New York culture is grounded in water, in the ocean. It’s iconic image – the Statue of Liberty – rises resolute from the Upper Bay. Walking the dense grid through Manhattan, hemmed in as it is by the glistening East River and Hudson, the sight and smell of water always lingers just a few blocks away. Immigration is the celebrated lifeblood of this city, generations crossing the ocean for a new life. The beach is not only venerated by the iconic Ramones song, Rockaway is a bonafide iconic surf break. And the culture that is centred around it is a melting pot that reflects the diversity of the culturally rich urban landscape that backs onto it.
“Some of my earliest and most cherished memories are of my dad taking me to the beach to escape our apartment blocks and the hot concrete jungle in summer,” explains surfer, filmmaker and New York local Karen Song. “It always felt like magic, and that feeling hasn’t faded decades later.”
Finisterre x London Surf / Film Festival’s Women of the Sea Film Fund is now in its third year and the bar has been set incredibly high. The fund offers filmmakers £10K to support a short film project, and year one and two – Granny Grommets by Leah Rustomjee and Salt by Alice Ward – have garnered global plaudits and scooped awards at festivals world-wide. Out of the hundred-plus pitches, in a divided world, Karen Song’s Surf, Eat, Repeat – celebrating the multi culturalism and diversity of NYC surf scene – stood out. Karen will be in town to present the World Premiere at LS/FF on Friday 7th November at the iconic Riverside Studios.
“At the peak of my athletic life in the ‘90s – I still found the bar to access surfing incredibly high,” says Karen. “There was little information or support for women surfers then. I was always the only woman out and had no mentors to help me understand the ocean or the lineup.”
For Karen, all that changed with the transformation of the community within the New York’s surf scene. “It wasn’t until I was almost forty – when surf forecasting, the internet, and shifting culture opened new doors – that I could finally access surfing in a, rewarding way. From women’s surf meet-ups and online groups to the visibility of female surfers on social media, there was suddenly a fullness to the experience,” she explains.
“Coming from Korean immigrants who worked tirelessly in my early years to survive in America – often at the cost of being physically present – food was the tangible connection. It’s impossible to separate the surfer in me from my family roots given the central role of the ocean in both and in my family, food has always been the language of love.” In Surf, Eat, Repeat Karen explores the diversity and richness of NYC surf culture, celebrated through the post surf food rituals and shared connections over steaming bowls.
“Rockaway may look sparse, but it’s full of global flavours – Egyptian, Mexican, Peruvian, Jamaican, Japanese, Dominican, Thai, and more, reflected in the lineup a few blocks away,” Karen explains. “New York also hosts many people who come and go, leaving their mark and taking some of the city’s influence with them. Despite that, the surf community remains cohesive. Maybe the fact that we’re doing this wild, nature-driven thing inside an urban landscape is a uniting factor, or because we get more mediocre days than perfect ones, which gives us time to gather on land and connect. I still haven’t had my ultimate post-surf meal. It’s a fantasy that sparked Surf Eat Repeat. I imagine surfing in Korea (I’ve never before) at the foot of their stunning mountain ranges and after an arduous winter session, tucking into a tiny seaside hut with plastic flap doors and a heater buzzing, peeling layers, clearing my sinuses, warmed to the bone, my taste buds happier than ever. Through food, I discovered both my family’s roots and the wider world. It continues to be my gateway to other cultures, people and languages. It inspires global travels to learn about the histories and landscapes that create the flavours I love.”
14th Edition London Surf / Film Festival x Finisterre hosted 6-8 November 2025 at the iconic Riverside Studios brings to the UK the very best films from across the globe. Accompanied by “Audiences With…” the most relevant and exciting surf creatives from around the globe, workshops, a live podcast recording, good times, community and more, you’re not going to want to miss this!
