Due to the forecast of heavy snow, we are moving the date for the first Black Maria Film Festival screening in the Hudson County Movie Tour series to Wednesday, March 14, at 6:30 pm.  Museum will host the next three in the series of screenings of Black Maria Film Festival award-winning documentary films on the first Wednesday of the month, April – June, presented by Festival director Jane Steuerwald, with filmmakers as special guests.

The first program will feature two short films: “Little Fiel,” about an artist who grew up during the 1970s – ’80s civil war in Mozambique, and “Born in Battle,” about a former 12-year-old child soldier. Both filmmaker Irina Patkanian and the artist Fiel dos Santos will be present to discuss the film and the artist’s life work, which is to destroy guns and turn them into art.

Doors open at 6:30, the films screen at 7 pm, followed by Q&A. Light refreshments will be served. Tickets are $5 at the door. Seating is limited, reservations are advised.

Click here to reserve a seat.

When the Civil War in Mozambique began in 1975, Fiel dos Santos was 3 years old. He had a large family of five siblings and numerous cousins. Towards the end of the war, Fiel found himself living alone in a dilapidated house with no electricity or water at the age of 14. To overcome depression and madness he started drawing on the walls of the house. Today Fiel is a renowned sculptor and visual artist and is one of four artists from Mozambique who created Tree of Life, a sculpture commissioned and then installed in the British Museum in 2005. Fiel dos Santos is the only member of his family who hasn’t shot a gun.  “Little Fiel” is paired with an award-winning narrative short, “Born in Battle” about a former 12-year-old child soldier.

The Black Maria Film Festival’s Hudson County Movie Tour is made possible through the generous support of The Hudson County Executive Thomas De Gise and the Board of Chosen Freeholders – the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs & Tourism.

Since 1981, the Black Maria Film Festival has been celebrating and preserving the diversity, invention, and vitality of the short film. The Festival’s home is New Jersey City University in Jersey City, NJ and is named after Thomas Edison’s original West Orange film studio dubbed the “Black Maria” because of its resemblance to the black-box police paddy wagons of the same name.

Black Maria is an international juried film competition, focusing on short films including those that shine a light on issues and struggles within contemporary society. Its touring programs always include provocative works by diverse filmmakers from across the US and around the world. These artists often represent an under-served constituency who might not otherwise have the opportunity for live public exhibition nationwide or abroad.