Two documentaries by New Jersey natives will be featured at the Lighthouse International Film Festival on Long Beach Island June 5 through 8.

A pile of debris from Superstorm Sandy sits in front of a damaged home on in Beach Haven
A pile of debris from Superstorm Sandy sits in front of a damaged home on in Beach Haven (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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PR & Marketing Director Arlene Schragger said the four-day event will open at the Surf Light Theater in Beach Haven with "This Time Next Year," by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman, a gripping documentary featuring the tales of Long Beach Island residents in the struggles during and after Hurricane Sandy. "It's mainly interviews with the people who have survived, thrived and not so much thrived during the year after the storm," said Schragger.

Schragger said "This Time Next Year" by the two former Barnegat residents opened at the Tribeca Film Festival a couple of weeks ago to very good reviews, "So we're very anxious to have it here right in our home ground and our home people and we expect it to be doing very well here for us."

The other film, "A Life Outside," is by six surfing buddies who have been catching waves together for 50 years off Casino Pier in Seaside. "It's a documentary about their lives together as friends and as surfing buddies, who started surfing before surfing was really that terrific a thing to do in New Jersey," Schragger said, adding "It was about to be finished when Hurricane Sandy came along and destroyed the Casino Pier and what that meant to them and their situation and their life." Schragger said one of the producers owns the Thundering Surf on Long Beach Island.

This if the film festivals sixth year. "Every year we're getting larger and larger," Schragger said. "Last year we had 4,000 people in seats in the four venues and last year we concerned because of Sandy, but it didn't matter." She said people come from as far away as Maryland, Virginia, Philadelphia, New York and Northern Jersey. "It's a wonderful four days of sun and fun and movies, which is what we're all about."

Individual tickets are $12 for each of the films. A synopsis of each movie, show times and ticket packages can be found at lighthousefilmfestival.org.


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