New North Fork Drive-In Film Festival Benefits Families In Need

CUTCHOGUE, NY — A popular drive-in movie series on the North Fork will present independent filmmakers this week — all while helping families in need.

Daniel Leinweber said he and his sister Alley grew up spending summers at their family cottage in East Marion.

"After spending the last few months quarantined in the cottage, Alley, now approaching her 30th birthday, has gotten involved with the community to produce a drive-in film festival," Leinweber said.

The Sound Side Film Festival, a night of short films and multimedia experiences, takes place on Thursday, August 6 at the Peconic Bay Winery, located on Main Road in Cutchogue, and benefits Community Action of Southold Town. The festival begins at 8:45 p.m.; doors open up at 7:45 p.m. $50 per car (PG-13). To buy tickets, click here.

"The goal: showcase homegrown, Long Island-produced cinema along with featuring social distance safe interactive activities — and provide a night of fun for the North Fork," he said.

The South Side Film Festival is part of CAST's summer drive in movie night series, and has gained "recognition and support from the Tribeca Film Institute," Leinweber said. "Sound Side Film Festival is a pandemic-safe cinema experience celebrating emerging and established independent filmmakers from the North Fork and beyond."

The event produced by CAST and Wild Jelly Live. The drive-in event is supported by the Tribeca Film Institute Sloan Discretionary Fund.

Sound Side Film Festival includes the premiere of "Bluepoint", a never-before-seen award-nominated short film made in the North Fork, as well as multimedia projections, and more, organizers said.

Wild Jelly Live is a filmmaking cooperative run by Zoe Fleer and Alley Leinweber. They spent the past year in Peconic Bay working alongside the the SPAT Cornell Cooperative Extension to make "Bluepoint" and write the corresponding TV series, Leinweber said.

Since then, the short has been nominated for an National Board of Review award and was set to premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, while the TV pilot script won the Tribeca Sloan Student Discovery Award, he said.

"When the pandemic struck, and the theaters shut down, Alley and Zoe decided to premiere in the place and community where Bluepoint was born," he added.

The premiere includes site-specific installations that extend cinema beyond a single screen. The audience will be invited to make pandemic confessions that will inform the future of the TV series by providing a documentary response to crisis, Leinweber said.

"Sound Side Film Festival is a one-night-only chance to experience independent film and the beauty of the North Fork at a time when public screenings have come to a halt," he said.

Cathy Demeroto, executive director of CAST, explained how the idea was born to create a drive-in movie series that would also help feed the North Fork's hungry.

"Since CAST’s regular summer fundraising events were cancelled due to COVID-19, we had to come up with creative ways to raise funds to support our essential operations," she said. "CAST’s 'Drive-In Thursdays - Family Movie Nights Under the Stars' is a safe way for families to get out and have some fun while supporting our neighbors in need during this challenging time."

In light of the tremendous increase in need on the North Fork due to the current health and economic crisis, "it is more important than ever that we raise sufficient funds to ensure we are able to meet the unprecedented need for food relief and emergency assistance," she said.

All proceeds from the series will benefit CAST, she added.

"Although the community is slowly reopening, families are still struggling to make ends meet as they are trying to catch up after being out of work for several months — and many workers are currently underemployed as numerous businesses are not operating at full capacity," she said.

After the Sound Side Film Festival on August 6, CAST will close out the Drive-In Thursdays movie series with "Dirty Dancing" on September 3.

Wild Jelly Live is a filmmaking cooperative run by Zoe Fleer and Alley Leinweber, "filmmakers
and culture-makers. Dedicated to making films and experiences that ignite the senses and
explore how people are shaped by our environments— natural, human-made, psychological,
these two female filmmakers are recognized for understanding that we have to shape the
worlds we want to live in," the release said. "Now more than ever. Sound Side Film Festival is just one of their many projects to welcome you into their world."