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New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2020 Winners Announced!


By Al Nigrin

originally published: 02/17/2020



New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2020 Winners Announced!


All the works that were part of the Spring 2020 New Jersey Film Festival Competition were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 27 finalists which were publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from 611 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the judges chose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director. Here are the Winners.

Grand Prize Winners



Best Feature Film : Strive – Robert Rippberger (Los Angeles, California)



Best Documentary Film: Work Songs – Mark Street (Brooklyn, New York)



Best Short Film: The Seahorse Trainer – Ricardo Bonisoli and Babak Bina (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)



Best Animation Film: Daughter – Daria Kashcheeva  (Prague, Czech Republic)



Honorable Mention Winners


Textile Workers Andrea Nappi and Juno Roome  (Queens, New York)

For Hope – James Rees and Jay Thomas (New York, New York)


Two – Vasilios Papaioannu (Syracuse, New York)

Smoke -n- Suds – George  Nicholas (Mamaroneck, New York)

The Twelve Thousand – Eric Davis and Randy Watson (Langley, British Colombia, Canada)

Lab Dog – Noemi Durivou (Glendale, California)

Bailaora – Rubin Stein (Madrid, Spain)

Pacarrete Allan Deberton (Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil)

Tevye’s Daughters – Vladimir Lert (Kyiv, Ukraine)



For More Information Contact
:

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.    

(848) 932-8482

NJMAC12@gmail.com, NJMAC@aol.com;

www.njfilmfest.com

 



Albert Gabriel Nigrin is an award-winning experimental media artist whose work has been screened throughout the world. He is also a Cinema Studies Lecturer at Rutgers University, and the Executive Director/Curator of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, Inc.




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EVENT PREVIEWS

Exciting

Exciting short Embryo screens at the 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on February 8th!

Embryo, directed by J. Eliza Wall, follows the development of an embryo across the period of a surrogate pregnancy, showing the preparation of the mother and father as they prepare for the arrival of their daughter Fern. The film shines in its editing style, intercutting short videos from the two with images of fruits and vegetables equal to the size of the baby each week, as well as drawings and paintings of ferns and other plants. The interesting and unique style of editing brings a special charm to the situation, making the audience feel as though they are a part of the journey alongside the couple. As the weeks go on, anticipation builds as they celebrate the embryo’s health and growth over time.



Captivating

Captivating short The Traumatist screens at the 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on February 7th!

The Traumatist is a captivatingly spun story of intense catharsis. As Avery Vaughn goes through the process of “Immersive Retribution Trauma Therapy” the audience is pulled into the past alongside her, forced to relive flashbacks of the most impactful moments in her life. It’s almost impossible not to connect with Avery, her story made so tangible and the results of her trauma evident in every sentence, movement, and glance that she makes throughout her story.



New

New Jersey Film Festival Interview with God Teeth director Robbie C. Williamson!

God Teeth – Robbie C. Williamson (Puntaneras, Costa Rica) God Teeth is a wildly original and fantastical odyssey about four recently deceased souls who find themselves on an abandoned ship at sea. Part confessional, part elegy, the narrators must recount the circumstances which led to their untimely deaths, before a marauding gang of sting rays destroys their memories, banishing them to an eternity in purgatory. Created entirely from found internet footage, God Teeth offers the viewer a new and profound experience culled from the infinite digital world and turns it into a thought provoking, cinematic song of mourning and acceptance - The glory of life and death. Boom, a 10-year-old swimmer endeavors to make sense of the loss of her father in a world of dragons, magical sea creatures and underwater superheroes, but will she be destined to repeat history? Albert, leather clad and speeding through a tunnel, flashes back to his life wandering the streets of Hong Kong in search of desire and connection, but with an increasing sense of unease and isolation, he must finally confess to a long-held and shameful secret. Rose, an ambitious sports agent is on the cusp of experiencing a career defining moment, when out of the blue, she takes a bold left turn - with horrific and unintended consequences. Devoted family man, Campbell, speaks only in third person as he reluctantly recalls a raging forest fire that would forever change his existence, leaving him stuck atop a thousand-foot pole. 2024; 60 min. Here is my New Jersey Film Festival Interview with God Teeth director Robbie C. Williamson:



Enlightening

Enlightening documentary The Storm & The Boats premieres at the New Jersey Film Festival on February 8!

When it comes to documentaries, I often prefer those with a distinctive narrative, something provocative or emotional. Yet, The Storm & The Boats won me over in the first five minutes in a much different manner. The filmmaker Jody Small did not come with tissues, prepared to tell a heartfelt tale, but rather a calm and collected story where she presents a more objective, comprehensive view of what has happened in the past. It feels like someone you come across at the train station who has no makeup, no jewelry, no extravagant clothes or attitude, she looks at you with a peaceful look in the eyes, speaking with an even tone: “Wanna hear some stories?” And then, she would share with you the most heart-touching experiences.



Amazing

Amazing Feature God Teeth screens at the New Jersey Film Festival on February 7!

For many, the process of finding footage online and crafting a well-thought-out plot and connection between these shots may seem incredibly daunting and time-consuming. For musician and filmmaker Robbie C. Williamson, it is an exciting opportunity to craft something extremely unique and intriguing. Williamson’s found footage film God Teeth represents this excitement and exemplifies the exceptional results of his long-term efforts and passion for storytelling.