On April 30, the Hoboken Historical Museum and the Thomas Edison Film Festival will present another on-demand streaming showcase of selected short films, this time on the theme of “Pushing Boundaries.”

The six short, innovative documentaries selected for the showcase both push boundaries and traditional approaches to nonfiction filmmaking. The program will kick off on Friday, April 30, at 6:30 PM with a live Zoom talk with filmmaker Duda Penteado and photographer/videographer Luiz C. Ribeiro about their film “Covid-19: A Portrait of NYC” (pictured above). To join the Zoom discussion at 6:30 on Friday, April 30, click on the following link:

“Docs Pushing Boundaries interview” 

Other films include “Russ Johnson: The Fork King” – 5 min. by Eugene Lehnert and Elizabeth Niles, Brooklyn, NY, US; “Black Thoughts” – 30 min. by Dwayne Logan, Nashville, TN, US; “Wuqiao Circus” – 14 min. by Lukas Berger, Lisbon, Portugal; “A Portrait” – 3 min. by Carlotta Beck Peccoz, London, UK; and “Tumbling Towards Home” – 14 min. by Imelda O’Reilly, NY, NY and Kildare, Ireland.

The curated program is available to view for free starting Friday, April 30, and will run through May 14. Donations are welcome and much appreciated.

To view the programs go to www.tefilmfest.org – the Festival’s homepage – choose “Click here to view” to select the curated selection.

To make a donation to the Thomas Edison Film Festival visit http://tefilmfest.org and click on Donate in the menu bar. 

Background on the films included in this showcase:

Covid-19: A Portrait of NYC – Documentary (7 min.) by Duda Penteado, Jersey City, NJ, US. A documentary short that explores NYC through the lens of seasoned photographer and Daily News editor, Luiz C. Ribeiro. In the midst of an unfolding global pandemic, the images captured are often rare and unexpected. Isolation, frustration, and tension spill over into the streets as images move from iconic empty spaces to the Black Lives Matter protest scenes and police confrontations.

Russ Johnson: The Fork King – Documentary (5 min.) by Eugene Lehnert and Elizabeth Niles, Brooklyn, NY, US. NYC-based artist, Russ Johnson, brings forks to life in his graffiti. He uses forks to be critical of our consumer-society, to promote tolerance, to comment on other social issues and to simply be amusing.

Black Thoughts – Narrative (30 min.) by Dwayne Logan, Nashville, TN, US. Aiming to bridge the divide that exists between embattled Americans, “Black Thoughts” places viewers within the history ravaged mind of a broken-hearted Black man, as he contemplates how confusion has kept citizens engaged in an endless cycle of conflict.

Wuqiao Circus – Documentary (14 min.) by Lukas Berger, Lisbon, Portugal. In Wuqiao, a small Chinese town, the inhabitants are dedicated to the circus. For decades, different generations have been presenting themselves as clowns, magicians, acrobats and tamers. During the holidays of Chinese New Year, the Wuqiao Acrobatic World turns into a big playground for spectators. Surrounded by Buddhist temples and Taoist sculptures, artists create their own space of circus tradition, imagination, illusion and reality. Backstage life is melancholic. “Wuqiao Circus,” is a film about circus life fragments, performative existence and the love for playfulness.

A Portrait – Documentary (3 min.) by Carlotta Beck Peccoz, London, UK. Following a journey to Dungeness and Prospect Cottage, acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Hughes reminisces about his life, his career and his life-long friendship with director Derek Jarman. The film was shot on a cartridge of Super8 film and edited in-camera and is a loving tribute to Hughes -the filmmaker’s friend and mentor.  

Tumbling Towards Home – Documentary (14 min.) by Imelda O’Reilly, NY, NY and Kildare, Ireland. “Tumbling Towards Home” is a coming-of-age story about Malcolm Adams, an Irish immigrant who moves to New York in 1989 to study acting under Alan Langdon. He works through the grief from the loss of his mother and his friend Philip Seymour Hoffman. This leads to his decision of where to put his hat down and call it home.

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 — narrative, experimental, animation, and documentary. Subject matter includes 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.

To learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival visit blackmariafilmfestival.org. 

The festival’s Hudson County Movie Tour is made possible through the generous support of The Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs & Tourism, Gina Hulings, Director/Administrator.