Showing film results: From 20 to 30
Here is my interview with Clan of the Painted Lady Director Jennifer Chiu who is a Hakka-Canadian filmmaker who contends with the loss of her ancestral community in Kolkata, India. She journeys across the world to uncover the story of her family’s past and confronts the effects of migration on family, belonging and the uncertainty of preserving culture in the modern world.
Your Lips Never Left Mine is a modern mystery/thriller, with traces of neo-noir, and features many of the nuances of classic horror films. Making his feature directorial debut, Matthew Kozlark, delivers an exhilarating story with lots of twists and turns that is sure to leave the viewer on the edge of their seat, anticipating what will happen or be revealed next.
Migration is often discussed in terms of the places people leave and the places they eventually call home, but Clan of the Painted Lady, directed by Jennifer Chiu, is more interested in everything that happens in between. The documentary follows Chiu as she reconnects with her Hakka identity and traces her family history stretching across China, India, and Canada. Born in India and raised in Canada, Chiu grew up mostly separated from her father, who spent much of his life in Kolkata, India. What begins as a personal search into her own family eventually becomes a larger exploration of migration, cultural loss, and what it takes to keep a culture alive across generations.
In 2025, Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu, an artist, filmmaker, and writer whose work is experimental, conceptual, avant-garde, and philosophic, began working with an antique hand-cranked projector from 1909, and this experience led her to reflect on the evolution of film and experiment with the process, which included painting by hand directly on the film. She treated the film not as individual frames, but as hundreds of feet of scroll paintings that flowed before her eyes as the gears in the projector were turned by her own hand. She described the feeling as a boat sailing, or the wind singing. The title of the film is derived from an old Chinese anecdote.”Having heard the wind pass by countless times, one has finally come to realize the landscape of life, the Dao of life.”
Trauma always has a tendency to stick, or for some, stay under their skin. The past can be brought up in ways we may not expect it to. For some, love (good or bad) is one of those traumas that linger. Sotto la Pelle(Under The Skin) is a short film that shows how easily, and how simply, trauma can be brought back into someone’s life.
my own box is a quasi-documentary about artist Alice Rende and it shows some behind the scenes and explanation into her new project, Fora. In her show Fora, Rende forces herself to contort her body in a very confined space (a glass box) and when she decides to escape the box, her body is left still contorting to the box she has since been able to escape. Fora is a demonstration of conforming to social norms, the effects of doing so, and the end result of a person confined to such small spaces.
There is an unsettling feeling throughout Your Lips Never Left Mine that makes almost everything happening onscreen feel questionable. Written and directed by Matthew Kozlark, the indie mystery-thriller follows Lara, played by Cassandra Due, a young woman who takes a job tutoring Connor, played by Theodore Dalton, the son of a wealthy finance couple at their secluded summer lake house. What begins as a seemingly normal summer job quickly becomes more complicated as Lara realizes there is much more to this family than they are willing to reveal. The film slowly uncovers pieces of their past, creating a mystery filled with unexpected twists that keep the audience questioning who can actually be trusted.
Al Nigrin, Executive Director & Curator of the New Jersey Film Festival, sits down with Writer/Director, Matthew Kozlark & Felicia Ricci, producer and editor of Your Lips Never Left Mine, for a filmmaker interview. Your Lips Never Left Mine will kick off the New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, September 4, 2026.
Connecting the past with the future, Spheres forces you to exist in the now. Director Martin Gerigk is considered to be one of Germany’s greatest symphonists, with many of his compositions being performed and critically acclaimed all over the globe. Over the past decade, he has been exploring and creating through an audio-visual medium. Starting in 2016 with the film adaptation of Gerigk’s Structures of Nature ensemble piece, Gergik has released several more films including Haiku (2022) and Night Ride from LA (2023).
The New Jersey Film Festival will be offering two filmmaking workshops this Fall. These workshops are FREE and open to the public, but they have limited seating and require advance registration. To register email the Festival at [email protected]. Registration is first come first served. LOCATION: Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
The Makin Waves Song of the Week is "Bummer," the latest single from the Central Jersey band the dt's.
The Makin Waves Song of the Week is "The Only Man to Make It Through the Dance" from "A Stranger By Design," the latest album by Jake Thistle.
What do you call a rocker by night who pays tribute to multiple classic rock bands and someone who has done children's music during the day? You call him Paulie Z that's what.
Here is a look at shows taking place this week along with our featured listings and a look at some upcoming shows. New Jersey Stage offers previews of concerts throughout the Garden State as well as select shows in New York City and Philadelphia areas
