(RED BANK, NJ) -- The 2026 Count Basie Center Breakthrough Filmmaker Fest, the annual competition celebrating New Jersey's emerging crop of young filmmakers, takes place Saturday, April 25th on the Count Basie Center campus (99 Monmouth Street) in Red Bank.
Experience a new generation of New Jersey filmmakers at the Count Basie Center Breakthrough Filmmaker Fest. See this year’s official selections, learn about the field during our expert Q&A session, and more. This event is free with advance registration.
Selected from a competitive pool of submissions, these films represent a broad range of voices and perspectives and reflect the festival’s mission to elevate and support the next generation of filmmakers.
Both official selections and honorable mention titles will be shown, along with workshops, lectures, a Q&A with industry experts and a networking opportunity for this year’s selected filmmakers.
Admission to the event is free by registering here.
SCHEDULE
Film Block A – The Vogel
9:30am – 10:45am
(Films listed in order of appearance)
* History of the RBR Buc Band – directed by Daniela Flores-Sanchez (Red Bank Regional High School)
* REdefining the American Dream – directed by Luna Milena Cannone (Bergen County Academies)
* One Shot – directed by Danielle Ortiz (Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology)
* The Art of Basketball Long Version – directed by Sariyyah Hurt and Luiz Araujo (Arts High School Newark)
* The Wild Card – directed by Kedar Nair (Howell High School)
* Farm – directed by Nina Morozova (Lawrenceville High School)
* Princes to Kings: A Band of Brothers – directed by Michelle Tang (Princeton University)
FILM BLOCK B – Basie Center Cinema House
9:45am – 10:45am
(Films listed in order of appearance)
* Parallels – directed by Hunter Denberg (Middletown High School South)
* All It Needs – directed by Ethan Davis (Communications High School)
* Through Your Eyes – directed by Tamir Sears (Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology)
* In Spirit – directed by Ryan Matteo (Communications High School)
* The Butterfly – directed by Emily Reese Ommerborn (Middletown High School South)
* What if? – directed by Dulce Maria Garrido (Achievers Early College Prep)
* Perfect – directed by Charlotte Mathias (Communications High School)
* Rules – directed by Savannah Savas (Henry Hudson Regional School)
* Surface Scratches – directed by Anthony Truncale (The Pingry School)
* The Fallen Tree – directed by Aiden Baty (Bergen County Academies)
* Drops of You – directed by Brooke Pino (Bridgewater-Raritan HS)
* Puberty – directed by Nicholas Rescigno (Howell High School)
WORKSHOPS: MORNING SESSIONS
9:45am – 11:45am Breakfast with a Gaffer with Jason Penza
11:00am to 11:45am Sustainable Filmmaking with Serena Schuler; Post Production Audio with Chris Gillard
SCREENINGS
Film Block C – Basie Center Cinema House
10:45am – 1:00pm
(Films listed in order of appearance)
* Father Donkey – directed by Michael Puma, Ethan Castro, and Adriana Rodriguez (Middletown High School South)
* The Night of the Killer Lemon – directed by Ethan Castro and Michael Puma (Middletown High School South)
* Le Nefarious – directed by Avery Chavez (Hoboken High School)
* The Other Foot – directed by Tyler Luis Walsh (Communications High School)
* Red-Handed – directed by Charlotte Mathias (Communications High School)
* The Girl & The Bird – directed by Moises Compres (Hoboken High School)
* A Day in the Life – directed by Molly Pease (Grunin Performing Arts Academy)
* PARANOID – directed by Ollie Samantha Duffy (Grunin Performing Arts Academy)
* Defying Impermanence – directed by Lucas Milan Aristimuno (Montclair High School)
* Reminiscent – directed by Ashley Ringel (Hillsborough High School)
* Moving On – directed by Amelia Hong (Wayne Valley High School)
* LIVE – directed by Sabrina Camacho (Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology)
* Echo – directed by Addison H. Steen (Princeton International School of Mathematics and Science)
* Going Going Gone – directed by Tyler Washington (Hillside High School)
* The Reflection Room – directed by Maria Leal and Aanika Ramaiya (Madison High School)
Film Block D – The Vogel
10:45am – 1:00pm
(Films listed in order of appearance)
* I Need Your Gum to Save Our Planet – directed by Annie Fleisch (Independent)
* Mi Cuento de Fantasmas – directed by Rosa Isabella Salvatierra (Rowan University)
* What’s Inside My Soup? – directed by Hayden Vigdor (Howell High School)
* A Cardinal Sin – directed by Josias Ortiz et al. (East Brunswick Magnet School – School of the Arts)
* Quinn’s Quest – directed by Alexis Lynn Thavisack and Ella Lambiase (Rutgers University)
* Where The Path Thins – directed by Ross Micah Reibarkh (Cranford High School)
* May Miss The Magic – directed by Caleb Sambucci (East Brunswick Magnet School – School of the Arts)
* DEVIANT – directed by Josias Ortiz (East Brunswick Magnet School – School of the Arts)
* The Last Checkmate – directed by Kaitlyn Grimaldi (Morris Knolls High School)
* Notes On My Morality – directed by Hyatt Sparks-Woodford (The College of New Jersey)
* Memoria – directed by Madison Johansson (Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology)
* Everything – directed by Lance Fule (Montclair State University)
* Last Variation – directed by Izzy Love (Montclair State University)
* The House of Horrors – directed by Brandon Lang (Montclair State University)
WORKSHOPS: MID-DAY SESSIONS
12:00pm to 12:45pm Funding the Film with Serena Schuler; Screenwriting with Lizzie Finn
INDUSTRY PANEL
1:00pm-2:45pm Guest panelists to be announced soon!
NETWORKING LUNCHEON
2:45pm – 3:45pm The Networking Luncheon is an opportunity for the creative teams behind the Official Selections and Honorable Mention films to meet with each other and the industry panelists.
Please RSVP to the reception by registering to attend the Breakthrough Film Fest.
WORKSHOPS: AFTERNOON SESSIONS
3:15pm – 5:15pm Inside the G&E Truck Professional Lighting Gear with Jason Penza
3:30pm to 4:15pm Deconstructing Disney: From Mickey to Marvel presented by Rowan University
4:15pm to 5:00pm Directing presented by Fairleigh Dickinson; Breaking In: Script Supervising with Lizzie Finn; Post Production Audio with Chris Gillard
SCREENINGS
Film Block E – The Vogel
3:45pm – 4:45pm
* L’Allunaggio del Lupo (The Lupine Lunar Landing) – directed by Yemi Kanmi and ShowtuneCockatoo (Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University)
* The Road Not Taken – directed by Kedar Nair (Howell High School)
* The Grass is Always Meaner – directed by Ethan Castro and Michael Puma (Middletown High School South)
* Tabletop – directed by Devin DeVico (East Brunswick Magnet School – School of the Arts)
* Afterthoughts – directed by Gregory Salvador (Montclair State University)
* I Am With You Now – directed by Parker Bennink (Rowan University)
* Muscle Memory – directed by Reylan Alexis (Rider University)
AWARDS CEREMONY
4:45pm-5:45pm
SCREENINGS
Film Block F – Basie Center Cinema House
6:00pm – 7:00pm
* Our DieNasty – directed by Josias Ortiz (East Brunswick Magnet School – School of the Arts)
* Brotherhood Of The Fallen – directed by Amelia White (Howell High School)
* Respawn – directed by Sean Andrew Prieve and Russell Koo (University of Tampa)
* This Sucks – directed by Colin Christopher Hankenson (Montclair State University)
* DILATE – directed by Justin Thomas Marinelli (School of Visual Arts)
