches series, we’re organizing a Movie Match Cup in the Arverne Cinema sand.

Games from 10am to 2pm. At 3pm, we’ll move inside to watch the World Cup final together. $20 registration includes an original Movie Match Cup shirt, and the winning team will receive free tickets to opening night of the Ninth Annual Rockaway Film Festival.

Open to all skill levels! More info at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

07/08/2026

“Intuition is the basis of my aesthetic judgment. The more you allow intuition to speak to you, the closer you are to the truth, and the origins of the universe.” — JORDAN BELSON

Saturday, July 18: Join us for a selection of films by avant-garde legend Jordan Belson, whose spectacular, mystical abstractions explored layers of consciousness, translating inner states into pure sound and light.

The screening will be preceded by a sonic meditation performance by interdisciplinary sound artist and sound healing practitioner C. Lavender.

Arverne Cinema OUTSIDE. Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org. Still of LIGHT courtesy Jordan Belson Estate. Very special thanks to Raymond Foye, who will introduce the screening.

SOUND/SCREEN sponsored by Zankel Music Fund.

07/06/2026

Saturday, August 1: SUMMER TOUR with a live performance by Rainbow Spirals

This open-hearted 16mm documentary follows a new generation of Deadheads on a freewheeling journey across America. Focusing the camera on the crowd rather than the stage, director Mischa Richter finds friends in parking lots, concert venues, and on the open road, capturing off-the-cuff reflections and moments lost in the music in a state of pure bliss.

Presented on August 1st — Jerry Garcia’s birthday — and introduced by Rockaway’s own Matt Lilly, who is a subject in the film (and who also designed this beautiful poster).

Live performance by Rockaway-based band Rainbow Spirals before the screening at 7pm. Food by brothers rockaway.

Screening OUTSIDE as part of SOUND/SCREEN sponsored by Zankel Music Fund. Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

07/02/2026

During a summer heat wave in Brooklyn, one block simmers toward combustion.

Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece DO THE RIGHT THING screenings at the Arverne Cinema on Saturday, July 25.

Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

06/30/2026

Friday, July 3: DRY LEAF

In soccer, a “dry leaf” is a kick that sends the ball through the air on an uncertain, shifting path, like a leaf falling from a tree.

Georgian director Alexandre Koberidze’s hypnotizing new feature is guided by the same sense of unpredictable beauty, following a father searching for his daughter who has mysteriously disappeared while photographing soccer fields for a sports magazine. Shot entirely on an old Sony Ericsson phone, faces and places blend together in a pixelated, painterly dream.

Screening OUTSIDE. Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

06/25/2026

Friday, July 3: DRY LEAF

Shot entirely on an old Sony Ericsson phone, Georgian director Alexandre Koberidze’s brilliant and audacious new feature follows a father searching for his daughter who has mysteriously disappeared while shooting a series of soccer fields for a sports magazine.

“One emerges from its transporting rhythms with a fresh perspective on the world.” — NYFF

Don’t miss an opportunity to see this film outside. Playing as part of MOVIES & MATCHES co-presented by Screen Slate. Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

06/23/2026

Sunday, June 28: TEENAGE WASTELAND by Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine

In the 1990s, a group of high schoolers made a video project that ended up breaking real news. When their English teacher Fred Isseks sends them to investigate mysterious brown muck surfacing at the local landfill, they uncover a trail of toxic waste, political corruption and environmental injustice that shakes their community. A NYT Critic’s Pick.

Post-screening Q&A with Fred Isseks. Arverne Cinema Inside at 2:00 pm. Open to everyone and free for ages 15-22 as part of our FLICKER POINTS teen series.

Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

06/22/2026

Sunday, June 28: STUBBY by Bo Widerberg

A seven-year-old soccer prodigy is recruited to play for Sweden’s national team in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers and becomes an overnight sensation. An adorable and surreal comedy by a trailblazing Swedish filmmaker.

$10 ticket includes a performance by Rockaway Chamber Music at 7:00 pm. Screening at 8:30 pm. Food by brothers rockaway. Arverne Cinema Outside.

Tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org.

06/19/2026

Tomorrow: PASSING THROUGH (1977) co-presented by Alfreda's Cinema & Rockaway Film Festival

Celebrate Juneteenth with a free, rare screening of PASSING THROUGH, Larry Clark’s landmark of Black independent cinema and one of the most powerful jazz films ever made.

This special presentation includes a live performance by acclaimed Rockaway jazz musician Irwin Hall.

Music at 7:00 pm. Screening at 8:30 pm. Food by Amped Panadas. Arverne Cinema Outside.

FREE tickets at rockawayfilmfestival.org. Digital presentation courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Clips courtesy Larry Clark | Painter & Filmmaker.

Address

Far Rockaway, NY
11692

Website

http://rockawayfilmfestival.org/

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