New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2007 Edition Info

The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, in association with the Rutgers University Program In Cinema Studies is proud to present the New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2007. Grouping together new international films, American independent features, short subjects, classic revivals, and cutting-edge documentaries and experimental films, the New Jersey Film Festivalsm Spring 2007 will feature over 50 film screenings on 43 evenings. This season we are proud to continue our long-standing tradition of screening a variety of insightful and provocative new feature films, as well as classics and cutting edge documentaries for our audiences. The Festival will run from Thursday, January 18 through Sunday, April 15, 2007. New Jersey has only one media arts center programming year-round — offering over 100 annual film screenings and events: The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center. Founded in 1982, the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC draws thousands of viewers from throughout New Jersey, and the metropolitan area, by providing an alternative media culture. The Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC is dedicated to the noncommercial exhibition of independent, classic, international, and experimental films and videos. 

Film Premieres
Over thirty films will have their New Jersey Premiere or Area Premiere (Middlesex County) screenings as part of the New Jersey Film Festivalsm Spring 2007. Some of these include: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s riveting Jesus Camp; Terry Gilliam’s Tideland an inspired cross between Alice in Wonderland and Psycho; Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt’sThe Animation Show; Dan Lohaus’s When I Came Home; Jodorowsky’s El Topo; Bill Plympton’s Hair High; Gary Null’s Friendly Fire and Prescription For Disaster; and all the films that will be part of our 2007 United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival. See the attached schedule for more information.

19th Annual United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival During the Spring 2007 season, the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC will present the 19th anniversary of the United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival — the longest running, nationally recognized, juried 8mm Film/Video Festival in North America. Each of the three evenings (February 16-18, 2007 in Scott Hall 123, Rutgers University) will feature a different program of films from throughout the USA, Canada, and the world. About 200 film/videomakers are competing for over $3000 in cash and prizes. Prize winners are announced on the last night of the Festival and audience members will vote for their favorite film. The Super 8 Festival is open to works predominantly shot on either Super 8/8mm film, Hi8/8mm video and/or Digital Video. This program is being co-sponsored by Eastman Kodak, Jungle Software, Pro 8mm, Super 8 Today, Johnson & Johsnson , and many others.

Visiting Artists
This spring’s festival will host a number of visiting filmmakers. They include: Academy Award Winning Animation Diretors to be announced as part of The Animation Show on Saturday+Sunday, January 20+21, 2007; Dan Lohaus – Director of When I Came Home on Friday, February23, 2007; Bill Plympton – Director of Hair High on Fr-March 30, 2007; and Gary Null – Director of Friendly Fire and Prescription For Disaster for one of our shows on the weekend of April 6, 2007. There will also be over 10 filmmakers present to promote their films at our 2006 United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival on the weekend of Friday, February 17, 2006 in Scott Hall #123/Rutgers University at 7PM. See the attached schedule for more information.

Puzzle Films/Cinema 101
On select Thursday evenings, the New Jersey Film Festivalsm Spring 2007 will present Cinema 101 a continuing education mini-course. The theme of this course will be Puzzle Films – films that you have to piece together and see many times to appreciate. Films included as part of this program include: Terry Gilliam’s Tideland; Christopher Nolan’s Memento; Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract and Drowning By Numbers; Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo; and Alain Resnais’s Last Year at Marienbad. Registration for the Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 course programs – which feature screenings and commentary by Rutgers University Cinema Studies Lecturer and NJ Film Festival Director Albert G. Nigrin — is on a “first-come-first-served” basis and can be obtained in advance by using the registration form on the other side of this schedule (Cost for the entire course is $45=General; $35=Students+Seniors; $30=Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC Friends) or at the door for individual programs beginning a half-hour before the start time if seats are available. Seating is limited. See the attached schedule for more information.

Other Special Programs
This spring the New Jersey Film Festival will also offer two special programs. On Friday, January 19, 2007 at 7PM we will offer a FREE program entitled Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Pictures at an Exhibition Screening + Lecture which will include both a screening of this now-legendary concert film and a lecture/audience discussion about the influence classical music has had on rock and roll. Dr. Marla Meissner, of The John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, will lecture, and the discussion will be moderated by N.J. Film Festival Director A. G. Nigrin. This program is being co-presented by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center. Admission is free! The other special program to be held on the weekend of April 13-15, 2007 features3 documentary films which focus on New Jersey. The films to be screened include: Carolyn Travis’s heartwarming film on Wildwood, NJ entitled Wildwood Days, Tom Franklin’s Ford’s Toxic Legacy – an expose on illegal dumping of toxic waste; and D.R. Hernandez’s The Ultimate Betrayal: A Survivor’s Journey — an edgy and empowering film on domestic violence. See the attached schedule for more information.

Film/Video Workshops: In addition, the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center will offer 4 film/video workshops, taught by professionals, during the spring. They include: Screenwriting I; Filmmaking I; The Film Business: Legal Aspects of the Motion Picture Business; and How To Raise Money For Film & Video Projects. See the attached schedule for more information.