“Is now a good time?” The question is usually asked when it never is. Disoriented is a short film that follows the stories of 3 different individuals, all of whom receive a phone call while in the middle of their day-to-day lives. The news they receive takes them out of their surroundings, wrapped up in the voice that is on the other line. What should they do? How should they act? It is up to each of them to decide how to respond - while stuck in a situation where they must present a different face outwards than the conflicting, whirling emotions that they feel inside.

Disoriented’s director, Maura Garnett, recently received her B.F.A. in Film Directing at the School of Visual Arts this May 2024 - although this is not her debut short film, with her producing many others like Playtime (2022), Don’t Look (2021), and Kids of America (2020). Disoriented is a distinctively flawless piece among her body of work - all of which focuses on classic social issues that plague us to this very day. As a short, it feels like a perfect culmination of the things she has focused on over the years - with a powerful social message that delivers its punch in a professional manner. That is to say, you can tell this isn’t her first rodeo.

Another thing to be said is that the audio of this film is really well-done. The sound design of the shots, coupled with the handheld close-ups, makes you really see into the inner world of these characters and what they’re feeling - it makes you feel like you’re there with them in the moment. I can’t help but admire a director who knows that the power of a film is not just in its visuals, but in its sound as well.

Overall, what can be said about Disoriented is that it is a superbly well-executed film. It is simple, yet powerful in its execution - capturing a snapshot of humanity in its short runtime.

Dinner at Manny’s is another excellent 5 minute short film that will be presented at the New Jersey Film Festival. A family dines at a restaurant late in the evening, but the scene is anything but domestic. A father and mother argue in a crescendo of dialogue that creates a backdrop for the tormented experience of their young son, who is helpless to only sit and watch at the events going on around him.

It’s surrealist. It’s horror. It’s disorienting. The editing juxtaposes feelings of disgust and dread as gruesome, bloody images are presented to you on the screen, plated with what could be called the exact opposite of inviting. You feel as if you are held hostage like the young boy - like you are trapped in a horrifying nightmare that you can’t escape or wake up from. It all makes you want to scream “STOP!” - at the same time that you want to scream “MORE!”. It’s an absurd cacophony of feelings, which makes for great cinema.

Dinner at Manny’s director Stephen Joseph Craig states that, “As a lifelong cinephile and admirer of cult and independent film, I have always tried to push my filmmaking visually and thematically”. You can certainly see he sticks by his words in this work. It’s snappy, engaging, yet it breaks a lot of conventions we’ve grown used to these days in mainstream media. It’s refreshing, is what it is.

In fact, I think what I love so much about this work is how unapologetically creative it is. When it decides to do something, it really goes ahead and does it. It takes risks, and it pays off. It’s just nice to see someone breaking the mold deliberately, and you can feel that the filmmaker liked making this. And when I can feel that, I know that I’m in for a good time.

Disoriented and Dinner at Manny’s screens as part of Shorts Program #2 at the Spring 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on Saturday, February 1st.  The film will be Online for 24 Hours on this show date and In-Person at 7 PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets are available for purchase here.

The 43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 24-February 21, 2025. The Festival will be a hybrid one as it will be presented online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VoD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. Plus, acclaimed singer-songwriter Renee Maskin will be doing an audio-visual concert on Friday, February 21 at 7PM! The in-person screenings and the Renee Maskin concert will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program. 

For more info go here: https://newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2025.eventive.org/welcome