New Jersey Film Festival returns with 19 pictures – and a new twist
The New Jersey Film Festival has run biannually at Rutgers for 42 years, making it the longest-running juried film festival in the state. But with more than 400 entries submitted each running, it never runs out of fodder.
“A lot of the fluff movies you see are like the popcorn that you eat – there’s not much nutrition, they taste good, but they don’t go further than that,” said Al Nigrin, executive director and curator of the festival. “We show movies that are interesting enough to be watched again and again.”
On Fridays and Sundays from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8, the festival will feature 19 films – less than 5% of submissions. The six winners of the New Jersey International Film Festival, which occurred in June, also will be shown.
Attendees can purchase a $15 general admission ticket per film or a $100 all-access pass to see all of them. Films can be viewed at Voorhees Hall 105 at Rutgers, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, at 5 or 7 p.m. on their show date, or virtually for 24 hours on their show date. Three thousand people are expected to purchase tickets.
Some of the films coming up include the world premiere of “Breaking The Surface,” an experimental dance film about climate change made by a New Brunswick filmmaker; “Fandango,” a documentary about an opera workshop in the Congo made by a Princeton filmmaker; and "Honor Student,” a film about a seemingly perfect student who becomes a school shooter.
“Our films are about celebrating humanism and films as a way to change the world,” said Nigrin.
Each film is judged by at least five of the festival’s 25 judges who are journalists, former festival winners, academics and Rutgers University students. The jury also selects prize winners, which will be announced Oct. 9.
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The festival for the first time will include a solo performance by guitarist Tim Motzer at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 which will include projections from experimental films. It’s an element that Nigrin has considered adding to the festival for years and hopes to include in future runnings.
Nigrin founded the festival, which is presented by the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center in association with the Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies, in 1982 when he was a Rutgers University graduate student and teacher’s assistant. Without internet, VHS or DVDs, he relied on movies shown on TV.
“I wanted to see some of the classics that weren't being shown on TV, so we rented movies and showed them in a dorm classroom,” he said. “I thought, ‘I don’t want to watch these by myself – I want to share them with an audience.’”
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Go: Fridays and Sundays from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8; $15 general admission ticket per film or a $100 all-access pass; newjerseyfilmfestivalfall2023.eventive.org.
Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: New Jersey Film Festival returns to Rutgers New Brunswick Sept. 8
