November 2026 Florida Surf Film Festival

4th installment of the 2026 competition year New Smyrna Beach, FL — Florida Surf Film Festival (FSFF), presented by Monster Energy and the Surfing’s Evolution and Preservation Foundation (“Endless Summer” license plate in FL), is proud to announce programming for its Q4 event — the final event of the 2026 competition year — taking place Friday and Saturday, November 6–7, at the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach, Florida — our first-ever event held in the heart of our classic surf town. Tickets are available at floridasurffilmfestival.com. More information is also available on the Green Room Annual Membership, which includes access to all events for the next twelve months, plus drinks, food, swag, and more. Friday night opens with a reading and conversation with Steve Hawk, the former editor of SURFER magazine and longtime Surfer’s Journal contributor, whose debut novel, Nearshore (Viking, 2026), is a coastal-noir thriller that follows Northern California surfer and lifeguard Jamie Palmer as he is pulled into a nuclear terrorism plot with ties to a Silicon Valley tech giant. Copies of Nearshore will be available for purchase and signed by Steve at the event. Or purchase your copy now and be prepared with questions and a book-signing. Also on Friday, Point Taken: The Legend of Killer Dana revisits the legendary Dana Point right-hander that drew the likes of Phil Edwards, Hobie Alter, and Bruce Brown — until it was buried beneath the construction of Dana Point Harbor in 1966, sparking one of surfing’s earliest acts of coastal activism. The night closes with Maps to Nowhere – In the Current from Surfline, followed by a Q and A with East Coast and Surfline forecaster Charlie Hutcherson. Raised in Orlando, where he cut his teeth tracking Atlantic hurricane swells, Charlie is the forecaster behind Surfline’s Maps to Nowhere series — the self-described “swell czar” who sends surfers to remote, undisclosed coastlines on nothing more than a forecast. Come hear what it takes to predict blissful waves. Saturday night belongs to the filmmakers. Jack Coleman will be in attendance with his new film, ProCasual, starring 2024 WSL World Champion Caitlin Simmers, among others. Florida’s own Oliver Kurtz joins him with Desert Mirror, and both will take the stage for a Q and A following the screenings. We’ll close the 2026 season with Beyond Borders: Patagonia, in which Byron Bay filmmaker Jed Fasso and a crew of fellow adventurers pick a remote stretch of the Chilean coast off a map and spend months working their way south — from Arica near the Peruvian border, through storms and heavy seas — in search of an unridden wave. We’ll also be raffling off products from our longtime festival supporters after every program. Leading our lineup of special guests, Chas Smith and David Lee Scales will be in town to record The Grit, their weekly podcast and a staple of the Surf Splendor Podcast Network, and to dish surf gossip with fans throughout the weekend. Chas — BeachGrit co-founder, gonzo surf journalist, and author of Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell and Cocaine + Surfing — will also continue his eternal apology campaign for years after being surfing’s most notorious troublemaker. Joining them from New Zealand is Luke Cederman, creator of The Raglan Surf Report, the cult Instagram and YouTube series that serves up parody, humor, and social surf commentary with a deadpan sarcasm so dry that fans are never quite sure where the joke ends. Luke’s humorous slant on surfing has earned him a devoted following around the globe, and we can’t wait to see what he makes of a possible Florida swell. We’re also closing out the year with one of the most literary lineups in festival history. Joining us is Matt Warshaw, surfing’s preeminent historian and author of The History of Surfing and The Encyclopedia of Surfing. We’ll also welcome Matt Shaw, in attendance with his new book, The Sea in Every Sound: Chasing the Influence of Surf Music in America, a look at how surf music has shaped the sound of the country well beyond the beach. Friday, November 6, 2026 — 6:30 PM • Short Film by Luke Cederman • Learning to Fly (Short) — Tim Mauger (14 min) • Kinder (Short) — Nate Laverty (6 min) • Buoyancy – A Surf Story from Taiwan (Short) — Jonathan Carl Stromberg (12 min) • Dancing with Gravity (Short) — Cole Sheldon (11 min) • Steve Hawk Reading and Chat — Nearshore (20 min) • Raffle 9:00 PM • Short Film by Luke Cederman • Point Taken: The Legend of Killer Dana (Feature) — Dan Krolczyk (30 min) • Maps to Nowhere – In the Current (Short) — Nick Liotta (21 min) • Q and A with Surfline Forecaster Charlie Hutcherson (10 min) • Raffle Saturday, November 7, 2026 — 6:15 PM • Short Film by Luke Cederman • Demo (Short) — Noah Beschen (15 min) • Desert Mirror (Short) — Oliver Kurtz and Marco Areclin (14 min) • ProCasual (Feature) — Jack Coleman (35 min) • Q and A with Oliver Kurtz and Jack Coleman (15 min) • Raffle 8:45 PM • Short Film by Luke Cederman • Roark (Short) — to be confirmed (11 min) • Beyond Borders: Patagonia (Feature) — Jed James Fasso (65 min) • Raffle EVENT DETAILS Dates: Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, 2026 Venue: Brannon Center, 105 S. Riverside Dr., New Smyrna Beach, Florida 32168 Doors Open: 5:00 PM Friday and Saturday Check our website for updated screen times, ticket information, and Green Room Membership details. For more information on supporters and sponsors, click here. For press inquiries, please contact the Florida Surf Film Festival at [email protected].