Herd – Michel Negroponte (Livingston Manor, New York)A herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle is delivered to a neighboring pasture in the Catskills and instantly inspires a new film. The filmmaker's growing fascination with the complex forces that propel the animals through one season to the next leads him to reflect on the modern idea of animal personhood. The cows graze and chew their cud, new calves are born, the mothers diligently safeguard their offspring while the bull dominates the herd. Like humans, cows have distinct characteristics: some are giddy, some private, others wise and placid. What are the mysterious forces that drive the cattle? Is their curiosity hardwired into their brains? Are cows sentient? Why do humans believe they have dominion over animals? These questions have been asked for centuries: Aristotle believed that animals are purely instinctual whereas Pythagoras believed that reincarnation moved souls from humans to cows. Equal part rumination, observation and meditation, the film reveals the cow's essence and challenges us to think differently about our fellow living animal beings. 2023; 66 min.

Herd

A herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle is delivered to a neighboring pasture in the Catskills and instantly inspires a new film.

A Spot for Frog – Evan Bode (Syracuse, New York)Locked out of the school art room, a creative nonbinary teen named Frog grapples with anxiety as they seek a new place to eat lunch. Imagination blurs with reality in this hybrid work of live action and animation about an artist's search for identity, belonging, and expression on the margins. 2022; 16 min.

A Spot for Frog

Locked out of the school art room, a creative nonbinary teen named Frog grapples with anxiety as they seek a new place to eat lunch.

Balaena - Alessia Cecchet (Santa Cruz, California)A whale lies stranded on the beach, and a woman seeks closure through a simulacrum while human interlopers observe, collect, dissect and take selfies. 2022; 8 min.

Balaena

A whale lies stranded on the beach, and a woman seeks closure through a simulacrum while human interlopers observe, collect, dissect and take selfies.

Best of the 2023 New Jersey International Film Festival - Herd, A Spot for Frog & Balaena - Online For 24 Hours!

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The Spring 2024 New Jersey Film Festival All Access Festival Pass gives you admission to all the Festival Screenings for one low price.

These are all your purchased tickets. Open this page on your phone, and at the door tap the "Show Barcode" button and show your screen to the attendant. Prefer paper? Print the PDF attached to the order confirmation email, or click one of the gears below and select "Download tickets PDF". If purchasing multiple tickets, be sure to print or show each unique ticket barcode.

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All Access Festival Pass

The 42nd Bi-Annual Festival will be taking place on select Fridays and Sundays between September 8-October 8. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing select 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. Here is the link for the "Tickets/Info/Schedule" button: https://watch.eventive.org/newjerseyfilmfestivalfall2023    All films are subject to change.     Patrons who will view remotely can only buy one ticket at a time as we need individual email addresses to transmit online versions of the film screenings.  We can sell bulk tickets to patrons using Venmo but this would only be good for the in-person screenings. Contact us if you would like more info on bulk ticket purchasing at this email address:  njmac@aol.com   

Welcome to the 2023 New Jersey International Film Festival! The 28th Annual Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays between June 2-11. The Festival will be presenting the Festival online as well as doing select in-person screenings. 

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Many live streams will be available for on-demand viewing as well.