Welcome to the Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center

Home of the New Jersey Film Festivals and the United States Super 8 Film and Digital Video Festival dedicated to exhibiting independent, classic, international, and experimental films.

Spring 2025 New Jersey Film Festival

Spring 2025 New Jersey Film Festival!

The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center proudly announces the 43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival. The festival will be held between January 24 - February 23. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing select in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. Each ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. The in-person screenings will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. Tickets: $15=Per Program; In-Person Show Student Tickets=$10 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$120.
Cover Art: Lamiai ©2024 Albert Gabriel Nigrin featuring Yazmin Omana

2025 New Jersey International Film Festival

2025 New Jersey International Film Festival | Call for Entries

The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center proudly announces the 30th Annual New Jersey International Film Festival. The festival will be held between May 30 - June 8, 2025 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey and will showcase the best in independent film by featuring premiere screenings, special guest appearances by film directors, screenwriters, cast and crew and more.

2025 United States Super 8mm Film & Digital Video Festival

2025 United States Super 8mm Film & Digital Video Festival

The 37th Annual United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival will be held February 15-16, 2025 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Festival encourages any genre (animation, documentary, experimental, fiction, personal, etc.), but the work must have predominantly originated on Super 8mm/8mm film, Digital video or 8mm video formats. The Festival takes as its mandate the spreading of the 8mm and Digital word. The Festival will be a hybrid one as we will be presenting it online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. Each ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. The in-person screenings will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. Tickets: $15=Per Program; In-Person Show Student Tickets=$10 Per Program.
Cover Art: Circle 8 ©2024 Albert Gabriel Nigrin

Past Events

Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival Winners

All the works that were part of the Fall 2024 New Jersey Film Festival Competition were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 21 finalists which were publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from 402 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the judges chose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director.

Winner Best Feature Film
Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts – Shaun Seneviratne (Ridgewood, New York)

Winner Best Documentary Film
WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FRÖHLICH – Marieli Fröhlich (Vienna, Austria)

Winner Best Short Film
Dog Days – Ryan Kurt Whiting (Oakland, California)

Winner Best Animated Film
Red Snow – Susana Olmedo Alvarez, Aurelia Gil Junco (Madrid, Spain)

Winner Best Experimental Film
The Horse Tail - Justyna Łuczaj – Salej (Krosno, Poland)

Honorable Mention Winners
All You Need is Blood – Cooper Roberts (Greenvale, New York)
A Little Family Drama – Nadia Zoe (Los Angeles, California)
These Years – Kiana Rosa Fischer (Highland Park, New Jersey)
Rough Blazing Star – Christopher Wiersema (Montpellier, Vermont)
Spirit of Place – Jack Cooper Stimpson (London, England)

Festival Director’s Citations
Performances:
Anastasia Olowin (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)
Sathya Sridharan (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)
Emma Chasse (All You Need Is Blood)
Mena Suvari (All You Need Is Blood)
Diana Elizabeth Torres (A Little Family Drama)
Taylor Olsen (Look at Me)

Direction:
Shaun Seneviratne (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)
Cooper Roberts (All You Need Is Blood)
Justyna Łuczaj-Salej (The Horse Tail)
Nadia Zoe (A Little Family Drama)
WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FRÖHLICH Marieli Fröhlich (Vienna, Austria)

Cinematography:
Molly Scotti (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)
Travis LaBella (A Little Family Drama)
Malgorzata Szylak (The Horse Tail)

Screenplay:
Shaun Seneviratne (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)
Justyna Łuczaj-Salej (The Horse Tail)
Nadia Zoe and Ramon O. Torres (A Little Family Drama)

Editing:
Joe Violette (Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts)
WHAT IS HAPPENING? ART IN THE LIFE OF GERTIE FRÖHLICH Marieli Fröhlich (Vienna, Austria)
Cooper Roberts (All You Need Is Blood)

Production Design:
Henry Pskowski (All You Need Is Blood)
Alessandra Manias (A Little Family Drama)
Justyna Łuczaj-Salej, Maciej Bieganski, Tomasz Rolniak (The Horse Tail)

Music:
Jack Cooper Stimpson, Benji Compston (Spirit of Place)
Mikolaj Trzaska (The Horse Tail)
Steve Berlin (A Little Family Drama)

2024 New Jersey International Film Festival Winners

All the works that we are screening are part of the New Jersey International Film Festival were selected by a panel of judges including media professionals, journalists, students, and academics. These judges selected the 34 finalists which will be publicly screened at our Festival. The finalists were selected from over 702 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the judges will choose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director.

Winner Best Feature Film
The Featherweight – Robert Kolodny (Brooklyn, New York)

Winner Best Documentary Film
FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM! – Peter Flynn (Wakefield, Massachusetts)

Winner Best Short Film
INFINITY! – Benjamin To (Chino Hills, California)

Winner Best Animated Film
Tennis, Oranges – Sean Pecknold (Los Angeles, California)

Winner Best Experimental Film
The Miracle of You – Peter Spruyt (Hollywood, California)

Honorable Mention Winners
Shame on You – Jeffrey Himpele (Princeton, New Jersey)
Altona – The Affolter Brothers (New Westminster, BC, Canada)
Judy’s Garden – Evie Metz (Richmond, Virginia)
Brain Freeze – Kelsey Comeau (Brooklyn, New York)
Along The Rail – Jonathan Harkel (New Jersey)
I Want to Live on Mars – Mariya Somova (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
Game Interrupted – Ilayda Iseri (Istanbul, Turkey)
Fencing for the Edge – Holly Buechel (South Orange, New Jersey)
Cowgirls and Synthesizers – Joe Wallace (Springfield, Illinois)
STAKES IS HIGH – Jean-Pierre Caner (Los Angeles, California)
Good Girl – Jenny Kleiman (Elmhurst, New York)
Crossing The River – Allan Novak (New York, New York)

Festival Director’s Citations
Performances:
James Maddio - The Featherweight
Ruby Maxine Wolf - The Featherweight
Claire Haller - I Want to Live on Mars
Bethany Stollar - I Want to Live on Mars
Rahad Coulter-Stevenson - Stakes is High
Olivia Cordell - INFINITY!

Direction:
Robert Kolodny - The Featherweight
Benjamin To - INFINITY!
Peter Flynn - FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM!
Mariya Somova - I Want to Live on Mars
Kelsey Comeau - Brain Freeze
Sean Pecknold - Tennis, Oranges

Cinematography:
Adam Kolodny - The Featherweight
Akanksha Shyam - INFINITY!
Adam Nimyo - I Want to Live on Mars
Sklyer Bocciolatt - Stakes is High

Editing:
Robert Greene - The Featherweight
Holly Buechel - Fencing for the Edge
Sean Pecknold and Aaron Beckum - Tennis, Oranges
Jean-Pierre Caner - Stakes is High

Screenplay:
Steve Loff - The Featherweight
Peter Flynn - FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM!
Jean-Pierre Caner - Stakes is High

Production Design:
Sonia Foltarz - The Featherweight
Evie Metz - Judy’s Garden
Adi Goodrich - Tennis, Oranges

Music:
Samuel Jones - Stakes is High
Nick Daly - Judy’s Garden
Joe Cyrus and Shine Delphi - I Want to Live on Mars

2024 United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival Award Winners


Best of the Festival
you thRill me – Phil Docken (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Witchblossom – M. Wild (Los Angeles, California)

Honorable Mention
George – Gregg Chilingirian (London, England)
Silent chirping of invisible Digits – Vera Sebert (Austria)
Roses, Pink and Blue - Julia Yezbick (Detroit, Michigan)
Kristin dan Kuching Kuchingnya – Michael Kam (Singapore)

Merchandise

New Jersey Film Festival T-Shirts - 100% cotton! Original designs! $40 with priority shipping included to the USA! Sorry, no international shipping at this time. Send check to the address listed under the Contact Us section and include what design and size t-shirt (Medium, Large or X-Large) you want in the Memo box. You can also pay via Paypal. Log onto www.paypal.com, and use njmac@aol.com as the recipient address.

New Jersey Film Festival Merchandise
New Jersey Film Festival Merchandise
New Jersey Film Festival Merchandise

Membership

Join the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC

Founded in 1982, the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC draws thousands of viewers from throughout New Jersey by providing an alternative media culture. Please help us continue our cultural mission by joining us as a friend-member.

Press

Membership Benefits

  • Discounted admission to Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC screenings, and special events.
  • Discounted tuition to Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC film/video workshops and courses.
  • Discounted prices on Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC T-shirts and other merchandise.
  • First-class subscription to Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC program calendars.
  • Free admission and reservation privileges included on upper-level memberships ($200 and above).

All memberships are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Inquire for details. Friend-memberships are valid for two seasons (approximately 8 months). Additional tax-deductible donations are also welcome. Become a member today!

About Us

New Jersey has only one media arts center programming year-round -- offering over 100 annual film screenings and events: The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center. Founded in 1982, the Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC draws thousands of viewers from throughout New Jersey by providing an alternative media culture. The Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC is dedicated to the noncommercial exhibition of independent, classic, international, and experimental films and videos. Not only do our audiences have the opportunity to view many independently produced films, but also the added benefit of meeting with the filmmakers, actors, screenwriters and other members of production crew.

Guests

Some of our guests have included: Todd Solondz, Bill Plympton, Gary Null, Veronica Burstein, Jem Cohen, Peter Sillen, Jason Rosette, Susan Muska, Greta Olafsdottir, Sarah Jacobson, Martin Scorsese, Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell, Paul Morrissey, D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Tim Kirkman, Joseph Dorman, Ted Sod, Heather McDonald, Mark Rappaport, Sara Driver, Jim McKay, Su Friedrich, Menachem Daum, Ken Smith, Aviva Kempner, David Riker, John Hulme, Charles Creasy, Tony Leahy, Jeff Cline, Diane Bonder, Sarah Karloff, Michel Negroponte, Vlas and Charley Parlapanides, Ethan Falk, David Rick Balcorta, Roger Weisberg, Daina Krumins, Jenny Stein, James LaVeck, D.R. Hernandez, Matthew Garrett, Thomas Franklin, Thierry Daher, Carolyn Travis, Yasuki Nakajima, Aileen Bordman, Patrick Donnelly, Sara Taksler, Naomi Greenfeld, Marylou Tibaldo-Bongiorno, Jerome Bongiorno, Sanjiban Sellew, Susan Ingraham, Martha Rosler, Mark Berger, Raphael Ortiz, Maureen Gosling, Marc Maurino, Matthew Brown, Moon Molson, Jave Galt-Miller, Micah Baskir, Paul La Blanc, Thurston Smith, Tim Eberle, Damian Kolody, Nancy O'Mallon, Kathy Foronjy, Joe Coburn, Michael Knowles, Luke Mathany, Sarah Wickliffe, Jonathan Budine, Melissa Thomson, Beth Miranda Botshon, Daniel Califf-Glick, Bonnie Blake, Linda Helm Krapf, Christina Eliopoulos, Melissa Whitely, Andrew Liput, Donny Moss, Raul Barcelona, Alex Feldman, Joesph Bierman, Eve Burris, Ken Castellano, Mark Kolu, Peter Koziell, Darren Garnick, Patty Sharaf, Bill Page, Jon Sell, Danny Medoza, Paul Andersen, Christopher Maloney, Thomas Florek, Paul Marcus, Ryan Smith, Matthew Lawrence, Beth Toni Kruvant, Nadirah Bell, Emma Kenney, Shinako Sudo, Richard Haines, Ken Kimmelman, Christopher Bedford, Neil and Lee Selden, Cassandra Evanisko, Corrina May, Judith Vogelsang, Ryan O'Laughlin, Hemant Tavathia, David Svedosh, Gary Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, Augusta Palmer, Jonathan Zelenak, Noemie Lafrance, Michael Raynes, Jean Strauss, Marjorie Wright, Dennis Connors, Josh Eisenberg, Robert Kohr, Dena Greenbaum, Brendan McNamee, Julie Tortorici, Jessica Provenz, Sarah Louise Lilley, Jessica Henson, Dena Schumacher, Michael Warholic, Doug Massell, William Goins, Vanessa Roth, and many others. Please help us continue our cultural mission by joining us as a friend-member.

Our Sponsors

The New Jersey Film Festival is funded and/or sponsored in part by The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center; The Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies/School of Arts and Sciences; Middlesex County, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts - Funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund; The Rutgers University Office of Summer and Winter Sessions; OVID/Icarus Films, The Rutgers University American Studies Department; Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program; Johnson & Johnson; WRSU; New Jersey Stage, The Home News Tribune; The Asbury Park Press; New Brunswick City Center; The Rutgers University Office of Community Affairs; Design Ideas; Advanced Printing; Steven C. Schechter, Esq.; Share and Harris.




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Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center 2024 Staff

  • Executive Director/Curator: Albert Gabriel Nigrin
  • Assistant Director: Anita LaBelle
  • House Managers: Jesse Einhorn, Morgan Kalmbach
  • Volunteers/Interns: Trevor Adams, Diego Arellano, Catalina Chapman, Penelope de la Cruz, Vic Fern, Mo Foster, Joshua Fuller, Anthony Lee, Anran Li, Steve Maygers, Meaghan Mooney, Evelyn Reese, Jay Santiago, Matt Smyntek, Katie Zhang
  • Advisors: Bob Brodsky, Victoria Connor, Matthew Maginley, Dr. Susan Martin-Marquez, Dr. Daniel Nigrin, Prajesh Patel, Dr. Meheli Sen, and Toni Treadway
  • Board of Trustees: Dr. Irene Fizer, Bill Harris, Albert Gabriel Nigrin, and Steven C. Schechter, Esq.

Contact Us

  • New Jersey Film Festival
    Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center
    Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies
    4170 Academic Building
    15 Seminary Place
    New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-8525
    U.S.A.
  • Email

    NJMAC12@gmail.com
    NJMAC@aol.com
    uss8fdvf@gmail.com (for Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival)
  • Phone

    (848) 932-8482
  • Social