RED HOOK — A short film about a photographer who lost her life's work and her love for the sea after Hurricane Sandy will be shown for the first time in Red Hook on Tuesday.
"Pepper and the Salt Sea" premiered two weeks ago at Woods Hole Film Festival in Cape Cod and now the film will be screened for free during Red Hook Flicks in the neighborhood where it was created.
It follows the story of Pepper, an oceanic photographer whose home in Red Hook was badly flooded during the superstorm in 2012, local filmmaker Don Downie said.
The film begins a year after Sandy when Pepper, who is played by Stacie Capone, Downie's wife, still hasn't reconciled her loss and has stopped taking photographs.
But her path takes an improbable turn when she encounters a mermaid on the street.
Downie described the magical realism film as an upfliting story that he saw as his "love letter to Red Hook," he said.
In 2013, the couple launched an Indiegogo campaign to help fund the film, which was almost entirely shot in Red Hook.
Downie said screening "Pepper" in Red Hook will be an exciting moment for him and Capone, after recieving a lot of support from the community while many were still facing the storm's aftermath.
"I was really touched by the way that people helped us make this film," he said.
"Pepper and the Salt Sea" will be screened Tuesday night before the Red Hook Flicks' feature film "High Fidelity." The films will begin at 8:30 p.m. at the Valentino Pier or when it's dark enough.
In case of rain, the screening will be moved to Atelier Roquetter, located at 63 Commerce St.
