45th Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival schedule has been announced! Come and join us online or in-person! www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

I have the best staff in the world! I couldn't run the New Jersey International Film Festival without them!

Last evening were the last in-person shows of the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Thanks to all the filmmakers and their cast and crew who came to do Q+As w/ our audience! There is still one online show today left and we will be announcing the Winners tomorrow on our socials! Stay tuned!

We had an amazing New Jersey International Film Festival Short Documentary Screening last evening. Thanks a million to Meet Me In Silence Director Lucy Mathews Heegaard and Salt March Artist Mitchell Rasor for coming to do a Q+A with our audience last evening! 2 more great in-person shows today!

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival closes this weekend! Lots of terrific films! Come and join us in-person or online! Read the story at: www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Acclaimed Artist Mitchell Rasor Speaks at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on June 5! Read the story at: www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Fascinating documentary Los Tres screens at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on June 7th! Read the story at: www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Here is 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Interview with Greenfield Director Rob Herring and Festival Director Al Nigrin. Greenfield will screen at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival on Friday, June 5, 2026. Read the story at: www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

We had 2 nice screenings at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival last evening! Thanks to Paper Cranes director Michael Amter, Sundays Director Ashley Gerst and Counterfeit Kids director James Sclafani and lead actor Emma Duchesneau for coming to do a Q+A with our in-person audiences!

We had a very nice first show at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival last evening! Many thanks to Chemical Meadows director Nate Dorr and Sonia and Lisa on Mushrooms director Vincent Turturro for coming to do a Q+A with our in-person audience! Here are some photos from last night.

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival begins this weekend! Read the story at: www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Thanks to Cheryl Makin for this nice 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival story in the Home News Tribune/Courier News/mycentraljersey.com The Film Fest begins tomorrow! www.mycentraljersey.com/story/entert...

Here is the link to Sydney Sparks quirky Godzilla’s Day Off review! Godzilla's Day Off will screen at the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival as part of Shorts Program #1 on Saturday, May 30, 2026 – Online for 24 Hours and In-Person at 5PM! www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey International Film Festival, leads a Q+A with Sonia and Lisa on Mushrooms Lead Actor Taylor Lhamon and Director Vincent Turturro. Film will be screened this Friday, May 29, 2026. Read the story at: www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Interview with Counterfeit Kids Director/Writer James Sclafani! Counterfeit Kids screens at the New Jersey International Film Festival on Saturday, May 30, 2026. www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Here is the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Short Film Video Panel that features Festival Director Al Nigrin and NJIFF Official Selection filmmakers: Jen Nista, Max Beckerman, David Arrow and Gianfranco and Stefania Bello. www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

Al Nigrin, Executive Director of the New Jersey International Film Festival, sits down with Ashley Gerst, Director and Animator of the film Sundays for an interview. Sundays will be screened on Saturday May 30, 2026 and Ashley will do a Q+A with the audience. www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #36 Los Tres – Yehuda Sharim (Merced, California) Three Mexican-American artists find refuge in friendship and art. 2025; 58 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #35 Return: Saving Turtles - Ignacio Loera (Mexico City, Mexico) A family of former sea-turtle–egg poachers, now dedicated protectors, leading an organization in Oaxaca, Mexico. 2025; 15 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #34 Stew to Eat - Nathaniel Jameson & Alex Saltiel (NY, NY) The Stew is almost ready, but there is one thing missing… a dark adventure of unrequited love, societal decay and insatiable hunger. 25 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #33 FOR. – Gianfranco Bello (Brooklyn, New York) Cleo, a lonely young woman obsessed with numbers, searches for answers to their significance in her everyday life. 2025; 25 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator of the New Jersey International Film Festival, interviews What We Dreamed of Then Director, Writer and Actor Taylor Olson. What We Dreamed of Then will be screened on May 31, 2026.  www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #32 Finding YiYi – Kim Caicedo (Los Angeles, California) After losing her grandmother’s cherished dumpling recipe, a 65-year-old woman embarks on a journey to piece it back together. 2025; 15 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

Here is the 2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Video Q+A with Middle Life Writer/Director Pavan Moondi, Lead Actors Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, and Festival Director Al Nigrin. Great film! Come and check it out in-person only on May 30! www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #31 The Drive – David Arrow (NY, NY) It’s a warm November day in the early 1960s and little does Liz know that this will be a drive she’ll never forget. 2025; 12 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #30 The Clam Guy - Jen Nista, Max Beckerman (Brooklyn, New York) A clam-obsessed deadbeat plagued by otherworldly visions searches for connection as his life spirals out of control. 2025; 11 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

The New Jersey International Film Festival returns online and to Rutgers University on the weekends between May 29 - June 7, 2026. Professor Al Nigrin, Executive Director and Curator, provides an overview of the films being showcase at the 31st annual Festival. www.newjerseystage.com/articles2/20...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #29 Sapphire – Jawan Edgar Martinez (Rockaway, New Jersey) Sapphire/Camille is a sex worker trying to make a way out for herself and her friend, Olivia. 2025; 22 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #28 Frankie’s Okay – Kat Lindsay (New Brunswick, New Jersey) A woman (Frankie) and her husband (Hafez) host a game night for their friends. 2025; 10 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #27 The Girl With A Red Hat – Sandeep Karanjkar (Dayton, New Jersey) A Gen Z college student learns to break free from the digital vortex .2025; 20 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #26 Bajo el Sol – Jamili Pacheco-Urquiza (Somerset, New Jersey) This film explores the layered relationship Puerto Escondido, Mexico has with tourism. 2025; 18 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #25 My Plastic Lung – Nicholas Diodato (New Brunswick, NJ) A disabled teenager with artificial lungs that need to be manually operated by another person begins to lash out against his family. 10 min watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #24 Not a Hero by Accident – Adam Ansorge (Matawan, New Jersey) The fatal collision with a meter maid puts a truck driver in the hands of the local community to decide his fate. 2025; 3 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #23 Greenfield – Rob Herring (Whitefish, Montana) Greenfield is an intimate look into the mind and mission of Robin Greenfield — one of the world’s most radical environmentalists. 2025; 34 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #22 Entre Luz - Adelaida Tamayo, Gabriel Barrios (Queens, New York) A short documentary made with survivors of police shootings who lost their eyes during the 2021 Colombian national strike. 2025. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #21 Meet Me in Silence – Lucy Mathews Heegaard (Minnetonka, Minnesota) A year-long experiment sitting in complete silence and darkness with strangers. 2025; 14 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #20 Salt Marsh - Tom Bell (Yarmouth, Maine) With a haunting, original score by Lee Ranaldo, this film explores art, climate + solitude through the reflections of artist Mitchell Rasor. 2025; 15 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #19 A Song Between The Gardens - Nastaran Bagheri (Buffalo, New York) Two international students engage in a conversation reflecting on their student life.2025; 10 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #18 What We Dreamed of Then – Taylor Olson (Hatchet Lake, Canada) 2025; 104 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #17 Phenomenon of Ivan Marchuk - Lana Delaroche (Vienna, Austria) Excellent documentary on Ukrainian art legend Ivan Marchuk. 2026; 60 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #16 Theater of the Absurd – Fran Forman (New York, New York) Theatre of the Absurd is a short mixed-media film that examines the insidious nature of totalitarian regimes. 2026; 13 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #15 Middle Life – Pavan Moondi (Glendale, CA) Andie, a perfectionist wedding planner in her mid-30s and new mother, who has meticulously crafted her life but still feels unfulfilled. 2025; 84 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #14 Counterfeit Kids – James Sclafani (Washington, D.C.) Set in the 1980s, Counterfeit Kids is told through Nic, an 18-year-old who finds friendship and refuge with her brother Jude. 2026; 11 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #13 Sundays – Ashley Gerst (Stoney Point, NY) In this animated memoir a daughter navigates the aftermath of loss as she reflects on the weekly rituals she once shared with her father. 2026; 7 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #12 Dustsceawung – Matues Luna (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) A frustrated and heartbroken writer discovers that his robot vacuum shredded his rejected book into his own poetry. 2025; 21 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #11 Pizza Man – Sebastian Hunt (New York, NY) Overwhelmed by the evil forces of apathy and ennui, a struggling cartoonist is visited by his first creation: The Phenomenal Pizza Man. 2025; 16 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #9 I Exist – Martin Del Carpio (New York, New York) An existential horror film. 2025; 15 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #9 35 Days – Heidi Kumao (Ann Arbor, Michigan) An experimental, stop motion animation about what happens when a coalition of strangers answers the call to locate a missing cat. 2025; 7 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...

2026 New Jersey International Film Festival Official Selection #8 Prison and Time – Evan Bode (Syracuse, NY) Evan Bode animates excerpts of an essay by writer /activist Marvin Wade, who speaks personally about his 25 years of incarceration. 2025; 7 min. watch.eventive.org/2026newjerse...