Still from Just Being Here

Here is the first of the 2021 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Q+A sessions. This one features The Heartland Director Marquise Mays and Just Being Here Director Matteo Moretti. Questions were posed by Festival Juror Hamsa Hassan and Festival Director Al Nigrin.

The Heartland and Just Being Here will be playing online Video on Demand at the 2021 New Jersey International Film Festival as part of the Short Documentary Films Program on Saturday, June 5.

Here is more info on this screening:

Saturday, June 5, 2021 - $12=General.

Films will be available on Video On Demand for 24 hours on this show date.

To buy tickets go here.

Short Documentary Films Program

The Heartland – Marquise Mays (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Highlighting both the joys and trials of growing up Black in the Midwest, three Black Milwaukee residents confront & reconcile the unrequited love between them and their city. Separated into three chapters, we explore the childhood experience for Black kids. From the moments when they lost their innocence to the outwardly expression that defined their voices, Black kids in this city proclaim that Milwaukee will forever be theirs. 2020; 24 min.

Just Being Here – Matteo Moretti (Middlebury, Vermont)  Walter has lived alone for most of his life and doesn't venture far from his house, but his life is far from ordinary. Just Being Here shares the story of a man who finds solace and wonder in the nature of his backyard and comfort in the company of special friends. 2021; 14 min.

Emily, ilaw ng tahahan - Anna Prokou (Doha, Qatar) Emily, ilaw ng tahahan is an experimental documentary film about a young Filipina singer in Doha. "The set is built in a way you can understand better what she has to explain about her life. The format of the image is very well chosen, because this square is like a box where the girl is captured. Little by little we understand why life is hard for her, thanks to the lights and shadows that tears her in parts more surely than words. And the sound is precisely constructed to help us feel what is important for Emily. Music and noises are like giving us clues to understand her more. The entire film is at the same time the real life of a young singer and a work of art like the ones by Annette Messager, Marina Abramovic or Apichatpong Weerasethakul." Professor Martin Barnier, Université Lumière Lyon. 2020; 19 min.

Stolen Fish - Gosia Juszczak (Madrid, Spain) 

In the smallest country of mainland Africa, Gambia, fish is now being turned into fishmeal by Chinese corporations and exported to Europe and China to feed animals in industrial farming. As a result, Gambians are being deprived of their primary source of protein and overfishing is depleting marine ecosystems. The film follows Abou, Mariama and Paul, three Gambians who share intimate stories of daily struggle, anger, hope and longing for their loved ones in the midst of difficult migration routes. The first film on Gambia’s fishmeal factories, offering a unique insight into untold drivers of migration and the role played by women in new economic systems. In English and Wolof, subtitled. 2021; 30 min.



Still from The Heartland