Winners of the Fall 2025 New Jersey Film Festival Competition!

By Al Nigrin
originally published: 10/06/2025


The competition component of the Fall 2025 New Jersey Film Festival has just concluded! Overall, we had a good festival this year. I want to thank all of the filmmakers, cast and crew who came to the in-person screenings for coming to talk about their films. Here below are the winners of the Fall 2025 New Jersey Film Festival. 

Fall 2025 New Jersey Film Festival Prize Winners  

Grand Prize Winners



Winner Best Feature Film = Alberta Number One – Alexander (Sandy) Carson (Toronto Canada)



Winner Best Documentary Film = Cathy & Harry - Marta Renzi and Daniel Wolff (USA)

Winner Best Short Film = Hearts of Stone - Tom Van Avermaet (Boechout, Belgium)

Honorable Mention Winners

Prayer of the Sea - Martin Gerigk (Germany)

Mistura - Ricardo de Montreuil (Los Angeles, California)

“I Will Revenge This World With Love” S. Paradjanov - Zara Jian (Armenia)

Choeurs Atlantiques / Tales from the Atlantic Beyond - Safoi Babana-Hampton (East Lansing, Michigan)

Driving Lessons - Anastasiya Gruba (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Festival Director’s Citations

Performances:

Liz Peterson - Alberta Number One

Noomi Rapace - Hearts of Stone

Barbara Mori - Mistura 

Noé Benifla - Welcome to Japan 

Ryan Halasz - The Muscle

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Direction:

Alexander (Sandy) Carson - Alberta Number One

Ricardo de Montreuil - Mistura 

Tom Van Avermaet - Hearts of Stone

Zara Jian - “I Will Revenge This World With Love” S. Paradjanov

Cinematography:

Joey Cruz Manalang - Tokyo Nights

Hans Bruch, Jr. - Hearts of Stone 

David Ehrenreich - Alberta Number One

Nicolas Wong - Mistura 

Editing:

Noel Pendawa - Alberta Number One

Ana Stulina - Hearts of Stone 

Ricardo de Montreuil - Mistura 

Martin Gerigk - Prayer of the Sea 

Screenplay:

Alexander (Sandy) Carson - Alberta Number One

Alison Katheleen Kelly and Tom Van Avermaet - Hearts of Stone 

Ricardo de Montreuil - Mistura 

Production Design:

Phillipe Bertin - Hearts of Stone

Mario Frias - Mistura   

Lovey Brar - Alberta Number One

 

Music:

Joseph Murray and Brodie West - Alberta Number One

Marko Jukic - Hearts of Stone 

Tim Williams - Mistura

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. 

Information:

Al Nigrin, Executive Director/Curator

New Jersey Film Festival

New Jersey Media Arts Center

Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies

4170 Academic Building, 15 Seminary Place

New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901-8525 U.S.A.

Email: [email protected] 

Website: www.njfilmfest.com

 

 

About the author:

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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.

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