The Museum is pleased to host a fall series of screenings of Black Maria Film Festival award-winning films on the second or first Wednesday of the month, September – December, presented by Festival director Jane Steuerwald.

For each program, doors open at 6:30, the films screen at 7 pm, followed by Q&A. Light refreshments will be served. A suggested donation of $5 will be collected at the door. Admission is free for students and teachers. Dates for the balance of the fall programs are Wednesday, Oct. 10; Wednesday, Nov. 7; and Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Program 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 10 will feature a selection of short films united by the theme of National Hispanic Heritage Month from the Black Maria’s Global Insights Collection, including animation,  documentary, and narrative films.  

”Flower of a Thousand Colours” – Documentary, (2016 Season; 23 min.), by Karen Vazquez Guadarrama, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

“Flower of a Thousand Colours” is an intimate portrait of Emiliana, a single mother who tries to survive in a remote Bolivian mining camp at 4,897 meters above sea level. Emiliana lives with her children in the middle of the paradise-like mountains of Mina Argentina. But appearances are deceptive: life in the camp is fierce. Those who find work eat, those who don’t, don’t eat. Because of the excessive alcohol consumption in the camp, Emiliana has to be constantly aware of the dangers surrounding her family.

”A” – Narrative (2017 Season; 14 min) by Joseph Houlberg, Quito, Ecuador

A world with only one letter.  The earliest certain ancestor of the letter A is aleph, the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet. In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in proto-Sinaitic script influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two horns extended. This story begins with that one essential letter – A.

“Contigo” (With You) – Documentary (2018 Season; 7 min.), by Daniel Boord and Luis Valdovino, Boulder, CO

“Contigo” is a waltz with family and tradition, close to the South Texas border. While the Alamo has been designated, by the United Nations, as a World Heritage site, equally noteworthy is the cultural heritage in the lower Rio Grande Valley. “Contigo” celebrates a Sunday afternoon in San Antonio and a weekend at a conjunto music festival in San Benito. The project is based on a song written by one of the pioneers of conjunto music, Don Santiago Jiménez. It is performed by his son, Santiago Jiménez Jr.

“We Know Where You Live” – Narrative (2018 Season; 13 min.), by Honora Talbott, Los Angeles, CA

When a Mexican American couple moves into a trendy, gentrifying LA neighborhood, two hipsters invite themselves over to offer a ‘warm welcome.’ But as the night goes on, it’s clear these neighbors are not what they seem: cold pressed, cold brewed, and cold blooded.

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. Special thanks to Division Director Gina Hulings, Director/Administrator.

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.