originally published: 12/05/2019



(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, in association with the Rutgers University Program In Cinema Studies, presents the New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2020 from January 25 through February 28. Showcasing new international films, American independent features, experimental and short subjects, classic revivals, and cutting-edge documentaries, the festival includes over 35 screenings and more than 40 films will have their New Jersey or Area Premiere (Middlesex County) screenings as part of the New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2020 and the United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival.

Screenings take place on select Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings beginning at 7:00pm in a state of the art facility located in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Tickets costs are $14=Advance; $12=General; $10=Students + Seniors; $9=Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC Friends (Except the screenings on February 21 and February 28 which are free)

All the works that we are screening, with the exception of four programs, are part of the New Jersey Film Festival Competition and were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 27 finalists which will be publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from over 611 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the judges will choose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director. Prize winners will be announced after the screenings on Sunday, February 16, 2020.

Some of the films to be screened include: Andrea Nappi and Juno Roome's captivating experimental film Textile Workers; Mark Streets's highly engaging documentary Work Songs; James Rees and Jay Thomas's moving short film For Hope; Tre Manchester's Bleed American -- a stunning and timely portrait of the unravelling fabric in today's Middle America; Vasilios Papaioannu's wonderful experimental film Two; Vasco Diogos's Mixed Movie -- short film from Portugal made using a mobile phone; George Nicholas's punk animated film Smoke -n- Suds; Daria Kashcheeva's amazing animated film from the Czech Republic Daughter; Quinn Turon and Nadio Boyea's spooky Greene Dreams; Ricardo Bonisoli and Babak Bina's surreal film from Canada The Seahorse Trainer; Robert Rippberger's touching feature film Strive; Etienne Labbouz's Diwali -- a hybrid work mixing documentary film and poetry; Sam Vinal's searing documentary L'Eau Est La Vie (Water is Life): From Standing Rock to the Swamp; Noemi Durivou's compassionate short Lab Dog; Demetre Papageorgiou and Kalim Armstrong's compelling documentary 9 Degrees; Grace Chang's beautiful A Missing Piece; Rubin Stein's Bailaora -- post apocalyptic short from Spain; Allan Deberton's moving drama from Brazil Pacarrete; Viay Renga's Anne -- a modern musical take on a love story, inspired by Anne Frank's diary; Vladimir Lert's film Tevye's Daughters shot in Ukraine tells the story of the Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem's most famous character; and many, many others.

Scroll down for the complete festival schedule

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Saturday, January 25-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Textile Workers – Andrea Nappi and Juno Roome (Queens, New York) In this captivating experimental film, a wayward man, led by a scarlet fairy, is transported to a fantastical land. 2019; 8 min. Q+A Session with Directors Andrea Nappi and Juno Roome.

Work Songs – Mark Street (Brooklyn, New York) Combining interviews with observational footage, Work Songs is a highly engaging documentary thateloquently explores how workers in a range of industries attempt to find meaning in their jobs. Director Mark Street dives into the gig economy, automatization, and the decreasing power of unions, and then leavens this bleak picture with finely observed evocations of work places. 2019; 68 min. Q+A Session with Director Mark Street. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Cinema Studies Program.

Sunday, January 26-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

For Hope – James Rees and Jay Thomas (New York, New York) Featuring amazing cinematography, stellar acting, and a gorgeous original soundtrack, this moving short film is set in the underbelly of Kentucky. A young disabled girl lives in a world of structured harmony that is kept afloat by her older brother, but at what cost? 2019; 20 min. Q+A Session with Director James Rees and Producer, Writer, Actor Jay Thomas.

Bleed American – Tre Manchester (Hammond, Indiana) When his mother's alcohol abuse returns her to the hospital, Larson becomes the parental figure to his young brother L.J. and his sister Lex. He soon finds himself deeply conflicted about his responsibility as their parental figure, particularly after L.J. slips under the influence of a local hoodlum. Bleed American is a stunning and timely portrait of the unravelling fabric in today's Middle America. 2019; 75 min. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University American Studies Department and the Rutgers University Office of Disability Services.

Friday, January 31-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Super Shorts I

Time Trance – Benjamin Ridgeway (San Francisco, California) A fittingly brief, animated meditation on the perception of time and the ever-changing state of reality. 2019; 2 min.

His Eyes Behind Mine – Qin Ziwei (San Marino, California) An emotional journey through love, sex, obsession, and violence, based on a true story. 2019; 6 min.

Two – Vasilios Papaioannu (Syracuse, New York) Two is structured as a conversation—between sound and image, seasons come and gone, natural and altered landscapes, and an unseen man and woman. It begins as a duet between a video diary and a field recording, and ends as an archive of the possibilities hibernating within each moment. 2019; 8 min. Q+A Session with Director Vasilios Papaioannu.

Mixed Movie – Vasco Diogo (Covilhã, Portugal) This short film was entirely made using a mobile phone and several apps. Inspired by a surrealistic aesthetic, in which creativity, randomness, and the imagination play important roles, it reflects on the possibilities of contemporary social media short videos, neither as an absolute celebration nor as a technophobic critique. 2019; 10 min.

Smoke -n- Suds – George Nicholas (Mamaroneck, New York) Two punks meet at a laundromat in the late 80's, in New York's Hell's Kitchen, in this animated film. 2019; 13 min. Q+A Session with Director George Nicholas.

Daughter – Daria Kashcheeva (Prague, Czech Republic) This animated film from the Czech Republic asks many questions. Should you hide your pain? Close yourself inside your inner world, full of longing for your father's love? Or should you understand and forgive before it is too late? 2019; 15 min.

Greene Dreams – Quinn Turon and Nadia Boyea (Greenville, New York) A young small-town girl, searching for answers to a suspicious occurrence, realizes that a high school friend, who might have been involved, must be the subject of her investigation. 2019; 24 min. Q+A Session with Directors Quinn Turon and Nadia Boyea. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Cinema Studies Program.

Saturday, February 1-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Fuck – Vern Hass (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) One word says it all, in this hilarious short film about a female college student's sexual trials, tribulations, and revelations during her first semester of college. 2019; 3 min.

The Seahorse Trainer – Ricardo Bonisoli and Babak Bina (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) Enter the surreal and nautical world of Seamour, a lonely man with a passion for training seahorses. Desperate to have his most prized seahorse perform the highly ambitious “Triple Back Flip,” he takes it through a final day of training. But when the fateful hour arrives, Seamour realizes that he must overcome his own troubled past if the trick will ever be achieved. 2019; 14 min.

Strive – Robert Rippberger (Los Angeles, California) In this touching feature film, Kalani is a teenager living in Harlem, New York with her older brother Jacob and her younger sister Bebe while her mother struggles to make ends meet. Her college counselor Mr. Rose (played by Danny Glover) sees great promise in her future. As Kalani's siblings get caught in a web of problems, Kalani teeters on the brink of ruin as she struggles to keep both her family and her dream of getting into college intact. Strive reminds us that hard work, optimism, and perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity is the essence of what it is to be alive. 2019; 82 min. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Cinema Studies Program.

Friday, February 7-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Diwali –Etienne Labbouz (Highland Park, New Jersey) Diwali is a hybrid work mixing documentary film and poetry. This film-poem was shot in South India during the period of Diwali, the famous festival of lights. While commenting specifically on the position of women in Indian society, the film also marvels at the beauty of a celebration of light and spiritual renewal. 2019; 10 min. Q+A Session with Director Etienne Labbouz.

L'Eau Est La Vie (Water is Life): From Standing Rock to the Swamp – Sam Vinal (Los Angeles, California)

This searing and timely documentary, set in the swamplands of Louisiana, focusses on a group of fierce Indigenous women who are fighting to preserve their way of life. They have set up the L'eau Est La Vie (Water is Life) camp, in active resistance against a planned oil pipeline. They are determined to risk everything to protect their environment from the predatory fossil fuel companies that threaten the health and well-being of their people. 2019; 25 min.

The Twelve Thousand – Eric Davis and Randy Watson (Langley, British Colombia, Canada) The Twelve Thousand narrates the true story of a young woman who survived the brutal sex-trafficking trade that exists on the border between Nepal and India. Filmed on location in Kathmandu without any professional actors, this short film gives a voice to the 12,000 Nepalese children who are trafficked every year and invites the viewer to be part of the solution. In Nepali, subtitled. 2019; 30 min. Q+A Session with Director Eric Davis and Producer Randy Watson. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Department of African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Languages and Literatures Department.

Saturday, February 8-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Super Shorts II

A Thousand Cranes – Leonard Chan (San Francisco, California) Two stories play out in this lovely short film: In the first story, set during China's Qin Dynasty, a warrior named Flying Arrow and a princess named Clear Clouds must face separation and sacrifice. Flying Arrow promises Clear Clouds that he'll love her through multiple reincarnations. The two young lovers yearn for a future that is not tangible. In the second story, set in the present day, an older couple, Claire and Aaron, must face the terrible sense of loss that comes with Claire's late-stage Alzheimer's, as they yearn for a past that doesn't exist anymore. The lovers from different lifetimes are determined to prove their love, not knowing their lives are intertwined. In Mandarin, subtitled. 2019; 7 min. Q+A Session with Director Leonard Chan.

Lab Dog – Noemi Durivou (Glendale, California) When Peter, a laboratory assistant in an animal testing facility, is given the task to perform tests on a beagle dog named Riley, he has a total change of heart. In the dark of night, he goes on a mission to save Riley, by taking him out of the lab. As Peter begins to rehabilitate the traumatized dog, and discovers the dog's passion for singing, he realizes that he has to save other animals from the cruel and illegally run animal testing facility. 2019; 13 min.

The Quiet Pain – Timothy Amatulli (Glen Rock, New Jersey) After discovering that her husband is having an affair, Kiriko must make a split-second decision between exposing her husband's infidelities or maintaining appearances for the sake of their young daughter. 2019; 13 min. Q+A Session with Director Timothy Amatulli.

9 Degrees – Demetre Papageorgiou and Kalim Armstrong (Brooklyn, New York) This compelling documentary tracks the co-director's personal journey after he discovers, through genetic testing, that he has eight siblings. Demetre Papageorgiou grew up as the oldest child of George and Cynthia, Greek immigrants, who settled in the Midwest. All of that changed when Demetre got a call from a man in Texas who turned out to be his half brother. This is the story of five brothers and four sisters, separated by distance and decades, coming together for the first time, thanks to online DNA testing. This is a story of brothers and sisters who beat all the odds and found the loving family they never knew they were looking for. 2019; 13 min. Q+A Session with Directors Demetre Papageorgiou and Kalim Armstrong.

Another Round – Brandon Regina (New York, New York) A man and a woman have a drink to rekindle their former relationship, but they may be harboring secrets that could lead to the ultimate betrayal. 2019; 15 min. Q+A Session with Director Brandon Regina.

A Missing Piece – Grace Chang (Brooklyn, New York) Ling, a former Peking Opera performer, tries to enlist her teenage son, David to deliver a mysterious package to her aging Opera master. During their visit at her master's retirement home in Chinatown, something unexpected happens that leads Ling and David to find the “Missing Piece”. In Mandarin, subtitled. 2019; 16 min. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Cinema Studies Program and the Rutgers University Confucius Institute.

Saturday, February 15-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Bailaora – Rubin Stein (Madrid, Spain) A war. A child. A dream. 2018; 15 min.

Pacarrete – Allan Deberton (Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil) Pacarrete is an aging ballet dancer. After retiring, she goes back to her hometown. However, still undaunted, she decides to give one last dance performance, as a gift "to the people,” on the eve of her hometown's 200-year anniversary party. But will anybody care? This thrilling drama about one dancer's enduring passion for her art stars Marcelia Cartaxo, who was awarded the Best Actress prize at the Berlin Film Festival for the classic film The Hour of the Star. In Portuguese, subtitled. 2019; 98 min. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Cinema Studies Program and the Rutgers University Spanish and Portuguese Department.

Sunday, February 16-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Anne – Vijay Renga (Hanover, New Hampshire) A modern musical take on a love story, inspired by Anne Frank's diary. 2019; 7 min.

Tevye's Daughters – Vladimir Lert (Kyiv, Ukraine) Tevye's Daughters tells the story of the Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem's most famous character, Tevye the Dairyman, and the struggles he faces living in a half-Jewish-half-Christian village in Tsarist Russia. Although Tevye's story has become world-famous through its musical adaptation,The Fiddler on the Roof, this film, by director Vladimir Lert, presents the story in its original Ukrainian setting and in keeping with Aleichem's own words. The legendary Russian actor, Evgeniy Knyazev stars as Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman who lives with his wife Golde and their three marriageable daughters, all of whom wish to marry for love and to stray further away from their traditional Jewish values and heritage. As Tevye tries to keep his family together he must also confront rising anti-Semitic rhetoric in his village, which threatens to evict his fellow Jewish neighbors. Through the hardships that the family faces, the film shows that even in the face of adversity, laughter and an optimistic outlook on life can prevail. In Russian, subtitled. 2018; 120 min. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Department of German, Russian and East European Languages and Literatures.

Friday, February 21-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Kaili Blues – Bi Gan (Kaili City, Guizhou, China) A stunning debut from Chinese director Bi Gan, Kaili Blues is an audacious, mesmerizing film. In a small clinic in a rain-drenched city, two preoccupied doctors live ghost-like lives. One of them, Chen, decides to fulfill a family wish and sets off on a train journey to search for his brother's abandoned child, only to find himself in a dreamlike world where past, present, and future—as well as fantasy and reality—become one. This remarkable visual achievement was shot in the mining village of Kaili, the director's birthplace, and incorporates poetry that he has been writing since he was a teenager. In Mandarin, subtitled. 2015; 113 min. Free Admission! Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Confucius Institute and the Rutgers University Cinema Studies Program.

Saturday, February 22-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Sunday, February 23-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

2020 United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival - 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 32nd year—will feature finalist works by independent filmmakers from the United States and around the world. Prize winners will be announced after the screening, in a competition for prizes, along with the Audience Favorite Prize. Approx. 120 min. A complete festival line-up will be listed on our website by February 1, 2020. Co-sponsored by Pro 8mm.

Friday, February 28-Voorhees Hall #105-7:00pm

Days of Being Wild – Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong, China) In his first hypnotic and nostalgic glance at Hong Kong in 1960, the acclaimed director Wong Kar-Wai creates a lushly romantic film set in a fluorescent labyrinth of cool desperation and unfulfilled need. In Mandarin, subtitled. 1990; 94 min. Free Admission! Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Confucius.

The New Jersey Film Festival takes place in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey.