The Coronado Island Film Festival is starting to kick off their line of events leading up to their annual week-long festival in November.
On July 12 and 13, the inspiration behind Gidget, the main character in the late 1950s rom-com film by the same name – “Gidget” – will be making an appearance in Coronado.
“Gidget,” the 1959 film, tells the story of a girl, also nicknamed Gidget, who wants to surf – but in the 50s, it was a heavily male-dominated sport and girls could only dream of being a surfer. However, Gidget made her dream come true.
And through her, surfing entered female spaces and allowed for the sport of surfing to be enjoyed by both men and women.
But this film isn’t just a feel-good story. Gidget is a fictional character based on the very nonfictional person, Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman.
Kohner-Zuckerman was the inspiration for the character after her father, Frederick Kohner, wrote a book in 1957 about her relationship with surfing, which he witnessed unfolding in her teenage years.
That book was the basis for the film and for a documentary on her life.
“It’s really how Gidget became this accidental icon,” CEO and Artistic Director for the film festival Merridee Book said. “This woman who broke through the barrier in what was a men’s only sport and opened the door to female surfers around the world.”
Kohner-Zuckerman, now 83, will be attending her first event with the Coronado Island Film Festival on July 12, the Gidget Beach Bash at the Hotel Del, where she will be hosting a pre-screening Q&A before watching the original 1959 movie starring Sandra Dee as Gidget.
The second event will be on July 13, and Kohner-Zuckerman will be attending a screening of the documentary followed by a book signing and a Q&A.
There will only be 200 tickets available for the Gidget Beach Bash event at the Hotel Del, and seating for the documentary screening on July 13 is limited to the seats at the Village Theatre.
Tickets go on sale May 16 on the Coronado Island Film Festival’s website with options for both general admission and VIP tickets.
