The jury of the 39th Annual Thomas Edison Black Maria Film Festival has made their selections for 2020 and 11 of this year’s award-winning short films will be screened at the Festival’s Hudson County premiere on Saturday, February 15, starting at 7:30 pm. Admission is $10 in advance, and $15 day of the event. (Note: this event often sells out in advance.) 

Festival Director Jane Steuerwald will present a program that includes a mix of genres and subjects: “Medium Rare” by Luca Cioci of Pavia, Italy; “Faithy, hey” by Emily Hubley of East Orange, NJ; “Movement in Structure” by Shaun Clarke of Boston, MA; “Box of Memories” by Felicitas Yang of Heidelberg, Germany; “DONT KNOW WHAT” by Thomas Renoldner of Vienna, Austria; “Take Off Your Skin” by Luke Jaeger of Northampton, MA; “Code Ruth” by Caroline Voagen Nelson of Astoria, NY; “They Say I’m Your Teacher” by Catherine Murphy of Portola Valley, CA; “Freeze Frame” by Soetkin Verstegen of Brussels, Belgium; “Thin Places Iceland” by Michael Chaney of Savannah, GA; and “Cold Storage” by Thomas Freundlich of Helsinki, Finland. 

Filmmakers will be present for Q&A, and light refreshments will be served. Up to 3 hours of free parking may be available with ticket validation at Littleman Parking-Independence Garage (Shipyard Lane, at 12th St.).

Click here to reserve a seat.

About the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film Festival

For 39 years, the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film Festival has been advancing the unique creativity and power of the short form. The Festival was founded in 1981 and is named for Thomas Edison’s original West Orange, NJ, film studio, whose resemblance to the familiar black-box shaped police paddy wagons sparked the nickname “Black Maria.” The festival is an international juried competition open to all genres and filmmakers across the globe.

The Festival reaches out to diverse audiences in diverse settings including universities, museums, libraries, community organizations, and arts venues. The cutting edge, cross-genre work that makes up the Festival’s touring program, has been traveling across the country every year for decades.

We focus on short films – narrative, experimental, animation, and documentary – including those, which address issues and struggles within contemporary society such as the environment, public health, race and class, family, sustainability, and much more. These exceptional works range from animation, comedy, and drama to the exploration of pure form in film and video and are the heart and soul of the festival. www.blackmariafilmfestival.org