Grove and Pines Film Festival

Grove and Pines Film Festival Fire Island's new queer film festival. Sept 18-20, 2026
Cherry Grove + Fire Island Pines
501(c)(3) nonprofit

09/14/2026

Paris Is Burning (1990), directed by Jennie Livingston, documentary. Premiered September 13, 1990, at the Toronto International Film Festival, 36 years ago today.

The beach scene with Venus Xtravaganza gets talked about for its melancholy, but it belongs to something bigger in the film: the idea of realness. Ball categories like Executive Realness and Schoolgirl or Schoolboy Realness let the scene’s Black and Latino q***r and trans community step into lives that were closed off to them everywhere outside the ballroom, if only for the length of a walk. Venus talking about wanting to be a spoiled rich girl, free as the wind on an open beach, is that same instinct captured off the runway and on camera, a daydream she got to say out loud.

This scene is a good example of what GAPFF looks for in q***r cinema, films that give room to imagine a fuller life, not just document survival.

Venus Xtravaganza, House of Xtravaganza: “”I am as free as the wind that’s blowing on this beach.””

This September, that same spirit runs through the lineup GAPFF is bringing to Cherry Grove and the Pines. More at GAPFF.com.

***rfilmhistory

Your Fire Island essential has arrived!Download the Grove & Pines Film Festival app for the full lineup, schedule, ticke...
09/13/2026

Your Fire Island essential has arrived!

Download the Grove & Pines Film Festival app for the full lineup, schedule, tickets, festival updates, and exclusive discounts. Just flash the app at participating businesses to save!

A few perks:

50% off H2O Limo rides during the festival
15% off at Cherry Grove Pizza and Island Breeze
10% off at Sand Castle
20% off at The Grove Hotel (limited availability)
$1 off round-trip Sayville Ferry tickets

Search “Grove & Pines Film Festival” in the App Store and start planning your festival weekend, September 18–20.

Thank you to our fabulous App Developer George Smith 🤩

09/12/2026

Saving Face, directed by Alice Wu, marks 22 years since its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2004. Wu’s feature debut follows Wilhelmina, a closeted Chinese American surgeon played by Michelle Krusiec, who falls for a dancer, Vivian, played by Lynn Chen, while her widowed mother, played by Joan Chen, faces her own reckoning with the Chinese American community after an unplanned pregnancy. It was the first Hollywood film centered on Chinese American characters since The Joy Luck Club over a decade earlier, and the first American theatrical release to feature an Asian American le***an couple at its center.

Wu wrote the script while working as a software engineer, and reportedly turned down studio interest that would have stripped out the film’s Asian and q***r specificity to make it more marketable. We think about films like this one every time we put together a lineup. See ours this September across Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines. Tickets at GAPFF.com.

ONE WEEK TO GO!The inaugural Grove & Pines Film Festival takes over Fire Island September 18–20 with three days of films...
09/11/2026

ONE WEEK TO GO!

The inaugural Grove & Pines Film Festival takes over Fire Island September 18–20 with three days of films, panels, parties, special guests, and more across the Pines and Cherry Grove.

Download the GAPFF app to explore the full lineup, build your schedule, and get your festival passes.

09/11/2026

A Single Man, directed by Tom Ford, marks 17 years since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 11, 2009. Ford’s directorial debut, adapted from Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, follows George Falconer, a British university professor in early-1960s Los Angeles, over a single day as he moves through grief after the sudden death of his partner, Jim. Colin Firth won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at Venice for the role, a performance built almost entirely on restraint, on everything George doesn’t say out loud.

Ford brought a fashion designer’s eye for composition to the film, but what’s stayed with audiences is how quietly it treats loss that, in 1962, the world around George refused to even name. That kind of precision, personal and unflinching, is what GAPFF looks for in the filmmakers screening this September across Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines. Tickets at GAPFF.com.

***rcinema ***rfilmhistory

Coming for the full weekend or just the day? Sayville Ferry has you covered. They’re even hooking us up with extra late-...
09/09/2026

Coming for the full weekend or just the day? Sayville Ferry has you covered. They’re even hooking us up with extra late-night boats all weekend, so you don’t have to miss a second of the festival.

Your ferry guide for September 18–20:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

Sayville → Fire Island Pines
7:00, 9:20, 11:20 a.m.
1:20, 3:30, 5:20, 7:20 p.m.

Fire Island Pines → Sayville
7:25, 9:50, 11:50 a.m.
1:50, 4:00, 5:50, 7:50 p.m.
✨ Late ferry: 11:00 p.m. ✨

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

Sayville → Cherry Grove
8:00, 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 a.m.
1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 p.m.

Cherry Grove → Sayville
8:45, 10:00, 11:00 a.m.
12:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 p.m.
✨ Late ferry: 11:00 p.m. ✨

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

Sayville → Cherry Grove
8:00, 9:30, 11:30 a.m.
1:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 p.m.

Cherry Grove → Sayville
8:45, 10:00 a.m.
12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 p.m.
✨ Late ferry: 9:00 p.m. ✨

Save $1 on your round-trip fare! Just tell the ferry staff you’re traveling to the Grove & Pines Film Festival when purchasing your ticket. A buck’s a buck!

Schedules are subject to change. Visit sayvilleferry.com for the latest updates.

And if you haven’t already, download the GAPFF app, your one-stop shop for festival travel information, tickets, the full lineup and offers!

Friday is stacked. We’ve got a full day of shorts, special events and one feature at Whyte Hall, kicking off with our Fe...
09/09/2026

Friday is stacked. We’ve got a full day of shorts, special events and one feature at Whyte Hall, kicking off with our Festival Kickoff Party.

At 2:15 PM, the Necessary Foundation presents They Better Work: Making a Future for Q***r Film & Television, moderated by Adam Goldman with Pete Corona, Lucie Reiss and Justice Singleton.

Friday night, Liza Treyger takes the stage for a special live stand-up set before Regulars, our feature comedy about a Halloween night gone very wrong at a Dominican dive bar in Brooklyn. Come for the stand-up. Stay for the murder mystery.

We’ll close out our 8:50 PM Horror, Sci-Fi & Suspense shorts program with a filmmaker Q&A moderated by Adam Aresty, featuring Andrew Chappell, Brian McManamon and Jake Delaney.

Then it’s over to Cherry Grove for The Dworld x GAPFF Fire Island Underwear Party at Ice Palace. Festival pass holders get in free.

Not staying overnight? GAPFF has a special 11 PM ferry from the Pines to Sayville, so you can stay through the final screening and Q&A.

Download the GAPFF app for the full lineup, film details, maps, festival discounts, and to buy or link your pass.

Friday is only the beginning. See you on Fire Island.

Saturday starts in the Pines with a little recharge before a full day of films and events in Cherry Grove.At 8:30 AM, jo...
09/09/2026

Saturday starts in the Pines with a little recharge before a full day of films and events in Cherry Grove.

At 8:30 AM, join us on the beach at Atlantic Walk for a reiki-infused sound bath, perfect for anyone looking to reset before the day begins.

Then head to the Cherry Grove Community House & Theatre for a full day of shorts and features. At 1 PM, we’re screening Bookends, a feature comedy about a newly single city guy forced to move in with his grandparents in a suburban retirement community. Stick around after the film for a Q&A with writer and star Noam Ash and director Mike Doyle.

As the sun goes down, head upstairs at 6:30 PM for our Rooftop Sunset Soirée + open bar, leading into Live Nation Studios x Revry’s special presentation of Rock Out. From Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, the film uncovers the often-overlooked q***r history of heavy metal, punk and rock-and-roll, featuring voices including Dolly Parton, Jayne County, Jann Wenner and more. The evening wraps with a Q&A featuring executive producers Ryan Kroft and Vaughn Trudeau.

Heading back to the mainland? The last ferry from Cherry Grove to Sayville departs at 11 PM, so you can stay for the full evening.

And don’t forget to download the GAPFF app for the complete lineup, film synopses, director statements, filmmaker bios + credits, maps, festival discounts, and everything you need to buy or link your pass.

Start in the Pines, end in Cherry Grove. We’ll see you Saturday.

Sunday brings us home in Cherry Grove with a full day of shorts, one very special feature, our festival awards, and one ...
09/09/2026

Sunday brings us home in Cherry Grove with a full day of shorts, one very special feature, our festival awards, and one last party.

At 3 PM, join us for A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint, a decade-long, unguarded portrait of Peppermint, following her journey from Harlem to RuPaul’s Drag Race, Broadway and beyond. Peppermint will be there live for a special Q&A following the screening.

At 5:15 PM, we’ll celebrate the films and filmmakers of our inaugural festival at the GAPFF Awards, hosted by Fire Island royalty Busted and Brad Loekle. Didn’t buy a festival pass but want to see these legends back in action? No problem. Tickets will be available at the door.

Then we’re heading to Cherry Grove Pizza at 6:30 PM for our Closing Night Pizza Party. Come celebrate an incredible weekend with free pizza, free drinks + a live DJ.

Download the GAPFF app for the full lineup, film synopses, director statements, filmmaker bios + credits, maps, festival discounts, and to buy or link your pass.

One last day. Let’s make it count. See you Sunday in Cherry Grove.

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