(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 37 films from 14 different countries will be screened at the four-day festival, along with a special screening of short films from We the Voters and a panel discussion with local filmmakers about filmmaking for social causes.

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 connect via Skype 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. SUMMER PARK director Michael Benko will be in attendance. It will be followed at 9:00 pm by a program of suspense and horror short films, including STITCHED, filmed in New Jersey by director Heather Taylor, and WICKED CONCLUSIONS, by New Jersey director Phillip G. Carroll, Jr. Both filmmakers will attend, along with cast and crew members, to answer questions from the audience.

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 a 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 acclaimed documentary, WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME NOW?, by Israeli director Tomer Heymann, about a gay man who left his kibbutz to make a life in London now looking to reunite with his family 17 years later.

On Sunday, Apr. 2, two events focused on social issues start the afternoon. At 12:45 pm is a screening of eight short films about various aspects of democracy and U.S. governance from the WE THE VOTERS social impact campaign. Following that, at 1:30 pm will be a panel discussion by Princeton area filmmakers about how filmmaking can address activism and advocacy. Both events are free of charge.

The two remaining programs on Sunday afternoon also feature local filmmakers. At 3:45 pm, Philadelphia-based director Amy Frear will present two films--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.