Lava Girl Surf presented its 8th annual Women’s Surf Film Festival at the Rockaway Hotel this past weekend, bringing together the global surf community for a special event focused on women in surfing, skating, photography and filmmaking. The free, public event ran from Friday, September 10th to Sunday September 12th.

“Over the years we’ve grown the festival to support and act as a platform for filmmakers and artists, but also for women-owned businesses,” said Davina Grincevicius, founder and creative director of Lava Girl Surf, which was created in 2012 in New York to encourage women to explore the sport. 

The Festival supports Laru Beya, a program dedicated to empowering the youth of Far Rockaway through surfing, and A Walk on Water, a nonprofit that provides surf therapy to children with unique needs and their families.

The first part of a three part series,“Kaikana” (meaning “little sister”) premiered at the festival. The director of the film Monica Medellin is also the CEO and Founder of The Gnar Gnar Honeys, an L.A. based production company aiming to represent more women in front of and behind the camera.

“Kaikana” featured up-and-coming Hawaiian talents like Moana Jones, alongside Hokulani Topping, Vaihitimahana Inso, Ēweleiʻula Wong and Puamakamae DeSoto. Medellin recalled how she chose the cast for the series. 

“I wanted Kaikaina to be told from a female, Native Hawaiian perspective,” said Medellin. “Not only are the Kaikaina girls connected through their culture, but they also are on track to become the future of the practice and sport. You can’t help but fall in love with their fun personalities, unique vibe and unbreakable bond.”

Very much like her production company, The Gnar Gnar Honeys, Medellin created “Kaikana” to represent women in the surf culture and highlight the rising talents of Oahu, Hawaii.  “Creating Kaikaina and featuring this female surf collective means everything,” said Medellin. “If I had seen more diverse images of surfing growing up, I would not have felt like I didn’t belong in this sport as a Mexican-American girl.”

Undercurrent, a new show that combines art and music, opened its doors to the public at 455 Jefferson Street this past week. Thematically focused on the climate crisis, the show features immersive experiences created by a lengthy list of talented musicians, including Bon Iver, Grimes, the 1975, Jojra Smith, and more. The show is the passion project of Steve Milton and Brett Volker, two veterans of the public relations industry who have worked with a variety of musicians on music videos, concerts, and other immersive experiences. Undercurrent was an opportunity for the pair to bring their industry knowledge — and their extensive contacts — to a project they personally found moving. “When we started thinking about Undercurrent, we wanted to use this new experience to focus on something that we're passionate about, or that we care about, and that means something to us,” Milton explained. “We landed on the idea of the climate because it is a huge existential threat, and admittedly, something that is really hard to wrap your hands around.” All of the installations featured in Undercurrent focus on the climate in some way, be it abstract or literal. Much of the artwork on display was also made from recycled materials the Undercurrent team collected throughout Bushwick and the surrounding area. In addition to the list of artists contributing to Undercurrent, Milton and Volker have partnered with multiple nonprofit organizations who will have a presence throughout the show’s run. The organizers are hopeful the show will give people insight and possibly even hope to help them confront the monumental challenge that climate change presents. “It's our hope that we're going to bring thousands of people through this thing,” Milton said, “and they're going to all walk away empowered with the tools from each of these nonprofits to go and make a difference, hopefully, directly within their own neighborhood and within their own community. “That would be a wonderful outcome if we can make some progress on the local front,” he added. “And we expect to because a lot of people who live in Brooklyn and love the area are coming to this.” Undercurrent’s debut last week included informational tables and donation boxes from partner nonprofits, giving guests an opportunity to contribute directly to climate causes. The debut event also surprised guests with a special performance from Questlove, who served as DJ throughout the night. For information and tickets, visit undercurrent.world on Instagram or the web.