NJFF Summer Preview

For those intending to linger in New Brunswick for the summer, whether to endure the drudgery of summer classes, the unpaid slave labor of an internship, or just tied to an apartment by a seemingly endless lease—fear not. The New Jersey Film Festival begins its summer program and offers plenty of choices for those who remain New Brunswick-bound.

 

The weekend of June 4 offers some local flavor with the feature Sneakers and Soul, a coming-of-age story filmed mostly in New Jersey by local filmmaker Jonathan Zelenak, who will be making an appearance afterwards to talk about his film. Saturday sees this Jersey theme continued with Muskrat John: Urban Trapper, a documentary short about a local 80 year old man who remembers what North Jersey was like before the Turnpike and the Giant stadium. The scope gets a little more global on Sunday; the features include a documentary, Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, as well as the surrealistic adventures of two British gangsters attempting to protect their ill-gotten gains in Miles Away.

June 11 to the 13 presents a myriad of shorts, including When Life Gives You Lemons, a story about reclaiming one's youth; Poi Dogs, a story about two young Hawaiian teenagers; Milestone, a comedic look at heartbreak; Eyes Nose Mouth, an exploration of three characters and their emotional environments and several more. On this weekend the NJFF will also play host to documentaries Madcap Mabel, the story of the woman described as the "female Chaplin", Voices Inside, a history and discussion of Zionism and the Israel peace movement as told by 16 Jewish Israelis, and For the Life of Me, an exploration of the adoptee experience in the U.S.

 

The final weekend of Friday June 18^th offers another round of diverse choices. Friday's Ultraviolet for Sixteen Minutes examines the life, clinical death, and spiritual rebirth of Andy Warhol associate Isabelle Collin Dufresne, aka Ultra Violet. The Grand Hotel looks at one of the last single room occupancy hotels in the U.S., and The Hand of Fatima studies New York Times music critic Robert Palmer's friendship with the legendary Moroccan band, Master Musicians of Jajouka. Saturday's feature, Lilly's Thorn, follows the fantastical adventures of a Lilly, owner of a small flower shop who must battle an evil real estate conglomerate. Finally, on Sunday the festival will close out with No Tomorrow, an investigative documentary about the life and murder of foster care runaway Risa Bejarano.

 

These are only a few highlights of the films being offered throughout the month of June by the International Film Festival. With a wide array of choices, there is surely something for anyone hanging around New Brunswick.