Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.

Join us on Saturday, February 25 at 7pm when the Thomas Edison Film Festival (TEFF) and the Hoboken Historical Museum present the 42^nd Annual TEFF Hoboken Premiere. The program includes a collection of top award-winning films from the 2023 collection. TEFF Executive Director Jane Steuerwald hosts the evening, and is proud to welcome special guests Michael Pedraza, Donna Pedraza, Dr. Eduardo Peña Dolhun, and James Mihaley who will discuss their film Fog, the TEFF Jury’s Choice Award. Advance ticket purchases are advised as seating is limited. Light refreshments will be served.

Fog: In a city known for innovation and solving some of the world’s most difficult challenges, San Francisco is faced with a crisis: how to address the worsening homeless situation. As thousands of residents flee San Francisco to other parts of the United States, hundreds of homeless arrive in search of a city known for taking in the downtrodden and outcast. Moved to act, Dr. Eduardo Peña Dolhun began a journey to chronicle the stories of homeless individuals in his community. The film was directed and edited by Michael Pedraza, written by James Mihaley, and includes original music by Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir.

Guest filmmakers:

Michael Pedraza, Director, boasts a two-decade-long career in the entertainment industry that includes collaborative works with Academy- Award-Winning Picture editors Michael Kahn and Steven Spielberg. As a diverse filmmaker and editor, he has created a vibrant palette working on commercials, trailers, short and feature length films of all genres: comedy, drama, horror, action, sci-fi, and documentaries with one goal in mind: tell a great story.

Eduardo Peña Dolhun, M.D., Executive Producer, is a Mayo Clinic educated and trained Family Physician. He is the inventor of DripDrop, a medical-grade oral rehydration solution. He founded the Dolhun Clinic, the Dolhun Clinic Pre-Medical Internship Program, and Doctors Outreach, a 501(c)(3) medical not-for-profit. He was co-director of Ethnicity and Medicine at Stanford University from 2000- 2018. Dr. Dolhun is Adjunct Professor at the College of Health Sciences at Marquette University. He is the recipient of the 2017 Mayo Clinic Alumni Association Humanitarian Award.

James Mihaley, Writer, is a multi-platform artist who tells inspiring stories. He is the author of ‘You Can’t Have My Planet But Take My Brother, Please’ an award winning eco-novel published by Macmillan. Raised in rural America, he was recently commissioned to write ‘Diamonds From The Rough’ a book about a legendary boatyard in a small Wisconsin town. As someone who believes in the power of film, he is dedicated to making high caliber movies for children and adults. James currently lives in Venice, California.

The full program:

In Love with a Problem – Documentary  22 min. by Julie Kim, Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao were still in high school when they discovered plastic-eating bacteria in Vancouver’s Fraser River. Passionate about the problem of plastic waste, the two millennial innovators are now on an inspiring journey to solve it. Their dedication has taken them all the way from Vancouver to Silicon Valley. From bacteria to cutting edge chemistry, their story has illuminated one of our earth’s biggest eco disasters.

Inner Polar Bear – Animation 7 min. by Gerald Conn, Cardiff, Wales, UK.  Based on a piece of writing by acclaimed novelist Jeanette Winterson, “Inner Polar Bear” employs sand animation to create an imaginative stream of consciousness, contrasting alternative human and animal perspectives on the implications of climate change. The narration moves through a wide spectrum of visual imagery, including references to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the evolution of life on earth.

Chicken – Narrative 14 min. by Lucy McNulty and Emma Pollard, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  When Sam splits up with her partner, she is forced to move back into her childhood home with her mother and neurodivergent brother. When depression sinks in, her brother Emmett gets in her face trying to cheer her up and in doing so makes everything worse. But when Emmett is confronted with a situation at a baseball game where he is called a chicken, Sam rises to the challenge to come to his aid and is reminded of what is truly important. “Chicken” features a neurodivergent cast and crew and is written and directed by women.

giroscopio – Experimental 8 min. by John Muse, Bryn Mawr, PA, US and Brendamaris Rodriguez, Puerto Rico.  “giroscopio” is a short experimental film by two artists, one in Pennsylvania and one in Puerto Rico, each in pandemic lockdown, each disoriented. Objects seem to control them; their bodies are unbalanced, unwieldy, comical. The horizon spins; the ground falls away; and yet a strange wonder reigns.

Cornucopia – Animation 7 min. by Ani Antonova and Dimiter Ovtcharov, Vienna, Austria.  A man wanders in constant search and pursuit, driven by the longing for a magical cornucopia. His vicissitudes are brought to life on an ancient vase’s surface.

Fog – Documentary – Jury’s Choice Award 2023 10 min. by Michael Pedraza, CA, US.  In a city known for innovation and solving some of the world’s most difficult challenges, San Francisco is faced with a crisis: how to address the worsening homeless situation. As thousands of residents flee San Francisco to other parts of the United States, hundreds of homeless arrive in search of a city known for taking in the downtrodden and outcast. Moved to act, a local doctor begins a journey to chronicle the stories of homeless individuals in his community.

About the TEFF: Since 1981, the mission of the Thomas Edison Film Festival (TEFF) has been to promote innovation in the art of the moving image, and the films that are the centerpiece of the festival honor Edison’s vision. Edison’s films did for the eye what his phonograph did for the ear. He made 75, twenty-second-long films in his West Orange studio. His earliest films presented magic shows, plays, vaudeville shows with dancers and strongmen, cowboys, and boxing matches.

TEFF is a socially conscious, modern, fiercely independent traveling showcase reaching out to diverse audiences with provocative, timely, edgy and compelling new works by both accomplished and emerging filmmakers. We celebrate films which address the environment, race and class, immigration, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities and issues of social justice. The films we celebrate are artistic, empathetic and engaging works which simultaneously open hearts and minds, teach and entertain.

To learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival and the Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium visit www.TEFilmFest.org, Jane Steuerwald, Executive Director, +1 201.856.6565, Jane@TEFilmFestival.org. 

The 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 & Heritage Affairs/Tourism Development, Hoboken Historical Museum, Puffin Foundation, NJ Arts & Culture Renewal Fund, Lowenstein Sandler, LLC, The NBA , WithumSmith+Brown, Big Sky Edit, Sonic Union, APM Music, Monster Remotes, Syracuse University Dept. of Film and Media Arts, Fairleigh Dickinson University School of the Arts, Digital Film – East Brunswick Magnet School, Corporations and private donors.