In just two years, the NJ Stage Awards have developed quite a following throughout the Garden State arts community.  Designed to help shine a spotlight on arts organizations throughout the state, the complete list of winners for 2016 were announced in New Jersey Stage magazine.  New Jersey Stage will be highlighting the winners of each category until the end of the year.  This article takes a look at the Best Film Festival category.

“The Golden Door Film Festival received our gold award as the best film festival,” said Gary Wien, publisher. “Founded in 2010 by actor Bill Sorvino, the festival uses the Sorvino family star power to bring a world-class film festival to Jersey City."

The silver award for second place went to New Jersey Film Festival, which is held on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick.

Earning the bronze was Northeast Film Festival in Teaneck, which celebrated its 4th year in 2016.

Awards were chosen by the public via a month-long online vote to find the best places to experience art in New Jersey.  Categories included art, comedy, dance, film, music, theatre, and best town for an arts night out. Over 10,000 votes were cast.

“The public was allowed to vote once a day per IP address,” explained Wien.  “This allowed the smallest of arts organizations the same opportunity as the largest.  We saw venues push voting on their websites, social media pages, and at the venues themselves.”

The top 3 vote getters for each category were listed in New Jersey Stage magazine and on a permanent page of the NewJerseyStage.com website.  In addition, the website features a rotating graphic highlighting one winner at a time and linking back to their website (the graphics will run until the 2017 NJ Stage Award winners are announced).  Individual press releases for each genre will also point a spotlight on the top 3 winners in each category.

For the complete list of 2016 NJ Stage Award winners click here.