45th Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival to Take Place January 22-February 21, 2027

Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 10/27/2026

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The 45th Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will take place between January 22-February 21, 2027. The Festival will continue in hybrid form as it has done in recent years, meaning it will be presented it online as well as with select in-person screenings at Rutgers University. Thirty-nine films will have their New Jersey or Area Premiere (Middlesex County) screenings as part of the New Jersey Film Festival and the United States Super 8 Film and Video Festival.

Some of the premieres include: Carolyn Jones’s feature-length documentary A Long Way to Go which explores the human realities of immigration through the intertwined journeys of three nurses who leave their home countries to join the healthcare workforce in the United States; Peter Thurling’s Rubin Hurricane Carter: Forever a Fighter – a documentary on the famous boxer who wrongly went to prison for killing three whites in a New Jersey bar; and Taylor Olson’s Stitches -- a psychological body horror anthology where three isolated men submit to rituals of healing - an AI cleanse, a live stream of penance, and an experimental drug trial - each descending into madness as their pain becomes performance in a world obsessed with watching.

Additional premieres include: Ed Eaves and Benny Turner’s Kuimeaux’s World -- a feature length documentary on a little-known Arkansas artist Dwight “Kuimeaux” (KEY-moe) Drennan and his love for the South, expressed through his art; Marjorie Conrad’s experimental documentary The Joyless Economy which explores how a woman's movie collection triggers her infidelity; and Victor Pigasse’s feature rom-com Bottled Up in which Simon decides to declare his love to his boss, Melanie, by hosting a romantic dinner at his mom's house. Over the course of the night, a number of unexpected guests show up leading to an onslaught of confusion.

The premieres also include Kaylin Allshouse’s indie horror feature Still Ohio; Allisyn Snyder’s Cat Man: A Journey to Save Cat Kind which focuses on a man who sets out on a cross-country adventure to help the world of feline health research; plus a series of terrific short, animated and experimental films by Claudia Miatello, Fran Forman, Marie-Laure Cros, Astrid McGraw, Shirin Jafarizadeh, Hessah Hamilton, Yehor Holokov, Kazyuki Ishihara, Inês Costa, Carolina Bonzinho, Leandre Alagôa, Vladyslav Kalenskyi, Dana Nachman, Jessica Li Muhammand Omar, Sara Leavitt and Ryan Douglass. Another highlight is Christina Vircillo Bresson’s The Energy That Heals-- a documentary on dynamic healing. It explores emerging ideas at the intersection of medicine, neuroscience, consciousness, and integrative health. Through conversations with physicians, researchers, scientists, practitioners, and patients, the film examines whether healing may be more dynamic, interconnected, and intelligent than our current models fully explain.

Albert Gabriel Nigrin Retrospective #2 – A Benefit for the New Jersey Media Arts Center | Albert Gabriel Nigrin is an award-winning experimental media artist who 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. -- a non-profit organization which screens and promotes independent, experimental and artistic cinema in New Jersey via the New Jersey Film Festivals, and the United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival.

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Films to be screened include Anima Magia (2026) -- an experimental dream film focusing on animalistic and fatal urges; Jazz Witch (2027) -- an experimental film focusing on two witches who transform their power and pain into magical intent; Danger Flashing Lights (2027) -- an experimental film where a woman tries to fight off flashing lights; Emma Woolfolk (1992) -- a collection of personal fragments of Nigrin’s partner Irene Fizer shot around the world; Shifting Margins: Part 1 (1991) – an animation of a horse statue in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France; Rummage (1989) -- an experimental documentary of the legendary rummage sale in Far Hills, New Jersey and others.

39th Annual United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival - Also, during the Spring 2027 season, the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC will present the 39th anniversary of the United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival -- the longest running, nationally recognized, juried 8mm Film/Video Festival in North and South America Over the two days (February 20+21), the Festival will feature four different programs of films culled from the 13 Official Selections from throughout the USA, Canada, and the world.

Filmmakers screening their films at the Super 8 Festival include: Tim Busko, Leland Morris, Allyson Musmeci, Cleopatra Boudreau, Dylan Avillanoza, Josh Weissbach, Angelina Randazzo, Steven Adam Renkovish, Marco Mazzi, Great Bonnaud, Shawn Schmicke, Lya Shvartz, Joel Byron, Jennifer Hardacker, Jeremy Drummond and David Poolman. These filmmakers are competing for many Best of Prizes. Prize winners are announced on the last night of the festival via our social media. The Super 8 Festival is open to works predominantly shot on either Super 8/8mm film, Hi8/8mm video and/or Digital Video. This program is being co-sponsored by Pro 8mm.

Special Guest Appearances by Directors, Artists, and Actors - This spring the festival will have many in-person special guest appearances by film directors, producers, and actors to the New Jersey Film Festival! Some of these include Carolyn Jones (A Long Way to Go), Astrid McGraw (Rockfish), Hessah Hamilton (BURNBURNBURN), Peter Thurling (Ruben Hurricane Carter), Victor Pigasse (Bottled Up), Kaylin Allshouse (Still Ohio), Sara Leavitt (BC45), many others to be announced. There will also be Virtual Filmmaker Introductions and Q+A Sessions for many of the films.

Ruben Hurricane Carter

Almost 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 shows 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 5:00pm or 7:00pm on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program.

All the works that we are screening are part of the New Jersey Film Festival and United States Super 8 Film and Digital Video Festival Competitions and were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 39 finalists which will be publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from over 603 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the judges will choose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director. Prize winners will be announced via the festival's social media sites after the screenings on February 21, 2027.

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.