Criticism

Reviving Community Cinema: How the Rockaway Film Festival Is Reimagining the Future of Film Culture

By Catriona Vale, Craft & Criticism EditorFebruary 11, 2024

In a landscape where traditional cinemas shutter and remote locations become ‘cinema deserts,’ the Rockaway Film Festival exemplifies a grassroots effort to keep the cinematic experience alive and local.

As multiplexes close and urban theaters struggle, the idea of cinema as a shared community space feels increasingly fragile. Yet, in New York City’s outer boroughs, particularly the Rockaways, a different model is emerging. Led by filmmaker and festival co-founder Sam Fleischner, the Rockaway Film Festival is actively reshaping what it means to experience film outside the big-screen mainstream. Since its launch in 2018, the festival has gone beyond simple screenings, creating a vibrant, participatory atmosphere that emphasizes local culture, outdoor venues, and communal engagement.

Fleischner’s approach is rooted in the idea that cinema’s future depends on its ability to reconnect with community spaces. The festival’s signature is its open-air, temporary theater called Arverne Cinema, which has operated for six years. This setup, along with curated programming that reflects the diverse local population, fosters a sense of ownership and pride among residents. The festival’s ethos is clear: cinema isn’t just about watching films; it’s about experiencing them together, with food, music, and dance augmenting the screening experience.

The festival’s outdoor venues take full advantage of the natural environment, with the Atlantic horizon providing a cinematic backdrop that amplifies the experience. The open sky, the Atlantic’s waves, cargo ships, and the Manhattan skyline across Jamaica Bay all contribute to a uniquely immersive setting. Fleischner describes Rockaway as “an unusually cinematic place,” where the environment itself becomes part of the storytelling. This natural setting helps to bridge the gap left by the disappearance of traditional theaters, many of which closed over the decades, including the last neighborhood theater in the 1990s.

A photo of the open-air Arverne Cinema in the Rockaways shows a community gathered under the sky, with film screens set against the Atlantic horizon.

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