Brighton Beach
by Carol Stein & Susan Wittenberg. 1980, US, 60 min.
Delighting in the daily rhythms of life alongside the Coney Island boardwalk, this newly restored vérité documentary explores Brighton Beach during the early '80s, when the neighborhood was experiencing a moment of transformation. Weaving together spontaneous conversations with eclectic residents—Russian grandmothers, Caribbean families, and generational New Yorkers—alongside archival footage of the Brooklyn seaside from fifty years earlier, this sparkling summer portrait celebrates unexpected moments of belonging and resilience in an ever-evolving community at the edge of the city.
“Brighton Beach is a film about survival, uprootedness, immigration, racism… marriage… how the poor find pleasure, how the old stay young, how people in crowded places share space, how the melting pot won’t melt. It is a film about a corner of gentleness and relief in a tough town.” — Carol Stein & Susan Wittenberg
“Unpeels layers of this bizarre neighborhood, its organized anarchy, its exquisite ugliness, its funny sadness” — Jonas Mekas
Post-screening conversation with filmmakers.
Your ticket includes the 7:00pm Rockaway Chamber Music performance.
Doors at 6:30pm
Performance at 7:00pm
Screening at 8:30pm
part of
Our Sponsors
Rockaway Film Festival would like to thank VBX™~Vernam Basin Terminal for generously hosting us at the Arverne and Annex Cinemas in addition to BBX™~Barbadoes Basin Terminal for contributing to such.
We are proud to be sponsored by Blundstone®, Istic Illic Pictures, and NYC Ferry. Rockaway Film Festival 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. We receive additional support from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.