(TRENTON, NJ) -- The Trenton Film Society hosts their annual Trenton Film Festival at the Mill Hill Playhouse from Thursday, March 30 to Sunday, April 2. This year 38 films from 14 different countries will be screened at the four-day festival.
The 2017 Festival will feature a diverse mix of documentary and fiction films, as well as animation, spoken word, music video and other genres by filmmakers from as nearby as Philadelphia, PA and Pennington, New Jersey, to as far away as Israel and Serbia.
The festival opens on Thursday, Mar. 30, 7:00 pm, with the full-length feature film POP-UP by Australian director Stuart McBratney, who will be in attendance to answer questions from the audience. POP-UP is a series of three seemingly unconnected stories woven together by people affected by the same event.
On Friday, Mar. 31, the Hong Kong-based thriller JASMINE will be shown at 7:00 pm with SUMMER PARK, a short film about two teenagers in China. It will be followed at 9:00 pm by a program of suspense and horror short films, including WICKED CONCLUSIONS, by New Jersey director Phillip G. Carroll, Jr., who will be in attendance along with actress Chloe Hendrickson.
Documentary and narrative short film programs will play throughout the day on Saturday, Apr. 1. The documentary EXTRA 1104 – THE STORY OF THE ROCKPORT TRAIN WRECK, screening at 12:00 pm, tells the story of a 1925 train tragedy that still stands as one of the biggest disasters in New Jersey history. Also in that program is BEFORE CHRISTMAS, a narrative film about a Chinese family working in a Christmas decoration factory, with director Abigail He in attendance.
Saturday evening programs on Apr. 1 include two feature-length documentaries. Screening at 5:00 pm will be THE PROMISE, by Serbian director Zelijko M. Mirkovic. The film focuses on a once prosperous, now-abandoned area of Serbia that is trying to return to being a top wine region in Europe. It will be shown with the documentary short ARANCERI - BATTLE OF THE ORANGES, about an unique festival in Italy. The film’s director of photography Clément Morin will be in attendance at the screening.
Playing at 7:15 pm is the highly acclaimed MR. GAGA, by Israeli director Tomer Heymann. The film focuses on the artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, Ohad Naharin, who is regarded as one of the most important choreographers in the world. Over a period of eight years, Heymann chronicles Naharin's work through rehearsal footage with an extensive unseen archive and dance sequences. Another Heymann documentary, WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME NOW?, will screen at 1:15 pm on Sunday, Apr. 2.
Sunday afternoon, Apr. 2, includes several films of local interest. Philadelphia-based director Amy Frear has two films in the festival — the comedic SELKIE, which follows a wayward “selkie” (a seal that can turn itself into a human) who is captured by a man from Fishtown, Philadelphia; and ANOTHER TIME, which centers on the story of a twenty-something woman, who is possibly a time-traveler, dealing with commitment issues and indecision in present-day Philadelphia.
Also on Sunday, at 5:30 pm, is PASQUALE'S MAGIC VEAL, by New Jersey filmmaker D. J. Higgins. This dark comedy starring Sopranos actors Vincent Pastore, Dan Grimaldi and Artie Pasquale, centers around a “magic piece of veal” that forces all who eat it to speak the truth. Higgins calls his film “a Sopranos reunion that is anything but Sopranos.” Both Frear and Higgins will be on hand to answer questions from the audience.
Awards in all categories and genres, including an Audience Favorite Award, will be presented at the Closing Night Reception on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $8 per screening or $25 for an all-access pass to the entire festival. All screenings are at the Mill Hill Playhouse, 205 East Front Street, Trenton, NJ. Tickets and passes can be purchased online or at the box office, and film descriptions and schedule information are available at www.trentonfilmsociety.org.