The Fall New Jersey Film Festival Returns to Rutgers–New Brunswick
The event, scheduled for select Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Sept. 6 to Oct. 18, includes both online and in-person showings
More than 20 films from up north, across the pond and throughout Europe will be screened at Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival between Friday, Sept. 6, and Friday, Oct. 18.
The festival, which is marking its 43rd anniversary, will be a hybrid event: In addition to in-person screenings at Rutgers–New Brunswick, all the films will be available virtually as videos-on-demand for 24 hours on their show dates.
“We will be screening some great films from Poland, Austria, Canada, England and other faraway places,” said Al Nigrin, the executive director, curator and founder of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center.
The festival also will feature an audio-visual concert by electronic music artist Jim Haynes at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. Nigrin added that on Friday, Oct. 4, organizers also will be screening many of the prize-winning films from June’s 2024 New Jersey International Film Festival.
Nigrin, who is an experimental filmmaker, also will present a retrospective of his films at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27 as a benefit for the New Jersey Media Arts Center to raise money for a newly created assistant director position.
Each general admission ticket or festival pass purchased is good for both virtual and in-person screenings. Both the Haynes concert and the festival’s in-person screenings will be held in Room 105 of Voorhees Hall, 71 Hamilton St., New Brunswick, N.J., with show times beginning at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.
General admission tickets are $15 per program; student tickets for in-person screenings are $10 per program. An all-access festival pass is available for $100. General admission for the Haynes concert is $25 a person.
Festival organizers said ticket buyers will have access to filmmaker introductions and question-and-answer sessions for many of the films. Visit the festival’s website for more information.
The film festival’s lineup includes:
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Shaun Seneviratne’s romance feature Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts
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Filmmaker Ravinol Chambers re-examines gender roles in the documentary A Girl Can Touch the Sky
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Rough Blazing Star is an experimental documentary by Christopher Wiersema that examines anarchism, local history and memory, Emma Goldman’s writing and a shared love of flowers
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Taylor Olson’s autobiographical feature Look At Me
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Nadia Zoe’s comedy feature A Little Family Drama
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Jenna Kathleen Taylor’s film Thank You for Sharing puts a spotlight on mental health
The festival also will feature an array of short, animated and experimental films.
Nigrin, a cinema studies lecturer at Rutgers, said all the films being screened are part of the New Jersey Film Festival and were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students and academics.
The finalists were selected from more than 400 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world, Nigrin added.
