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Fire Island’s summer season usually begins winding down in September, but this year, the beach bags are making room for popcorn. A new queer film festival is bringing three days of screenings, parties and live events to two of the island’s most storied communities.
The inaugural Grove & Pines Film Festival will take place September 18–20 across Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines, about 60 miles east of Manhattan. The festivities will unfold at Whyte Hall in the Pines and the Cherry Grove Community House, the latter of which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and considered the country’s oldest continuously operating LGBTQ+ theater.
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The setting is particularly fitting: Long before Stonewall, Cherry Grove gave queer New Yorkers a seaside refuge from the discrimination and criminalization they faced elsewhere. Together with the Pines, it evolved into one of the country’s most famous LGBTQ+ summer destinations.
The festival’s inaugural lineup includes 42 shorts and four feature-length films, with comedy, horror, animation and documentaries all represented. Familiar faces featured onscreen will include Alan Cumming, Cheyenne Jackson, Johnny Sibilly and Miss Peppermint.
Among the highlights is A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint, a documentary about the Harlem drag performer who became the first openly trans finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Sex in Drag follows Sherry Vine, a veteran performer with deep ties to the drag communities of New York City and Fire Island. The schedule also includes Bookends, starring Noam Ash and Charlie Barnett.
Board member Brad Loekle told Gothamist that the gathering is partly a response to the country’s current political climate—and an opportunity to honor Cherry Grove and the Pines' artistic history. “This is what we can do to give back to our communities and to kind of honor our personal history and our artistic history,” he said.
Organizers have made the weekend surprisingly manageable for city dwellers contemplating the ferry journey. The GAPFF app works offline and includes schedules, maps and transportation information, while additional late-night ferries will run each evening. Pass holders also receive discounts at participating businesses and on water-taxi rides between the two communities.
Day passes cost $50, while a three-day weekend pass is $140; the premium Director’s Cut pass has already sold out. Tickets and the full schedule are available through the festival website.