Being a globally famous popstar is a lot like being in a romantic relationship or marriage, but instead of one spouse or partner you have millions of adoring fans. You must consider those fans before making any major decisions, just as you would your husband or wife. Artists often get stuck in a creative rut out of fear of losing their fanbase if they try something different, just as so many people stay in jobs they hate out of fear of upsetting the status quo by making their other half angry. A popstar suddenly deciding they want to make a jazz album is akin to a middle-aged husband ditching his nine to five office job to pursue his dream of opening a record store - such moves aren't likely to go down well with fans and wives.
Based on the life and artwork of three Mexican-American artists, Frank Ayala, Ruben Aguilera Sanchez, and Abel Corchado, Los Tres tells the stories of these three artists who find refuge in friendship and art as they compose their artistic vision in the face of denigration and a space and time that deliberately fails to see them. Director Yehuda Sharim, known for films such as Flora (2024) and Letters2Maybe (2021), is back with a very warm and heartfelt documentary, filled with the beautiful artwork of these three artists, along with creative ‘on the fly’ shots that break the mold of the traditional documentary style.
Kim Caicedo’s Finding YiYi is a compelling interpretation of sexuality, acceptance, and identity in its many forms. The film revolves around YiYi, a straight-laced, lonely, Asian woman in her fifties on a journey to find her late grandmother’s lost dumpling recipe.
(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- The ShowRoom presents MAY/DECEMBER, an eight-film series examining the complexities of age-gap relationships through romance, obsession, companionship, manipulation, and personal transformation. Spanning nearly six decades of filmmaking, the series brings together provocative classics, dark comedies, romantic dramas, and psychological thrillers that each explore attraction and connection across generations from a unique perspective.
Here below is the line-up for the closing weekend of 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival!
Being a globally famous popstar is a lot like being in a romantic relationship or marriage, but instead of one spouse or partner you have millions of adoring fans. You must consider those fans before making any major decisions, just as you would your husband or wife. Artists often get stuck in a creative rut out of fear of losing their fanbase if they try something different, just as so many people stay in jobs they hate out of fear of upsetting the status quo by making their other half angry. A popstar suddenly deciding they want to make a jazz album is akin to a middle-aged husband ditching his nine to five office job to pursue his dream of opening a record store - such moves aren't likely to go down well with fans and wives.
After gathering a sizeable following on YouTube with a series of short comedy skits, Curry Barker used that platform to self-release his feature film debut, 2024's found footage thriller Milk & Serial. Available to watch for free, that movie has racked up over two million views. It's no surprise then that Hollywood knocked on Barker's door, but what is perhaps surprising is how much the Blumhouse-backed Obsession feels like an indie movie rather than a Hollywood production. With an intimate cast and just a handful of locations, you suspect Barker would have made Obsession himself if the House of Blum hadn't thrown money in his direction. Unlike so many other filmmakers who have been rendered soulless by the studio system, Barker has maintained his vision here, and he even casts Milk & Serial's Cooper Tomlinson in a major supporting role.
Since coming out of his brief self-imposed "retirement" in 2017, Steven Soderbergh has been knocking out films at a rate close to two a year. He's clearly a filmmaker who cares about his legacy, but an artist doesn't get to determine their legacy. That's up to the public. Some will consider Soderbergh an unimpeachable genius. A few will label him a talentless hack. I suspect most will look back on his prolific filmography as a series of hits and misses. The Christophers, which is very much wrestling with the notion of legacy, is one of the hits.
With his first two films, Caveat and Oddity, Irish writer/director Damian McCarthy established himself as one of the most exciting new voices in horror filmmaking. Hollywood will surely have come calling, but McCarthy has resisted the lure of Tinseltown and stayed put in Ireland, where he can likely remain truer to his vision. Instead, Hollywood has come to McCarthy, with Adam Scott adding star power to McCarthy's third film.
Throughout history, societies have exploited a fear of the unknown to keep the plebs under control. In the medieval Dutch village of director Didier Konings' folk horror Heresy, the surrounding woods are said to harbour an evil force. But just as European adventurers discovered you could sail to the new world without falling off the edge of the planet, our young heroine here finds that salvation awaits her in the forbidden forest.
