Now in its seventh year at the beachy southern edge of Queens, the Rockaway Film Festival has revealed its 2024 lineup, which IndieWire shares exclusively. The festival runs August 17-25, 2024 and features outdoor screenings and conversations at the RFF’s regular yearlong venue, the Arverne Cinema.
This year’s highlights include Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood’s looping, multi-screen installation “Waking Up (For the First Time),” a tribute to experimental animator Faith Hubley, with live music performances and DJ sets featuring members of indie bands Animal Collective and MGMT.
Special events include bio-art and stop-motion animated workshops, children’s cinema, the U.S. premiere of “The Future Perfect” director Nele Wohlatz’s comedy of misunderstandings “Sleep with Your Eyes Open,” the New York premiere of Juan Palacios and Sofie Husum Johannesen’s “As the Tide Comes In,” plus the world premieres of Corey Hughes’ “Your Final Meditation” and Sam Fleischner’s “Jetty.”
Wim Wenders‘ 1974 German road movie “Alice in the Cities” will open the festival on Saturday, August 17 in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Premiering with a new restoration the next day is cinematographer Ed Lachman’s 1984 documentary “Report from Hollywood,” where he observed production on Wim Wenders’ “The State of Things.” Lachman will speak at a Q&A alongside cinematographer Sean Price Williams. Zia Anger’s autofictional feature debut “My First Film,” starring Odessa Young, premieres afterward. The experimental filmmaker, along with shorts, has previously directed music videos for Mitski, Angel Olsen, Zola Jesus, and Beach House.
The festival culminates with a rare screening of painter Agnes Martin’s “Gabriel,” live-scored by Rockaway Chamber Music. Rockaway Film Festival is organized by co-directors Sam Fleischner, Courtney Muller, and Kathy Del Beccaro, with sponsorship from Blundstone, Istic Illic Pictures, and NYC Ferry.
“Every year, our program emerges intuitively,” said co-founders Courtney Muller and Sam Fleischner in a press statement, “we choose films in consideration of the setting in which we’ll show them, and given the transient nature of Rockaway as both a unique community and a coastal environment right next to JFK airport, we are excited to include stories from across the globe that put forth imaginative visions for how we connect to our surroundings and to each other.”
Rockaway Film Festival is a 501c3 non-profit founded in 2018 by Sam Fleischner, Courtney Muller, and Greg Stewart. In addition to their annual August festival, RFF presents screenings at their flagship venue, the Arverne Cinema, every weekend from May through September.
Rockaway Film Festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Rockaway Film Festival is funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Art, and by the Howard Gilman Foundation administered by Flushing Town Hall. RFF receives additional support from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
For more information and the complete schedule, head over to the website at Rockaway Film Festival.
