There will be plenty to fest your eyes on at this year’s Coney Island Film Festival. Here are a few shorts and feature films to make sure you see next weekend.
All events at Sideshows By The Seashore or the Coney Island Museum [both located at 1208 Surf Ave. at W. 12th Street in Coney Island, (718) 372-5159, www.coney
Film strip
The festival opens with two documentaries about New York’s neo-burlesque scene: “Tigger,” about a male stripping star, and “Obscene Beauty,” which covers the local scene’s history, major players, and impact.
Sept. 14 at 7:30 pm.
Party on!
The festival’s decadent Opening Night Party will be a neighborhood affair, with dancers from Burlesque at the Beach, a two-hour open bar with beer from Coney Island Brewery, and food catered by Gargiulo’s Restaurant.
Sept. 14; 9:30 pm–12:30 am. $25.
Dazed doc
“Super 8 Daze,” screening in the Program One block of short documentaries, follows 1970s teenagers Rob Hampton and John Morgan, who filmed Super 8 epics while growing up in New England, and whose mini-blockbusters of childhood mischief became internet hits decades later.
Sept. 15 at 1 pm.
Deep drama
After his parents drown in a car accident, the 20-year-old title character of “Dean Darling” moves into his aunt and uncle’s home, where he is forced to confront his fear of going on by himself.
Sept. 15 at 3 pm.
Road trip
Two teenage Hasidic girls take the family car and run away from their New York City home in the feature “Staring at the Sun,” trying to find freedom somewhere out West.
Sept. 15 at 9 pm.
Can you dig it?
Come out and play at the late-night screening of “The Warriors,” the 1979 cult classic about a Coney Island street gang who must battle every other gang in the city as they make their way from the Bronx back to Coney Island. Expect a raucous crowd that will quote along with the film.
Sept. 15 at 10:30 pm. $10.
Going ape
The hour-long documentary “Ape Girl” tells the story of a classic, spooky sideshow act in which a woman into a gorilla. A few traveling troupes of performers in Brazil and in the United States keep the tradition alive.
Sept. 16 at 3 pm.
Funny folk
“Standing Up” is a documentary feature that delves into the lives of three unlikely aspiring comedians, risking everything for a shot on stage, including an ultra-Orthodox Jew from a secluded Brooklyn sect, a homeless woman, and a personal injury lawyer whose immigrant family discourage him from pursuing stand-up.
Sept. 16 at 5:30 pm.
