The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, and the Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies present the:
New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2023
The 41st Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 27-February 19, 2023. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. The in-person screenings will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program. For more info scan the QR code above or go here: https://watch.eventive.org/newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2023
New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2023 Schedule
Friday, January 27, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
Buon Ferragosto – Claudia Miatello (Toronto, Canada)
When his father has to work on Ferragosto (Italy's national holiday) instead of going to the sea, a boy has the adventure of his lifetime in the city of Florence with an unexpected friend. In Italian, subtitled. 2022; 7 min.
Vagrant – Giorgio Litt (Beaverton, Oregon)
Throughout Italy, dogs are abandoned casually. In rural Sicily, one man saves the dogs he can, especially those being poisoned. In Italian, subtitled. 2022; 20 min.
The Language I Speak – Ana Cuadra (Plainfield, New Jersey)
The Language I Speak is an exploration about the regional varieties of spoken English in America, how our language connects us as humans, but it can also divide us, how it can box us in categories of race, socio-economics, class and gender. Are dialects and accents something that classify us as talking weird or something to be celebrated in the new globalized world? 2022; 60 min.
Saturday, January 28, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!
Shorts Program #1
A Polar Bear Story – Vanessa Nilsson (Montclair, New Jersey)
A Polar Bear Story is a 3D animated short film that comments on climate change and how it is the primary threat to polar bears as the arctic warms and sea ice disappears. The story follows a young, playful, and mischievous polar bear cub whose playfulness puts him in harm’s way of melting sea ice. 2022; 4 min.
Sympoiesis - Rithikha Rajamohan (Vancouver, Canada)
Sympoiesis, meaning "boundaryless" or "making together" is an exploration of co-creation and an attempt to answer the question of where life is trying to go. The film is a recognition that we are as a species just one of many forms of intelligent life, each with its own entangled reasons for being. In an age of self-induced ecological, technological and social collapse, the film is also a comforting reminder that we are no more than adolescents in evolutionary time, a young and fragile species prone to making mistakes, and yet still learning, growing and striving to find its proper place in an inherently symbiotic world. 2022; 5 min.
Exposed to Each Other – Mersolis Schöne (Vienna, Austria)
Touches are journeys - a film poem about the multi-faceted journey of interpersonal, intercultural encounters. How are we connected with each other? Based on a poetic text collage by Marion Steinfellner, which brings together Indian, Japanese, German, and Austrian texts by Yuko Kaseki, Savita Rani, Mersolis Schöne, and Marion Steinfellner. 2022; 13 min.
Marjorie Eliot's Parlor Entertainment Harlem – John Decker (Ocean Township, New Jersey)
For three decades, pianist, playwright, actress, poet and composer, Marjorie Eliot, turns her sadness and tragic loss into joyful weekly performances of love and camaraderie in her Harlem apartment. 2022; 8 min.
The Pratt in the Hat – Susan Hillary (Goshen, New York)
Beneath the brims of hundreds of colorful hats is a woman who shares her wisdom, humor, and personal experiences about being black in America. Frances Pratt’s hats make a bold statement as does her southern charm and pithy expressions which she garnered through a lifetime of service to her community fighting for racial equality, voting rights and education. 2021; 15 min.
Fereshteh – Elika Rezaee (Redondo Beach, California)
Fereshteh distills the daily reality facing many modern Iranian women, as they enter old age. Alternating between naturalistic observation and imaginative flourishes, this narrative/experimental short film tells a simple story of how an older woman experiences her everyday routine. Since the Islamic Revolution, women in Iran have been required to wear veils in public, but in films, they are required to wear them in indoor settings, as well. This film breaks that taboo of Iranian cinema and shows a woman’s body and bodily functions in a private space. This is womanhood as Iranians experience it, not the idealization of the cleric or bureaucrat. Dialogue is kept to a minimum, the form of the film echoing her solitude. Actions that seem unremarkable from the outside are infused with a search for purpose amid all the mundane challenges, absurdities, introspection, and loneliness that structure her existence. It is, to me, a way of living both poetic and awe-inspiring, indeed the life of a Fereshteh - an angel. In Persian, subtitled. 2022; 15 min.
When will the warmth come? – Oleksandra Pletenetska (Kyiv, Ukraine)
A video diary by the director in which she documents her emotional states during the full-scale invasion of her country - Ukraine. 2022; 15 min.
Saturday, January 28, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
City of Love – Eric Boadella (Los Angeles, California)
148 Rides. 1 City. 1 Date. 2 Deaths. 1 Miracle. In this neo-noir feature, Spencer, a troubled rideshare driver in Los Angeles, will go to dangerous lengths to reconnect with the world he lost after spending 20 years in jail. 2022; 82 min.
Friday, February 3, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
Shorts Program #2
First Girl – Ellie Konn (Miami, Florida)
First times are terrifying. 2022; 8 min.
The Button Game – Drake Woodall (Brooklyn, New York)
A brutal display of life in isolation. 2022; 7 min.
Voiceless - Cindy Di Xin (Pasadena, California)
An international high school girl is trapped in a trauma nightmare that she has never experienced before. In Chinese and English, subtitled. 2022; 15 min.
Bean and the Babysitter – Jason Michael Roberts (Santa Monica, California)
Pat, a young woman with big city ambitions takes an overnight babysitting job at a rural midwestern farmhouse. But when the parents don’t return, she finds herself solely responsible for the safety and survival of an unpredictable ten-year-old Bean. Miles from civilization, with no way to call for help and resources running scarce, she’ll need both the ingenuity of an entrepreneur and the compassion of a mother to unravel the mystery and save the boy. 2022; 20 min.
It is Quiet Here - Olena Podolianko and Novruz Hikmet (Kyiv, Ukraine)
A young couple is torn from the world for one long night in a hotel room in a town near the border. That night they agreed not to talk about the war. Completely lost in each other' s small world, they don't realize when the morning comes and force them to go back to reality. 2022; 13 min.
Duplicitous Minds - Robert Rippberger (Toronto, Canada)
This film is a crime thriller/drama about the mysterious world of magic, a journey of hypnotism, heists, illusions and fun with many thrilling twists and turns. The entire film is structured like a long form magic trick with hidden clues, symbols and meanings. The theme of the movie is the choice between love (The Queen of Hearts) and power (The Ace). The dichotomy of one man’s lust for power (Ace of Spades) and one man’s loyalty to love (Queen of Hearts) propels our lead into a labyrinth of traversing a heart torn in two. It's a battle between traditional magic vs digital magic as a Magician and the Artist (a crooked businessman) team up for a heist that turns into a magic trick and an illusion onto itself. 2022; 18 min.
Saturday, February 4, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!
Jack Has a Plan – Bradley Berman (Berkeley, California)
When Jack, a man with a terminal brain tumor for 25 years, decides to end his life, his family and friends struggle to accept his decision. Jack’s best friend documents his three-year quest to die a happy man, culminating in a permanent going-away party. An amazing documentary that should not be missed! 2022; 73 min.
Saturday, February 4, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
Ocean City Monster Building – Chris Lane (Los Angeles, California)
The year is 1984, in a small sleepy town in upstate New York. The former mayor of the city is found dead on the backseat of his car with a local 15-year-old girl. In the aftermath, his wife of 30 years and his adopted daughter have to make sense of this difficult situation, while a detective from out of town is sent in to try to solve the case together with local law enforcement. 2022; 90 min.
Friday, February 10, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
Shorts Program #3
Bye Bye Lullaby – Sonali Gulat and Rohan Gulati (Richmond, Virginia)
When you are forced to leave your home, what do you take and what do you leave behind? Using a single long take, Bye Bye Lullaby explores the meaning of belonging and belongings, transporting and being transported, passing away and passing down. 2022; 5 min.
Stages of Lost Freedom – Kamran Rosen (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Derek 'Dice' Livingston was incarcerated for nearly two decades, during which time he kept a journal of his thoughts. Mirroring the stages of loss—denial, depression, bargaining, anger, and acceptance— this animation uses Dice's own words and narration to show the emotional journey of losing one's identity to long term incarceration, with each entry brought to life by a different animator. 2022; 7 min.
Revelation to the Disembodied – André Silva (Wilmington, North Carolina)
Fragments of a collective post-human dream construct a world that straddles hyper-technological, mythological, and ecological dimensions. 2022; 9 min.
Sucks To Be The Moon – Tyler Marc and Eric Paperth (Neptune City, New Jersey)
Jealous of the Sun’s stardom, the Moon journeys into space, searching for a planet that actually cares about him. Will he find his place in the universe, or is he destined to be a lonely loser forever? 2022; 11 min.
Rembrandt Lives in New Jersey – Kasey Child (Burlington, Vermont)
A documentary film about the New Jersey artist Helen Frank. 2022; 12 min.
Man Fire Clay – Michael Callas (Belvidere, New Jersey)
An intimate and enlightening portrait of New Jersey woodfire ceramic artist Peter Callas. 2022; 41 min.
Saturday, February 11, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
Junho – David Seok Hoon Boo (San Francisco, California)
Juhno wanted nothing more than to be a great actor. But when his prestigious acting troupe in Korea is rocked by a #MeToo scandal, he escapes to San Francisco, to start a new life. Unlike Junho's attempt to overcome loneliness, isolation and the loss of his best friend Jin, who was a victim of the scandal, his transgression from the past dislocates him. In English, Spanish, Korean, subtitled. 2022; 104 min.
Friday, February 17, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!
In Littleness – Cherlyn Hsing-hsin Liu (Santa Clarita, California)
This film was shot on a regular 8mm camera and is presented in un-slit form as 16mm, a screening format commonly referred to as double 8mm. In In Littleness, we are asked to watch four images at a time. Each screen only lasts for a moment. The waves of oncoming impressions submerge the viewer in an open and chaotic world, in which a noisy childhood experience is faintly drawn. In the end, what In Littleness treasures the texture of childhoods, overlapping and collective. 2022; 8 min.
Song of a Dying Summer – Kohei Sengen (Tokyo, Japan)
Natsu, together with his best friends, is trying to put on a stage play to commemorate their last summer together. Shot entirely with 8mm film. In Japanese, subtitled. 2022; 71 min.
Saturday- February 18, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM and 7PM!
2023 United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival Day 1- Parts 1 and 2
View the winning films and digital videos of the International United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival, selected by a jury of filmmakers, Rutgers University student interns, and media professionals. The festival--now in its 35th year—will feature finalist works by independent filmmakers from the United States and around the world. Each part approx. 90 min. A complete festival line-up is available at our website. Co-sponsored by Pro 8mm!
Sunday, February 19, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!
2023 United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival Day 2
View the winning films and digital videos of the International United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival, selected by a jury of filmmakers, Rutgers University student interns, and media professionals. The festival--now in its 35th year—will feature finalist works by independent filmmakers from the United States and around the world. Each part approx. 90 min. A complete festival line-up is available at our website. Co-sponsored by Pro 8mm!
Sunday, February 26, 2023 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!
South Football’s Impossible Dream – Sandra Levine (Toms River, New Jersey)
In 1968, Toms Rivers High School Football Coach Signorino challenged his players to believe in “The Impossible Dream” and they responded by delivering an undefeated season, 9-0. Toms River South had racked up a 19-game winning streak by the time the Hitting Indians faced the Middletown Lions, ranked No. 2, in a 1969 mythical state championship. A crowd, estimated at 10,000, gathered in South’s stadium on a bitterly cold November day to watch the two teams battle. Footage unearthed from the vaults of “The Greatest Game” and other matchups in the 1960s will be shown for the first time in more than five decades. This documentary film explores techniques used by legendary Toms River Coach Ron Signorino, Sr., to turn a losing high school football program in the mid-1960s, into a powerhouse, ranked No. 1 in the state. 2023; 60 min.
General Information:
The 41st Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 27-February 19. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. Each ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. The in-person screenings will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. Tickets: $15=Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Tickets = $10 Per Program.
Live Screenings Info, Location, Directions and Parking:
Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ = Take the NJ Turnpike to Exit 9 and then take Route 18N (New Brunswick direction) and go for 2 1/2 miles to the College Avenue Campus/George Street exit (immediately after the Route 27 S exit). Make a left at the light at the end of the exit ramp onto George Street, then go to the next light and make a right onto Hamilton Street. Then go to the next light and make a right onto College Avenue. Almost immediately on your righthand side you’ll see a University Parking Lot (#9) which is made available for New Jersey Film Festival patrons to park in. Voorhees Hall is adjacent to the Zimmerli Art Museum and is 100 paces across the Voorhees Mall from Parking Lot 9. Patrons can also park in Rutgers Lots #1 (next to Kirkpatrick Chapel) and #16 (next to Murray and Milledoler Halls).
A map and directions can also be accessed online here
Note: Parking in the lots listed above are only for visitors to the University.
Faculty, staff, and students must park only in the lots they are authorized to park in.
Visitor vehicles must be registered prior to parking here.
Information
New Jersey Film Festival
Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center
Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies
4170 Academic Building, 15 Seminary Place
New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901-8525 U.S.A.
Phone: (848) 932-8482
Email:
Websites: www.njfilmfest.com
Sponsors:
The New Jersey Film Festival is funded and/or sponsored in part by The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center; The Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies/School of Arts and Sciences; Middlesex County, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts - Funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund; The Rutgers University Office of Summer and Winter Sessions; OVID/Icarus Films, The Rutgers University American Studies Department; Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program; The Rutgers University Zimmerli Art Museum; The Rutgers University Writer’s House; Pro 8mm; The Rutgers University Office of Disability Services, WRSU; New Jersey Stage; The Home News, The Asbury Park Press; New Brunswick City Center; The Rutgers University Office of Community Affairs; Design Ideas; Advanced Printing; Steven C. Schechter, Esq.; Share and Harris.
Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC 2023 Staff
Executive Director/Curator: Albert Gabriel Nigrin
Office and House Manager: Katie Scrivani
Volunteers/Interns: Claire Apel, Amber Cui, Michelle Dragun, Alexia Fraser, Dennis Geissler, Jack Greenberg, Thomas Kozakiewicz, Alexandra Mazza, Yazmin Omana, Prajesh Patel, Emily Ranieri, Loren Simon, Emily Sparks, Natalie Tango, Vanessa Tirok
Advisors: Bob Brodsky, Victoria Connor, Matthew Maginley, Dr. Susan Martin-Marquez, Dr. Daniel Nigrin, Dr. Meheli Sen, Toni Treadway, and Dr. Alan Williams
Board of Trustees: Dr. Irene Fizer, Bill Harris, Albert Gabriel Nigrin, and Steven C. Schechter, Esq.
