Here is the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Short Documentary Film Panel 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival with Festival Director Al Nigrin and Filmmakers Tom Bell, Nate Dorr and Lucy Mathews Heegaard.
Here is more info on these films:
Chemical Meadows – Nate Dorr (Brooklyn, New York) Chemical Meadows is an experimental documentary linking water chemistry and photochemistry in the post-industrial wilds of the New Jersey Meadowlands. A paradoxical estuary wilderness three miles from Manhattan and more than half its size, marred by landfills and chemical corporations yet a recovering haven for wildlife, the Meadowlands are an unexpected breach in the dense development of the mid-Atlantic. This is the story of its waters: a film created by washing 16mm footage in corroding drainage ditches and suspect holding ponds to reveal hidden contaminants, soundtracked largely with underwater hydrophone recordings. 2025; 21 min.
Salt Marsh - Tom Bell (Yarmouth, Maine) With a haunting, original score by Lee Ranaldo, Salt Marsh explores art, climate, and solitude through the reflections of Maine artist Mitchell Rasor. The 15-minute documentary is a poetic portrait of an artist and place. 2025; 15 min.
Meet Me in Silence – Lucy Mathews Heegaard (Minnetonka, Minnesota) A year-long experiment sitting in complete silence and darkness with strangers leads to an intimate contemplation on connection to self and others through silence. Could the surreal, human-engineered silence of an anechoic chamber be a pathway to healing and awareness? 2025; 14 min.
Three of these excellent short documentary films will screen at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival as part of Shorts Program #2 on Friday, June 5, 2026 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM and Nate Dorr’s film plays on Friday, May 29, 2026 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM! Get tickets and more info here: https://2026newjerseyinternationalfilmfestival.eventive.org/welcome
There will also be a lecture by acclaimed Landscape Architect and Artist Mitchell Rasor after the screening of Tom Bell's film Salt Marsh. This talk contextualizes Mitchell Rasor's work in the context of Robert Smithson's interest in dialectics, Olmsted's park designs, the relationship between Cezanne and Pissarro and the birth of modern art, post-punk rock, his education at Oberlin and Harvard...and then ends with three recent series of drawings and paintings done this past winter as an extension of the work depicted in Tom Bell's Salt March film. The talk would be of great interest to students of environmental studies, art, art history, landscape architecture, and film. This lecture is part of the NJIFF Short Documentary Film Screening. General Admission Ticket=$15; In-Person Show Student Ticket=$10 only available at the door. Admission is FREE for Rutgers Summer Session students by they must register with Summer Session! Co-Sponsored by the Rutgers University Office of Summer and Winter Sessions.
The 31st Annual New Jersey International Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between May 29-June 7, 2026. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. Most of 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 when both are offered. The in-person screenings 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=$120; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program. For more info on the Film festival go here: https://2026newjerseyinternationalfilmfestival.eventive.org/welcome
