43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival to Take Place September 6 through October 18
(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The 43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between September 6 to October 18, 2024. Twenty-one films will have their New Jersey or Area Premieres at the festival, which will be a hybrid of in-person screenings at Rutgers University and titles available via video on demand. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VOD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. In addition to the screenings, electronic music artist Jim Haynes will be doing an audio-visual concert on Friday, October 18 at 7:00pm.
Romantic Comedy Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts opens the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival!
by Al Nigrin - published 2024-08-27
In Shaun Seneviratne’s Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts, Ben Santhanaraj journeys to Sri Lanka to rekindle his relationship with Suzanne Hopper, an American NGO worker, after a long separation. But when Suzanne's boss demands she work during their vacation, their love is tested by a dilemma: desire versus duty. As Suzanne struggles with the responsibilities of her job, Ben tries everything to revive their intimacy, leading to candid conversations and chaotic twists as New Year’s Eve - and Ben’s departure - looms ahead.
New Jersey Film Festival Fall 2024 Video Overview
by Vic Fern - published 2024-09-01
The New Jersey Film Festival returns to Rutgers University September 6th - October 18th for the Fall 2024 season! Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the Festival, provides a video overview of the films being showcased via EBTV.
Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts Video Filmmaker Q+A for the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival!
by Al Nigrin - published 2024-09-02
Here is the New Jersey Film Festival Fall 2024 Video Filmmaker Q+A with Ben and Suzanne Director Shaun Seneviratne, Lead Actor Anastasia Olowin, Festival Judge Anran Li, and Festival Director Al Nigrin:
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Smart Rom-Com Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts opens the New Jersey Film Festival!
by Anran Li - published 2024-09-04
“So, is this film really about reunion or drifting apart?”
I hesitated for three seconds before answering, “It’s complicated.”
It’s hard to pinpoint the delicate changes in emotions in Shaun Seneviratne's Ben and Suzanne: A Reunion in Four Parts. Yet, this intricacy vests the film with more relatability and, therefore, an unrefined attraction. Partially autobiographical, this film tells the story of a long-distance couple’s reunion on a half-business-half-travel trip. In the exotic land of Sri Lanka, Ben, who comically lands with a gigantic Toblerone chocolate bar, and Suzanne, his long-distance girlfriend who works for an NGO organization, rediscover, reconnect, and redirect their relationship as they encounter awkward intimacy, comical dilemmas, and inevitable disagreements and redraw their individual lifelines.
“Complicated?”
New Jersey Film Festival Filmmaker Video Interview with Shaun Seneviratne
by Vic Fern - published 2024-09-05
Al Nigrin, Executive Director & Curator of the NJ Film Festival, sits down with Shaun Seneviratne, Director of Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts for a filmmaker interview at EBTV:
Touching documentary A Girl Can Touch the Sky screens at the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival on September 7!
by Catalina Chapman - published 2024-08-28
A Girl Can Touch the Sky, by Ravinol Chambers, is an immersive documentary that takes the audience deep into the culture and sometimes obtrusive gender roles across India. Chambers who was once a monk in the city of Vrindavan, India helps to shine a lot on the situations that are most pressing to many girls in the villages of India. As he and a crew travel down the west coast of India, they hope to raise awareness about the difficulties girls in the area have in accessing education. The documentary provides a manifold of interviews that discuss the education topic for girls from different points of view. Chambers shows a plethora of conflicting opinions that help the viewer become entrenched in the complex culture of India. We see disappointed fathers, hopeful girls, and educators speak on the matter at hand.
Informative feature documentary A.P. Giannini screens at the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival on Sunday, September 8!
by Al Nigrin - published 2024-08-31
A.P. Giannini is an insightful documentary that tells the incredible true story of Amadeo Peter Giannini, the son of Italian immigrants in San Francisco, the man who revolutionized the world of finance by lending money to low-income workers and migrants during the worst economic crises of all times. He embraced the idea of ethical finance, fighting against usury and speculation.
Here is my interview with A.P. Giannini Co-Directors Valentina Signorelli and Cecilia Zoppelletto:
3 Amazing short documentaries screen at the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival!
by Anita LaBelle - published 2024-09-03
Legacy, and who gets to tell what stories, is a question that has long been asked by historians, anthropologists, and most importantly, artists. Three artists address this question head-on through their various films screening at the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival: Rough Blazing Star (by Christopher Wiersema), Joey Skaggs: Stop BioPEEP (by Judy Drosd & Joey Skaggs), and WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FROELICH (by Marieli Frohlich).
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