Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey Film Festival, sits down with Renee Maskin, who will be performing at the festival on February 21st, for an interview. 

Renee Maskin in Concert at the New Jersey Film Festival. We have started a new concert series with a moving image component as part of our Film Festivals with the hope of reawakening the mostly dormant New Brunswick Music Scene. Last September 15th guitar virtuoso Tim Motzer performed to an experimental film. That was the first true audio-visual concert we put on. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler also did an amazing concert with her own movie projections on June 15, 2024. Noise-Ambient musician Jim Haynes came from California and did a concert on October 18, 2024 with accompanying projections of experimental films. On February 21, 2025, acclaimed singer-songwriter Renee Maskin will also be doing an audio-visual concert. Festival Director Al Nigrin said: “We are inviting musicians whose work I really admire and whose work I think is also very cinematic.” 

Known for her distinctive voice, literally and artistically, Renee Maskin is a staple of the thriving music scene in Asbury Park, NJ. With three solo LPs released in three years, her prolific output pulls from a deep well of influence, from country, to garage, to modern indie-rock. Maskin has notably opened for a wide range of acts, including Jon Langford (Mekons), William Tyler, Del Amitri, Tyler Ramsey, and notably toured with her former group, Lowlight, in support of The Pretenders. Maskin was named “Songwriter of the Year 2023” by New Jersey Stage Magazine. Her most recent LP, Shimmer, was named one of 2023’s National Top Albums by The Aquarian.

Ascension From the Disco Inferno by Anita La Belle and Albert Gabriel Nigrin will screen prior to the concert. Ascension from the Disco Inferno is an experimental film that focuses on climate change. A match sets the film in motion as two women descend to an infernal disco looking for an escape from the catastrophes facing the modern world. The only way out is up! Music by Marissa Nadler and Milky Burgess. 2025; 12 min.

The Renee Maskin AV Concert will be taking place on Friday, February 21, 2025 at 7PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901. Tickets: $15 = Genral Admission. For more info and to buy tickets to the concert go here. 

All photos by Albert Gabirel Nigrin