By Al Nigrin
originally published: 10/09/2023
Fall 2023 New Jersey Film Festival Winners
All the works that were part of the Fall 2023 New Jersey Film Festival Competition were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 19 finalists which were publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from 403 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the judges chose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director.
Winner Best Feature Film
Hole in the Head – Dean Kavanaugh (Wicklow, Ireland)
Winner Best Documentary Film
From Inside of Here – Bill Basquin (San Francisco, California)
Winner Best Short Film
This is the Rill Speaking – Gabriel Rodriguez-Fuller
Winner Best Animated Film
Out of Frame – Evan Bode (Syracuse, New York)
Winner Best Experimental Film
Breaking The Surface – John Evans, Ani Javian (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
Honorable Mention Winners
#LookAtMe – Ken Kwek (Singapore)
Honor Student – Tamika Miller (Los Angeles, California)
Minnesota Mean – Dawn Mikkelson (Duluth, Minnesota)
June – Lauren Stevens (Los Angeles, California)
Festival Director’s Citations
Performances:
Yao (#LookAtMe)
Pam Oei (#LookAtMe)
John Curran (Hole in the Head)
Lynette Callaghan (Hole in the Head)
Hudson Yang (Honor Student)
Kelly Jenrette (Honor Student)
Direction:
Dean Kavanagh (Hole in the Head)
Tamika Miller (Honor Student)
Ken Kwek (#LookAtMe)
Bill Basquin (From Inside of Here)
Evan Bode (Out of Frame)
Cinematography:
Dean Kavanagh (Hole in the Head)
Russell Adam Morton (#LookAtMe)
Joshua Pausanos (Honor Student)
Screenplay:
Ken Kwek and Shane Mardjuki (#LookAtMe)
Tamika Miller and Joe Rechtman (Honor Student)
Dean Kavanagh (Hole in the Head)
Editing:
Rudolph Buitendach and Brian Zwiener (Honor Student)
Dean Kavanagh (Hole in the Head)
John Evans (Breaking The Surface)
Production Design:
Andy Phua (#LookAtMe)
Miranda Cristofani (Honor Student)
Evan Bode (Out of Frame)
Music:
Michael Wall (Breaking The Surface)
Joe Ng and Ting Si Hao (#LookAtMe)
Claude Foisy (Honor Student)
Evan Bode (Out of Frame)
Sponsors: The New Jersey Film Festival is funded and/or sponsored in part by The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center; The Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies/School of Arts and Sciences; Middlesex County, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts - Funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund; Grant funding has also been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners - This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts; The Rutgers University Office of Summer and Winter Sessions; OVID/Icarus Films, The Rutgers University American Studies Department; Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program; The Rutgers University Zimmerli Art Museum; The Rutgers University Writer’s House; Pro 8mm; The Rutgers University Office of Disability Services, WRSU; New Jersey Stage; The Home News, The Asbury Park Press; New Brunswick City Center; The Rutgers University Office of Community Affairs; Design Ideas; Advanced Printing; Steven C. Schechter, Esq.; Share and Harris.
Information:
Al Nigrin, Executive Director/Curator, New Jersey Film Festival
New Jersey Media Arts Center, Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies
4170 Academic Building, 15 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901-8525 U.S.A.
Email: [email protected] [email protected]
Website: www.njfilmfest.com
Albert Gabriel Nigrin is an award-winning experimental media artist whose work has been screened throughout the world. He is also a Cinema Studies Lecturer at Rutgers University, and the Executive Director/Curator of the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, Inc.
EVENT PREVIEWS
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The New Jersey International Film Festival returns online and to Rutgers University on the weekends between May 29 - June 7, 2026. Professor Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator, provides a video overview of the films being showcase at the 31st annual Festival.
MORE EVENTS
Click on the listing to bring up its webpage
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