God Speed You! Black Emperor
by Mitsuo Yanagimachi, 1976, 91 min.
In the 1970s, Mitsuo Yanagimachi embedded himself directly into the Black Emperors, one of Japan’s biggest, most violent biker gangs. Filming in grainy 16mm—often at night, mounted onto a speeding motorcycle, using only street lamps and headlights—Yanagimachi creates a visceral sense of immediacy while also exposing the Emperors’ rigid, fascistic organizing structure.
God Speed You! Black Emperor has not shown in New York in more than a decade and is difficult to find in high quality, making this a rare opportunity to view the definitive boots-on-the-ground (or up-on-the-footpegs) documentary of ‘70s bosozoku culture.
Special thanks to Mitsuo Yanagimachi, Koichi Mori, and Karen Severns.
Or $20 all day pass to BOSOZOKU BEACH. Show up on two wheels for half-priced admission.
Indoor screening. Doors at 4pm. Food by Brothers x Extra Briney.
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.