On Wednesday, December 1st, the Thomas Edison Film Festival and the Hoboken Historical Museum launch “Meet the Filmmakers: The Art of Storytelling” – featuring Gabriel Amaral and Francisco Saco in conversation with Jane Steuerwald, TEFF director.  The program streams live on Wednesday December 1st and will run through December 31, 2021. Amaral’s film “No Place,” and Saco’s film “Exposed Man with Gun in Hand” are featured in the narrative film program following a lively discussion about their work.

To view the program as of December 1st, go to www.tefilmfest.org, the Festival’s homepage, and click on – Meet the Filmmakers – The Art of Storytelling.

The entire film program includes:

“No Place,” by Gabriel Amaral, São Paulo, Brazil – When Nego discovers that the cacao farm he lives and works on is going to be sold, he must face not only the loss of his home and job, but also the daily contact he has with the land he cherishes so much.  This moving film deals with the hierarchical and co-dependent relationship between employer and employee, specifically within the context of a developing country where the power one holds over the other is often unconscionable.

“Exposed Man with Gun in Hand,” by Francisco Saco, San José, Costa Rica – An armed man tries to rid himself of the burden that is his aggression. The weapon he wields acts as a symbol of the patterns of behavior produced by an overly violent society

“Pipo and Blind Love,” by Hugo Le Gourrierec, Paris, France – In a de-humanized world where emotions are rationed and measured by a gauge, Pipo, a factory worker, falls in love with a woman sitting on a bench. He will try anything to attract her attention and seduce her with his own language.

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” by Shiyue Xu, Tianjin, China & Glendale, CA, US – “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is the story of a boy’s pursuit to achieve his dream of becoming a pianist but having to give up his dream when reality sets in. The song of the same name was used and adapted into various compositions to mirror the stages and challenges of his life from boy to man.

To make a donation to the Thomas Edison Film Festival visit http://tefilmfest.org and click on Donate in the menu bar. To make a donation to the Hoboken Historical Museum visit https://www.hobokenmuseum.org and click on Join & Give.

For 40 years, the Thomas Edison Film Festival has been advancing the unique creativity and power of the short form. The Festival is an international juried competition open to all genres and filmmakers across the globe. The Festival’s touring program reaches out to diverse audiences in diverse settings with screenings of cutting-edge, cross-genre films including narrative, experimental, animation, and documentary. The Festival’s homebase is the Hoboken Historical Museum where we work together to enrich the community.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs and Tourism Development.

To learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival visit TEFilmFestival.org. To learn more about the Hoboken Historical Museum visit https://www.hobokenmuseum.org.

The Thomas Edison Media Arts Consortium is grateful for the generous funding and support from: New Jersey State Council on the Arts; Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University; The Charles Edison Fund – Edison Innovation Foundation; The Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs and Tourism Development; Hoboken Historical Museum; WithumSmith+Brown; Lowenstein Sandler, LLC; Big Sky Edit; Sonic Union; Syracuse University Dept. of Transmedia; Fairleigh Dickinson University School of the Arts – Filmmaking; East Brunswick Tech – School of the Arts; Corporations and private donors.