BOSOZOKU BEACH
Japanese Biker Films in the Rockaways
June 7, 2025
Arverne Cinemas ⧉ Inside + Outside
In rapidly industrializing post-war Japan, returning soldiers and disillusioned youth turned to thundering motorbikes as sources of identity, camaraderie, and adrenaline. By the 1970s, bosozoku gangs had become a fully formed subculture based around customized bikes, violent clashes with authority, and outlandish and often transgressive fashion that took cues from Imperial Japan, kamikaze pilot uniforms, hippies, and American greasers.
It’s no surprise that Japan produced some of the very best motorcycle cinema, arguably surpassing the American post-Easy Rider biker flick boom in both quantity and quality. Featuring iconic bikes from Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki, the bosozoku films are anarchic pop-art gems that reflect the mash-up of cultural symbols and sensibilities revving through the motorcycle subculture. For Bosozoku Beach, Screen Slate and Rockaway Film Festival invite people to join us for three of the very best: Mitsuo Yanagimachi’s visceral gang documentary God Speed You! Black Emperor, the motogirl classic Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss, and House director Nobuhiko Obayahshi’s high-speed romance His Motorbike, Her Island. Show up on two wheels for half-priced admission.
Programmed and presented by Screen Slate, Andrea Torres, and Rockaway Film Festival.
Tickets: $20 all day, $10 one film
Show up on two wheels for half-priced admission
Screen Slate members free
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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.