BEFORE, THE SUMMER + SURF GANG
co-presented by SPECTACLE
ANTES, O VERÃO (BEFORE, THE SUMMER) by Gerson Tavares, 1968. 80 min. Brazil. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
*screening in new HD restoration
ANTES, O VERÃO (BEFORE, THE SUMMER) tells the atmospheric tale of a man's relentless pursuit to build his summer home on the beaches of Cabo Frio. As his marriage begins to disintegrate, the assault of the wind, the thickness of the sand, and the corrosive salt of the sea conspire together against his creation. Then suddenly, a mysterious man is found murdered alongside the beach.
Steeped in the influence of American Film Noir and the haunting lyricism of Michaelangelo Antonioni, ANTES, O VERÃO stars two of the biggest actors in the history of Brazilian Cinema, Jardel Filho & Norma Bengell in an experimental story of doomed love and delicate gestures. Once presumed to be lost to time, Spectacle Theater & RFF are excited to present it in a beautiful restoration made possible by archivist Rafael de Luna Friere with government funding in Rio.
Special thanks to William Plotnick, Rafael de Luna Freire, & Rodrigo Tavares.
SURF GANG by Katrina del Mar, 2005. US, 25 mins
*filmmaker in person!
“GREY GARDENS meets THE WARRIORS.” – Katrina del Mar
Filmmaker and photographer Katrina del Mar has been documenting the streetwise tough-girls of Manhattan and Brooklyn for going on twenty-five years. Her unheralded butch opus the GANG GIRL TRILOGY imagines the city as an escapist playground free of men, where rival gangs of lesbian bikers, boarders, surfers and skaters call the shots. Del Mar draws from Russ Meyer and John Waters, but with a commitment to a distinctly personal sort of chaos. The films also unconsciously acts as a showcase for a rapidly changing Manhattan — an attempt to abscond from the concerns of the city and into a daydream of queer solidarity, leather, and raucous, wall-to-wall punk soundtracks.
The frenetic Rockaway-set second installment SURF GANG led del Mar to cast Kembra Pfahler of glam rock group The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black (the only person she knew who could surf) as a young woman who paddles out and vanishes in the waves, leading her younger sister to start an ultraviolent gang of Ruffnecks. SURF GANG returns to the screen after playing at Spectacle in the summer of 2018.
Special thanks to Steve Macfarlane, Mackenzie Lukenbill & Isaac Hoff for making this program possible.
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Rockaway Film Festival would like to thank VBX™~Vernam Basin Terminal for generously hosting us at the Arverne Cinema in addition to BBX™~Barbadoes Basin Terminal for contributing to such.
RFF also thanks Rockaway Artists Alliance and the National Park Service for hosting us in Fort Tilden.
RFF is proud to be sponsored by Blundstone®, Istic Illic Pictures, and NYC Ferry. The 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 the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by FRANC.