HOLDING BACK THE TIDE
by Emily Packer. 2023. 77 min.
We are visiting a different urban coast for a special screening hosted at the RETI Center. Operating on a barge in Gowanus Bay, the RETI Center is a model for how coastal cities can combine environmental justice, social responsibility, and innovative design to adapt to a changing climate.
New York filmmaker Emily Packer's impressionist hybrid documentary traces the oyster through its many life cycles in New York, once the world’s oyster capital. Now their specter haunts the city through queer characters embodying ancient myth, discovering the overlooked history and biology of the bivalve that built the city. As environmentalists restore them to the harbor, Holding Back The Tide looks to the oyster as a queer icon, entangled with nature, with much to teach about our continued survival.
Filmmaker Emily Packer in person for a Q&A. Special thanks to Tim Gilman.
*Please note that this screening is in Red Hook, not Rockaway! RSVP required and this waiver must be completed for admittance.
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Our Sponsors
Rockaway Film Festival would like to thank VBX™~Vernam Basin Terminal for generously hosting us at the Arverne Cinema in addition to BBX™~Barbadoes Basin Terminal for contributing to such.
RFF is 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, and by the Howard Gilman Foundation administered by Flushing Town Hall. RFF receives additional support from Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.