New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival Winners Announced!


By Al Nigrin

originally published: 10/06/2024

Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival Winners  Announced!

All the works that were part of the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival Competition were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 21 finalists which were publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from 402 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


Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts – Shaun Seneviratne (Ridgewood, New York)

Winner Best Documentary Film

WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FRÖHLICH – Marieli Fröhlich (Vienna, Austria)

Winner Best Short Film

Dog Days – Ryan Kurt Whiting (Oakland, California)

Winner Best Animated Film

Red Snow – Susana Olmedo Alvarez, Aurelia Gil Junco (Madrid, Spain)




Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Winner Best Experimental Film

The Horse Tail - Justyna Łuczaj – Salej  (Krosno, Poland)



Honorable Mention Winners


All You Need is Blood – Cooper Roberts (Greenvale, New York)

A Little Family Drama – Nadia Zoe (Los Angeles, California)

These Years – Kiana Rosa Fischer (Highland Park, New Jersey)

Rough Blazing Star – Christopher Wiersema (Montpellier, Vermont)

Spirit of Place – Jack Cooper Stimpson (London, England)



Festival Director’s Citations

Performances:

Anastasia Olowin (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)

Sathya Sridharan (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)

Emma Chasse (All You Need Is Blood)

Mena Suvari (All You Need Is Blood)

Diana Elizabeth Torres (A Little Family Drama)

Taylor Olsen (Look at Me)

Direction:

Shaun Seneviratne (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)

Cooper Roberts (All You Need Is Blood)

Justyna Łuczaj-Salej (The Horse Tail)

Nadia Zoe (A Little Family Drama)

WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FRÖHLICH Marieli Fröhlich (Vienna, Austria)

Cinematography:

Molly Scotti (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)

Travis LaBella (A Little Family Drama)

Malgorzata Szylak (The Horse Tail)

 Screenplay:

Shaun Seneviratne (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)

Justyna Łuczaj-Salej (The Horse Tail)

Nadia Zoe and Ramon O. Torres (A Little Family Drama)

Editing:

Joe Violette (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)

WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FRÖHLICH Marieli Fröhlich (Vienna, Austria)

Cooper Roberts (All You Need Is Blood)




Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky



Production Design:

Henry Pskowski (All You Need Is Blood)

Alessandra Manias (A Little Family Drama)

Justyna Łuczaj-Salej, Maciej Bieganski, Tomasz Rolniak (The Horse Tail)

 Music:

Jack Cooper Stimpson, Benji Compston (Spirit of Place)

Mikolaj Trzaska (The Horse Tail)

Steve Berlin (A Little Family Drama)

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.

 

 



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

2025

2025 New Jersey International Film Festival Animation Panel

Here is the 2025 New Jersey International Film Festival Animation Film Panel featuring filmmakers Elizabeth Schneider, Michael Covello, Maureen Zent and Nick Zweig as well as NJIFF Assistant Director Morgan Kalmbach, and NJIFF Director Al Nigrin. Their films will be screening on Friday, June 6, 2025 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM as part of the NJIFF Shorts Program.



Free

Free Outdoor Pride Movie Screening of the British Film "Layla" in Teaneck

(TEANECK, NJ) -- In celebration of Pride Month and in solidarity with the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, The Puffin Cultural Forum and The Teaneck International Film Festival are proud to announce a free outdoor Pride month screening of the 2024 British film Layla. The movie screening will take place on Friday, June 6, 2025, starting at 9:00pm (rain date Saturday, June 7th at 9:00pm) at the Puffin Cultural Forum's outdoor movie theater in the parking lot. Seating will be provided, or patrons can bring comfortable seating of their choice.



Child

Child No. 182 screens at the 2025 New Jersey International Film Festival on Thursday, June 5th

In Child No. 182, filmmaker Camilla Roos turns the lens inward to explore the earliest years of her own life, spent drifting through Finland's child protection system in the 1960s and 70s. Over the course of this 50-minute documentary, we explore the emotional landscape of a child trying to reach stability within an inherently unstable situation. It’s a deeply personal and engaging portrait, one that is all the more intriguing as it is of the filmmaker herself.



Burn

Burn Ceremony hypnotizes at the 2025 New Jersey International Film Festival

Watching Burn Ceremony feels less like viewing a film and more like being pulled into a trance. It’s definitely not something you watch casually. It demands attention - focus - concentration. Alexander Girav’s experimental short is hypnotic and deliberate, offering no clear narrative but instead crafting an experience rooted in sensation and atmosphere.



Jason

Jason Alexander Announced as Keynote Speaker for 2025 Lighthouse International Film Festival

(LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ) -- Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) announced Jason Alexander as the keynote speaker for the festival's 17th year running from June 4-8, 2025 on Long Beach Island. The festival will screen a special 25th anniversary screening of Jason Alexander's film Just Looking with a Q&A to follow on Friday, June 6th and will have an intimate conversation with the actor discussing filmmaking and his storied career on Saturday, June 7th.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


CLUB

CLUB MAC Moana 2

Friday, June 06, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748
category: film


 

The

The Creative Process, Toil and Spin, Monument, Becoming an Oyster, elemental. Butterfly Manoeuvers, FLOCKY, I Was There, Monument, Soft Wind Shells, Burn Ceremony

Friday, June 06, 2025 @ 12:00am
VIRTUAL
category: film


 

A

A Place of Honor, Down The Line, Will I see You Again, Young Toussaint & Retaliation – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!

Saturday, June 07, 2025 @ 7:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

Supporting

Supporting Actresses – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!

Saturday, June 07, 2025 @ 5:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film


 

Faces

Faces of Agata & A Mother's Promise – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM!

Sunday, June 08, 2025 @ 5:00pm
NJ Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: film