Today, September 11th, marks Patriot Day – a day of remembrance while also a tragic day in American history forever dedicated to the brave service of New York City’s police and fire departments, first responders, and reminder of all the innocent people who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy during 2001′s attack on the Twin Towers. The East Coast surfing community pulled together at this dire moment of helplessness, and have since developed a strong voice in the industry to create beauty out after discourse. On September 19th and 20th, New York City will be holding a special Film Festival featuring 30 international surf films. This amazing event for the East Coast surfing community is sure to gather surf enthusiasts and industry moguls excited to view award winning pieces and the latest in surf cinematography.

Presented by Barbados, the New York Surf Film Festival 2012 will take place at Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with screenings from 7pm-12am, Septemeber 19th and 20th. Going on its’ fifth anniversary, the NYSFF is featuring both long and short films that depict the surfing community from all aspects of the globe.

Morgan Berk of the NYSFF explained to The Surf Channel, “The mission of the New York Surf Film Festival since its inception in 2008 is to explore the diversity of surfing – and that’s what we aim for when selecting our film program each year. It’s important to showcase both indie and funded films from all parts of the world. We received more submissions than ever this year and filmmakers are surprising us with the crisp editing and general quality of the films they are delivering. Its always a tough choice in the end!”

Dan Merkel & Aaron Chang with filmmaker Doug Walker. Photo courtesy of NYSFF

Photo courtesy of NYSFF

General Theater. Photo courtesy of NYSFF

“This year marks the 5 year anniversary of the NYSFF, and everyone asks how we’re making it bigger and better.” Morgan Berk went on to explain, “My general thoughts on this every year is that the beauty of this event is its core focus on the film – not cluttering it with too many other pieces like concerts or art or largely branded promotions – to maintain its high integrity as a true interntional film festival. We’ve focused our growth on helping other surf film festivals worldwide get their footing by establishing the Global Surf Film Festival Collective as the one stop submission spot for filmmakers to all these events. Fueling the filmmakers growth in their chosen career is what drives this fest, and we aim to expand their films’ reach – knowing it will only help them to continue to create more surf films year after year to showcase to our audience.”

With the wide range of surf films being shown, you are bound to find a film you love at the NYSFF, if not many. As the surfing community continues to expand, so does the meaning of surf culture and its’ interpretation.

The New York Surf Film Festival presents the official 2012 selections:

Dear Suburbia

European Surf Journal

Gauchos Del Mar

Here and Now

Jaws “Changing the Game”

Promised Land

Raw the Movie

Sebastian Beach One Fine Day

Surfing and Sharks

The Africa Project

The Find Claiming Nelscott Reef

This Time Tomorrow

30 Days Without Surfing

Away

Bernie and Ges

Fathoms Left to Fail

Free Aloha

Follow the Sun

Itxasoa

Kook Paradise

Margaux

Montauk Documentary

Simon Anderson

Stacked

Upcycling

Water Warriors

WindanSea

Wright Side of Wrong

You Look Swell

Here’s a sneak-peek:

Gauchos Del Mar

Away

Here and Now

Promised Land

Stacked

Be sure to check it out at newyorksurffilmfestival.com

Ali Shrode (33 Posts)

Ali is a recent UCR graduate with a degree in English. Born and raised in Southern California, she loves everything that has to do with the ocean. Most of her spare time is dedicated to surfing and traveling.