Every other summer, the Cherry Grove Community House and Theater becomes more than just a movie house. It becomes a place where history is remembered, cultures are celebrated, and stories once hidden find new audiences. Established in 2015, the Cherry Grove Archives Collection Film Festival (CGACFF) has become one of Cherry Grove’s signature cultural events and may be the longest-running film festival on Fire Island.
For three days this summer, audiences gathered to watch documentaries and short films exploring queer life across America while celebrating Cherry Grove’s own history. Festivalgoers cast ballots for Best Feature and Best Short, with audience favorites returning for an encore screening Sunday afternoon.
Saturday evening’s program featured six short films, each telling a different story, together forming a portrait of LGBTQ resilience, creativity, humor, and perseverance. They were among many strong entries across the weekend, and this recap focuses on that evening’s shorts program in particular.
The evening opened with Shelly’s Leg, narrated by Kathleen Turner. Set in 1970s Seattle, the documentary follows Shelly Bauman, whose infamous Bastille Day accident led to a landmark lawsuit and, ultimately, to the opening of Shelly’s Leg, Seattle’s first gay discotheque. Through Shelly, her friends, employees, and patrons, we witness the birth of a queer nightlife scene that offered sanctuary when few such places existed, flourishing until a devastating fire marked the end of an era. Like Cherry Grove itself, the film reminds us that queer communities have long created places to safely gather and belong.
Cherry Grove then took center stage in Parker Sargent’s Let’s Go Grovettes. More than a volleyball film, it captures one of the Grove’s most beloved traditions. Following the police raids of the 1970s, relations between Cherry Grove and law enforcement were deeply strained; the annual volleyball game between Cherry Grove and the Suffolk County Marine Bureau became an unlikely bridge, building trust through humor, competition, and sportsmanship.
What began with just a few Grove workers, Marine Bureau officers, and perhaps 50 spectators grew into a community-wide celebration that drew hundreds, featuring pipe bands, drag cheerleaders, costumes, and fierce volleyball, eventually becoming one of the Grove’s great annual traditions. Interviews with longtime players and officers, alongside archival footage, reveal how a sporting event became part of the Grove’s identity, including the women whose competitive spirit produced its legendary winning streak.
Latin Lover tells one of Hollywood’s most heartbreaking forgotten stories. Silent film star Ramón Novarro was murdered in 1968 after hiring two young hustlers who intended to rob him. Rather than remembering one of Hollywood’s great leading men, the courts and much of the public vilified Novarro himself because he was gay. The film examines not only a brutal crime but also the prejudice that followed, when his sexuality became the focus instead of the violence committed against him.
Director Andy Perrott broadened the evening’s perspective with Inside the Oasis, a sweeping history of queer life in Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors, which went on to win Best Feature at the festival. The final two films brought the audience joyfully home to Cherry Grove.
Johnny Poole‘s Drag Attack preserves one of the Grove’s most wonderfully outrageous traditions. Johnny Poole, known to many as Uncle Johnny from The Elvis Duran Show and remembered as a bartender, entertainer, and beloved Ice Palace personality, created a daytime drag competition unlike any other. Archival footage and interviews with Johnny, Greg Scarnici, Charity, Donna Piranha, Levonia Jenkins, and others capture the joyful chaos that has made it a Cherry Grove institution for decades.
The evening concluded with Love Porsche, perhaps the sweetest film in the program. Created as a tribute to one of Cherry Grove’s most beloved performers, the short reflects on Porsche’s 25-year love affair with the Grove, a journey that began at a PAWS fundraiser and blossomed into a successful entertainment career.
More than entertainment, the CGACFF Film Festival reminds us why archives matter. They preserve not only names and dates but also laughter, activism, performances, and countless stories that might otherwise disappear. Thanks to the vision of Parker Sargent, the Cherry Grove Archives Collection, filmmakers from across the country, and the generosity of those who continue to donate their memories, these histories are not locked away on shelves.
