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Shorts Program #1: Godzilla’s Day Off, Paper Crane, 35 Days, I Exist, Pizza Man, Prison and Time, Dustsceawung & Miracle Under 34th Street – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 7PM!

Saturday, May 30, 2026 @ 7:00pm



NJ International Film Festival
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Screening at the New Jersey International Film Festival - available online for 24 hours starting at midnight with an in-person screening at 7:00pm

8 films in this package

Godzilla’s Day Off - Myra Sito Velasquez (New York, New York). Even monsters need to chillax! 2025; 3 min.



Miracle Under 34th Street - Owen Andrejco (Jersey City, New Jersey). Deep in depths under 34th Street Herald Square subway station, two meager rats spark an explosion of joy, warmth and material goodness. Miracle Under 34th Street is a hand-drawn with pencil on paper, created while I was living in Astoria, Queens. During my daily commute, I would sometimes bring my drawings to animate while on the W Train, the MTA line that plays a starring role in this short animation.2025; 2 min.



Paper Crane – Michael Amter (Somerset, New Jersey). A humble effort to honor Sadako Sasaki for the 80th anniversary of the historic events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki forever changing the world. Profoundly moved by her tremendous story. The creation of 1000 paper cranes to obtain a special wish, an attempt to save one’s life. An extraordinary display of grace, courage, dignity, and creativity in human history. This experimental animation is intended to be childlike as a reflection of Sadako Sasaki’s youth - as well as short in duration to contemplate this brief life. A memorial study inspired by the devotion to the traditional origami art form. 2025; 3 min.



Prison and Time – Evan Bode (Syracuse, New York). Filmmaker Evan Bode animates excerpts of an essay by writer & activist Marvin Wade, who speaks personally about his 25 years of incarceration—and the growth he achieved in spite of, not because of, the inhumane prison system around him. This collaboration was produced by Project Mend, an organization in Central New York which celebrates the lives and creative work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people as well as other individuals impacted by the criminal legal system. 2025; 7 min.



35 Days – Heidi Kumao (Ann Arbor, Michigan). 35 Days is an experimental, stop motion animation about what happens when a coalition of strangers answers the call to locate a missing cat during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. Created frame-by-frame using fabric cutouts and thread. 2025; 7 min.



I Exist – Martin Del Carpio (New York, New York). Jordan wakes up in a hospital after another night full of decadence and finds himself facing two very mysterious strangers who are not what they appear to be. Will it be too late for him? An existential horror film. 2025; 15 min.



Pizza Man – Sebastian Hunt (New York, New York). Overwhelmed by the evil forces of apathy and ennui, a struggling cartoonist is visited by his first (and greatest) creation: The Phenomenal Pizza Man. 2025; 16 min.



Dustsceawung – Matues Luna (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). A frustrated and heartbroken writer discovers that his robot vacuum shredded his rejected book into his own poetry, dedicated to the house’s Alexa. Fascinated, the man feeds the new author with the classics, but claims the work as his own, sparking a surreal clash between authorship, love, and cleaning. In Portuguese, subtitled. 2025; 21 min.




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EVENT PREVIEWS

(RAHWAY, NJ) -- Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) presents the film Pink Flamingos in 35mm on Thursday, May 21, 2026 at 7:00pm. Join them for John Waters' notorious 1972 cult classic, starring the inimitable Divine as a self-proclaimed queen of filth competing in a grotesque rivalry for the title of "the filthiest person alive."
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with Sonia and Lisa on Mushrooms Director Vincent Turturro

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with Sonia and Lisa on Mushrooms Director Vincent Turturro

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey International Film Festival, sits down with Vincent Turturro, director and writer of Sonia and Lisa on Mushrooms, for a filmmaker interview at EBTV. Sonia and Lisa on Mushrooms will be screened on May 29, 2026.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Middle Life Video Q+A

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Middle Life Video Q+A

Here is the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Q+A with Middle Life Writer/Director Pavan Moondi, Lead Actors Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, and Festival Director Albert Nigrin.
Trenton Filmmaker Phillip McConnell to Premiere New Short Film "Tell Me Where We Stand"

Trenton Filmmaker Phillip McConnell to Premiere New Short Film "Tell Me Where We Stand"

(HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- Independent filmmaker Phillip McConnell will premiere his new short film, Tell Me Where We Stand, at Mill One on Sunday, May 31, 2026, bringing together local artists, performers, and members of the community for an evening celebrating independent film and storytelling.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with What We Dreamed of Then Director Taylor Olson

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with What We Dreamed of Then Director Taylor Olson

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey International Film Festival, interviews What We Dreamed of Then Director, Writer and Actor Taylor Olson. What We Dreamed of Then will be screened on May 31, 2026.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival to Take Place from May 29th to June 7th

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival to Take Place from May 29th to June 7th

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, in association with the Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies, presents the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival which marks their 31st Anniversary. The NJIFF competition will be taking place on the Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between May 29 - June 7, 2026 and will be a hybrid one as they will be presenting it online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University.
Emmy-nominated, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor/director Jason Alexander to Lead Acting Masterclass on Long Beach Island

Emmy-nominated, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor/director Jason Alexander to Lead Acting Masterclass on Long Beach Island

(LONG BEACH ISLAND, NJ) -- The Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) presents a rare five-day acting masterclass led by acclaimed actor and director Jason Alexander, taking place June 7–11, 2026 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, just prior to the opening of the Festival's 18th edition, which runs June 10–14.
2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Overview

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Overview

The New Jersey International Film Festival returns online and to Rutgers University on the weekends between May 29 - June 7, 2026. Professor Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator, provides a video overview of the films being showcase at the 31st annual Festival.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS






 

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