(TRENTON, NJ) -- The Trenton Film Society is back at the Mill Hill Playhouse, bringing you in-person showings of the Oscar-nominated short films of 2022, in the categories of documentary, live-action, and animation. The New York Times reviewer remarked, “this yearʼs shorts are an eclectic bunch”; don’t miss out! Unlike last year, the showings are not virtual but live! Since we are back in person all attendees are required to show an ID and proof of vaccination to be admitted, and everyone must wear a mask at all times.
The Mill Hill Playhouse has just updated its ventilation system. This system features ultraviolet light filtration. UV-C light irradiates the coil and air handler interior, killing mold, bacteria, and viruses. So now you will be able get out of the house enjoy some films in the company of other cinemaniacs, just like old times!
Tickets are available through the TFS website. Tickets are $20 for the complete documentary program of 160 minutes. Documentaries will be shown on both Thursday, March 24, and Friday, March 25 at 6:30 and will include a short intermission with complimentary drinks and snacks. For the live-action and animation programs, the ticket prices are $12 per program, with all showings on Saturday, March 26. The live-action shorts will be shown at 12:00, animated shorts at 2:30pm, and live-action again at 5:30pm. There is a special price of $20 for a combined Animation and live-action double feature, either noon and 2:30pm or 2:30pm & 5:30pm. The live-action program is 121 minutes and the animated is 96 minutes. Unlike in previous years, the animation program is NOT suitable for children. Animation and live-action programs are R-rated. The documentary program is rated PG-13.
Documentary films always revolve around social issues, the stories of adversity and perseverance, and the fascinating lives of those whose stories are untold. This year it is no different. The shorts in this category takes us on a journey. Audible is a coming-of-age film that follows Amaree McKenstry and his football teammates at the Maryland High School for the Deaf as they cope with their disability and stand up to discrimination. When We Were Bullies dives into a bullying incident that happened 50 years ago at the filmmaker’s elementary school. Three Songs for Benizar sheds light on the experience of modern-day Afghans who live, love, and seek space for themselves amid constant instability. Lead Me Home is an immersive film told from multiple perspectives and gives the audience a rare, in-depth look at the scale, scope, and diversity of unsheltered America today. The Queen of Basketball tells the story of Lucy Harris, one of the greatest living women’s basketball players. The Documentary program is rated PG-13 and runs for 160 minutes.
The Live-Action category features films from all over the world, including Denmark, Poland, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and even one from our neck of the woods, the USA. On My Mind follows Henrik who wants to sing a song for his wife, but it is a question of life, death, and karaoke. In Please Hold, 20-year-old Mateo is arrested by a police drone without explanation. To get out alive he’ll have to go head-to-head with the labyrinthine, computerized bureaucracy of the privatized American justice system, in search of an actual human being who can set things right. The Dress follows the quest of Julia, a little person, to satisfy her deepest desires of lust, sexuality, and physicality. It is not until she meets a truck driver that she has an object for her fantasies. The Long Goodbye, when invaders arrive on the doorstep of a South Indian family in England during preparations for a wedding celebration, the result is a devastating and visceral feat of filmmaking and a poignant poetic cry from the heart. Ala Kachuu—Take and Run follows Sezim, 19, who is kidnapped and forced into marriage. Torn between her desire for freedom and the constraints of Kyrgyz culture, Sezim desperately seeks a way out. The Live-Action program is rated R and runs for 121 minutes.
Animation shorts are always an audience favorite, but this year the shorts are very different. They have themes of nudity, sex, extreme violence, bestiality, and disturbing imagery, not suitable for children. The one exception, Robin Robin, tells the tale of a small bird with a big heart. After being adopted by a group of burglar mice Robin embarks on a journey to prove herself worthy of her family, but can she discover, and learn to love, who she really is, delighting her family and earning her wings in the process? In BoxBallet, a delicate ballerina meets a burly boxer. They have very different lives and worldviews, but will they be brave enough to embrace their feelings? Can two fragile souls hang on to each other despite the world’s cruelty? Affairs of Art follows Beryl, a 59-year-old factory worker who’s obsessed with drawing and determined to become a hyper-futurist artiste, and we see that obsession runs in the family’s DNA. Bestia, inspired by real events, follows the life of a secret police agent in the military dictatorship in Chile and explores the relationship between her dog, body, fears, and frustrations. In The Windshield Wiper, a man poses a question in a coffee shop, “What is Love?” The film has a collection of vignettes and situations that will lead the man to the desired conclusion. The Animation program is rated R and will run for 96 minutes. (There will be a 30-second warning title card just before the films, so if you may choose you can have time to leave the theater.)
Mill Hill Playhouse is located at 205 East Front Street in Trenton, New Jersey.
The Trenton Film Society is a non-profit organization with a mission to entertain, educate and engage the diverse Greater Trenton, New Jersey area through film. They bring together filmmakers, film professionals, and area residents of all ages and cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to build a better understanding of filmmaking, to explore the issues and perspectives in a variety of films–from local to international–and to build an appreciation of the film arts.
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