May 24th 2022 - Last week marked the second edition of the New Jersey Independent Film Festival. The edition was a double one, after the festival saw all its live screenings of 2021 postponed (take a look back at the 2021 award winners on the website). Both last year's official selection and another fresh new batch of films for 2022 graced the silver screen, over seventy short and feature films from the U.S. and all over the world.
This year also saw a move to an exciting new venue for the festival, the Cranford Theater. Festival Manager Maarten Cornelis: "After losing our original location due to Covid related issues, we went on a hunt to find a new home for our festival. Cranford was new to me and I had never been there. When I pulled up to the Cranford Theater and looked at the town around it, I fell in love and knew that I found something special. After the great experience working with all the amazing people at the theater and talking to Doreen, the owner of the theater, we are happy to announce that we will be bringing the festival back to Cranford in June of next year. We are excited to build this festival in its new neighborhood and bring all these amazing international and local films to you. Don't forget, if you are a local filmmaker, you can send in your work to our festival for free! We are also happy to announce that the event will be co-hosted by local Cranford resident, Jenny Piezas. We can't wait to see what next year will bring!"
The 2022 official selection was carefully selected out of almost a thousand submissions from around the globe. Over the past weekend jury members have cast their final votes and we are pleased to announce to you today the 2022 New Jersey Independent Film Festival award winners:
Best Narrative Short Film: Neighbour (Georgia) by David Borchkhadze
Best Documentary Feature Film: Seven Square Miles (USA) by LJ Frizell
Best Documentary Short Film: The Psychlist (Norway) by Martin A. Walther
Best Animated Film: Scars (Canada) by Alex Anna
Best Experimental Film: Ballad of a Breakup (USA) by Lauren Loesberg
Best Music Video: Clone IX - Medanit Yeleshim (Ethiopia) by Abel Mekasha
Best New Jersey Film: To America (USA) by Arya Jo Singh
Best Latin American Film: Leap (Argentina) by Juan Baio, Eino Antonio
Best Extremely Short Film: Before We Collide (U.K.) by Guy Gooch, Gregor Petrikovic
Best Connecting Cultures Film: Prestige (Iran) by Zahra Ahooei
Congratulations to all!
Today, a new Call for Entries has been launched on FilmFreeway for the next edition of the New Jersey Independent Film Festival, which will take place June 1st- June 4th at Cranford Theater. Submit your film now here.
Article via New Jersey Independent Film Festival, 24 May 2022
