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.

A Polar Bear Story

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.

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.

Fereshteh

Fereshteh distills the daily reality facing many modern Iranian women, as they enter old age.

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, then and now. 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.

The Pratt in the Hat

Beneath the brims of hundreds of colorful hats is a woman who shares her wisdom, humor, and personal experiences about being black in America, then and now.

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.

When will the warmth come?

A video diary by the director in which she documents her emotional states during the full-scale invasion of her country - Ukraine.

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. In English and German, subtitled. 2022; 13 min.

Exposed to Each Other

Touches are journeys - a film poem about the multi-faceted journey of interpersonal, intercultural encounters. How are we connected with each other?

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.

Sympoiesis

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.

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.

Marjorie Eliot's Parlor Entertainment Harlem

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.

Shorts Program #1 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!

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The Spring 2023 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 41st Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 27-February 25, 2023. 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.  General Admission Ticket: $15=Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100. To buy tickets for individual programs click on the photos below and click on the pre-order buttons.

Welcome to the New Jersey Film Festival Fall 2022! The 41st Bi-Annual Festival, which will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between 9/9-10/16, will be a hybrid as we will be presenting the Festival online as well as doing select live 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.