Jesus Camp - Heidi Ewing + Rachel Grady                    
Generating intense reactions from audiences wherever it has been screened, Jesus Camp is a stunning and eye-opening new documentary that goes inside the “Kids on Fire” evangelical summer school, situated in Devil's Lake, North Dakota.   In this self-described spiritual boot camp, Pastor Becky Fischer trains children as young as 6 to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army." Openly borrowing military and terrorist tactics, Fischer indoctrinates her young campers to “take back America for Christ,” as well as to worship Republican politicians and to damn all who support abortion rights. At once taking an intimate and non-interfering view, filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow three children from their first days under Pastor Fischer's tutelage, to their day of departure, when their fervor for the cause is at its peak.   Jesus Camp is a first-ever look at a training ground for the children of Christian fundamentalists, who are now burning to reshape America's future. 2006; 84 min.

Tideland - Terry Gilliam  
Tideland , a spine-chilling new film from the visionary director Terry Gilliam, is an inspired cross between Alice in Wonderland and Psycho .   A young girl (played brilliantly by Jodelle Ferland) finds herself in a terrifying and lonely world where only her dolls' heads keep her company, after her drug-addicted father (played by Jeff Bridges) shuts her away within a remote farmhouse.   When she meets a mentally damaged man and a tall ghost-like woman, the line between her imagination and reality quickly disappears, and the realm of dark fantasy opens.   2006; 120 min. Part of our Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 course!

Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Pictures at an Exhibition Screening + Lecture
In l970, the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer performed an inspired arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition at the London Lyceum in 1970.   Tonight's program will include both a screening of this now-legendary concert film and a lecture/audience discussion about the influence classical music has had on rock and roll. Bands such as ELP, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who, and Led Zeppelin found brilliant ways to synthesize rock and roll with classical music. Dr. Marla Meissner, of The John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, will lecture, and the discussion will be moderated by N.J. Film Festival Director A. G. Nigrin.   Participants also will receive a discount on tickets for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's January 25th concert at the State Theatre, which will feature Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition . 80 min.  
Co-presented by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center. Admission is free!

See Th-1/18 for description!

The Animation Show   - Mike Judge + Don Hertzfeldt  
The Animation Show is a one-night film festival chock full of the most recent, innovative, and award-winning animated shorts from around the world.   Curated by animators Mike Judge (of Beavis and Butthead , King of the Hill and Office Space ) and Don Hertzfeldt, tonight's screening will include:   Shane Acker's Nine ; Bill Pympton's Guide Dog ; Gaelle Davis's City Paradise ; Hertzfeldt's Everything Will Be Fine and others. See the kind of experimental, mind-blowing animated films that Hollywood studios will never create, and that leave the bland products offered by Disney and Pixar in the dust. 2007; 90 min. Special Admission Prices:   $10=General Admission/ $7=Students/Seniors/ $6=Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC Friends.

See Th-1/18 for description!

The Science of Sleep – Michel Gondry                    
The Science of Sleep is a witty and surreal romantic fantasy set inside the topsy-turvy brain of Stephan Miroux (played by Gael Garcia Bernal),   a young man whose dreams constantly invade his waking life. While slumbering, he is the charismatic host of his own television show. In real life, he has a boring job and pines for Stephanie, the woman in the apartment across the hall. While Stephanie is charmed by Stephan, she is also confused by his childishness and shaky connection to reality. Unable to find the secret to Stephanie's heart while awake, Stephan begins to search for the answer in his dreams. Written and directed by Michel Gondry, the boundlessly inventive director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , The Science of Sleep is a whimsical trip into a wonderland of unrequited desire and longing. 2006; 145 min.

Memento –Christopher Nolan  
Memento , the critically acclaimed psychological thriller directed by Christopher Nolan, tracks the endlessly regressive and circuitous life of Leonard (played by Guy Pearce), whose head trauma has left him with severe amnesia, or "anterograde memory dysfunction".   In order to remember the identity of the men who murdered his wife, and of the assailant who struck him in the head, Leonard develops a complex memory-jogging system using Polaroid photographs, notes, and tattoos —clues to his past that at once stabilize and unhinge his sense of sanity.   As it compellingly explores themes of memory, identity, time, revenge, reality and self-deception, Memento also leads viewers into an ever-shifting re-examination of their own presumptions about guilt and innocence. 2000; 113 min. Part of our Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 course!

The Prestige – Christopher Nolan                    
The Prestige solidifies the reputation for inventive storytelling that director Christopher Nolan secured with Memento .   Shifting between various points in its time line, playing out like a magic act itself, this is a tale of two fiercely ambitious magicians. The first -- played by Christian Bale -- is an expert in understanding the fundamentals of any trick, but lacks the skill of showmanship. The second -- played by Hugh Jackman -- is a master showman who is more entertaining than technically perfect. A tragic series of events pits the two performers against each other in a battle of wits that consumes everything and everyone they care about. Also starring Scarlett Johansson. 2006; 125 min.

The Draughtsman's Contract - Peter Greenaway
Amidst the manicured lawns of a 17th-century English estate, something is awry.   The lord is missing, his wife is under suspicion, and their daughter is without an heir.   A brash young artisan --the dashing draughtsman --is hired to sketch the house and lawns in return for the sexual favors of the lady of the house.   This sexual bargain draws him into a viper's nest of plots and counterplots, where the desire for inheritance and power is played out in a vicious yet decidedly elegant war of words.   The Draughtsman's Contract is a masterpiece of formal filmmaking, where language and image are given equal weight. 1983; 104 min. Part of our Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 course!

Marie Antoinette - Sofia Coppola    
After her enormous success with Lost in Translation , director Sofia Coppola composes on a far grander canvas with this visually dazzling biographical film and riff on modern celebrity. Kirsten Dunst stars as Marie Antoinette, the teenager who was given in marriage to France's Louis XVI and holed up inside the elegant walls of Versailles. Shooting on-site and given unprecedented access to the private rooms of the Versailles palace, Coppola gives this doomed queen's life an exuberant twist, capturing the superficiality of l8th-century court life with breathtaking costumes, props, and with the deliberately anachronistic use of early 80's pop music.   The film transforms an18 th -century tale into a sly vision of the cocoon that is 21 st -century celebrity, where the rich and famous spend their time shopping and indulging every desire, blissfully oblivious to outside reality. 2006, 123 min. Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Office of Student Involvement, Leadership and Programs and the Rutgers University Study Abroad Programs.   

2007 United States Super 8 Film & Digital Video Festival            
View the winning films and videos of the International U.S. Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival, selected by a jury of students, film/videomakers and media professionals. The festival--now in its 19th year—will feature finalist works by independent film/videomakers from the United States and around the world. A different program of films and videos will be offered each night of the festival.   Prize winners will be announced on the last night of the festival when the film/video makers will be competing for $3000 in cash and prizes, along with the Audience Favorite Prize. 2007; 120 min. A complete festival line-up will be listed on our website by February 1, 2007. Special Admission Price $10/$9/$8 each evening.

Drowning By Numbers - Peter Greenaway  
An ironic black comedy that celebrates the English obsession with game-playing and with serial murder-- expressed with wit, verve, and the multi-layered pictorial style that characterizes the brilliant work of director Peter Greenaway. In addition, audience members become active viewers, invited to follow the film's count-up from 1 to 100. Come join us in the fun of hunting down each elusive number. 1991; 119 min. Part of our Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 course!

When I Came Home – Dan Lohaus
Framed by the poignant recollections and reflections of Herold Noel, an Iraq War veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who lives out of his car in Brooklyn, When I Came Home reveals a failing system through one veteran's struggle to survive. The film extends its scope to the recurring plight of homeless veterans in America--from those who served in Vietnam to those returning from the current Iraq war—and the battles many must fight for the benefits promised to them by a nation that repeatedly prefers to forget the disturbing legacy of its foreign wars.   2006;   80 min. With Special Guest Appearance by Director Dan Lohaus on Fr-2/23/07! Co-sponsored by the Rutgers University Office of Student Involvement, Leadership and Programs, the Rutgers University American Studies Department, The Rutgers University Paul Robeson Center and the Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences.

El Topo -  Alejandro Jodorowsky                        
A fascinating collision of Sixties avant-garde theater, Latin American symbolism, European radical cinema and the furthest reaches of the movie western, El Topo chronicles the exploits of a master gunfighter and mystic as he sets out to do battle with four si nister, sharp-shooting rivals. John Lennon declared the film a masterpiece, and the rest was history: El Topo became an international cult classic.   Recently restored, El Topo feels no less provocative than when it was first released, but today it also evidences a multi-cultural fusion that puts it far ahead of its time. 1970; 125 min. Part of our Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 class!

TIME

All Scott Hall and all Loree Building film programs begin at 7:00 PM except where noted. Films are screened in the order listed with a 10-minute intermission for double-bills.

LOCATIONS

Locations are indicated by the codes listed below. Directions are also listed below.

Loree 024

Loree Building #024 (Near the corner of Nichol Avenue and George Street), 70-72 Lipman Drive Douglass College Campus, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Scott 123

Scott Hall #123, 43 College Avenue (Near the corner of College Avenue and Hamilton Street), College Avenue Campus, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

ADMISSION

Scott and Loree   Programs:$7=General; $5=Students+Seniors; $4=Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC Friends.    Except: 1/19-7PM=Free; 1/20+21=$10/$7/$6; 2/17-19=$10/$9/$8; 4/6-8=$10/$9/$8; and 4/13=$10/$9/$8.   All films are subject to change. Call our information number the week of the show to confirm titles.

TICKETS

Tickets are available on a “first-come-first-served” basis only and can be purchased at the door beginning a half-hour before the start time.   Registration for the Puzzle Films-Cinema 101 course programs – which feature screenings and commentary by Rutgers University Cinema Studies Professor and NJ Film Festival Director Albert G. Nigrin -- is on a “first-come-first-served” basis only and can only be obtained in advance by using the registration form on the hard copy of our schedule or on the NJMAC Workshop Registration Page on this website (Cost for the entire course is $45 =General; $35=Students+Seniors; $30=Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC Friends) or at the door beginning for individual programs a half-hour before the start time if seats are available. Seating is limited.  

DIRECTIONS

Scott Hall #123
Take the NJ Turnpike to Exit 9 and then take Route 18N (New Brunswick direction) and go for 2 1/2 miles to the Rutgers University/George Street exit (immediately after the Route 27S exit; don't take the earlier George Street exit) and make a left at the light at the end of the exit ramp onto George Street, then go to the next light and make a right onto Hamilton Street, then go to the next light and make a right onto College Avenue. Almost immediately on your right hand side there is an University Parking Lot (#9) which is made available for our patrons to park in. Scott Hall is adjacent to the parking lot on the right. Patrons can also park in Rutgers Lots #1 (next to Kirkpatrick Chapel) and #16 (next to Murray Hall).

Loree Bldg. #024
Take the NJ Turnpike to Exit 9 and then take Route 18N (New Brunswick direction) and go for 1 mile and take the first George Street exit. The exit ramp becomes George Street which you continue on for two lights. At the second light make a left onto Nichol Ave., then make a left at the first street (Lipman Drive) and go about 500 yards up a little hill and park in the university parking lot on the left hand side (lot 78). The Loree Bldg. is a adjacent to this parking lot.  

INFORMATION

Rutgers Film Co-Op/New Jersey Media Arts Center
Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies
72 Lipman Drive (#018 Loree Hall - Douglass Campus)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901-8525 U.S.A.
(732) 932-8482 phone (732) 932-1935 fax; NJMAC@aol.com e-mail;
Web Site: www.njfilmfest.com

The New Jersey Film Festival sm Spring 2007 is funded and sponsored in part by The Rutgers Film Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center;   The Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies/Faculty of Arts and Sciences; The Middlesex County Cultural & Heritage Commission through a grant provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State - a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Eastman Kodak; Johnson & Johnson; New Jersey Books; WCTC/WMGQ; The New Jersey Motion Picture Commission; The Home News Tribune ;   The Rutgers College Office of the Dean; the Rutgers College Student Affairs and College Development Department; The Rutgers University Office of Student Involvement, Leadership and Programs; The Rutgers University World Language Institute; The Rutgers University Spanish Department; The Rutgers University American Studies Department; The Rutgers University Center For Latino Arts and Culture; Albus Cavus Gallery; Synergy Group; New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; Pro 8mm; Film and Video Services; PAC Labs; Frame Discreet; Jungle Software; International Center For 8mm Film; The Rutgers University Paul Robeson Center;   New Brunswick City Market; The Rutgers University Office of Community Affairs; Rutgers University Presentation Services; The Rutgers University Study Abroad Programs; The Rutgers University Enhanced Classroom Support Department; Design Ideas; Advanced Printing; Steven C. Schechter, Esq.; and Share and Harris.

Rutgers Film Co-op/NJMAC 2007 Staff
Executive Director/Curator: Albert Gabriel Nigrin  
Office and House Managers: Stephen Dovidas, Michael Grace, Liz Nadybal, Juan Arancibia, Dana Howze,
Jon Dugan, Christina Entcheva
Volunteers/Interns: Juan Arancibia, Keith Carne, Julia Dennebaum, Jessica Ding, Bao Hoa Do, Jon Dugan, Christina Entcheva, Vic Fern, Kenji Fujishima, Dana Howze, Nicole Jaeger, Keith Carne, Robert Luzhak, Rachel Poloski, Shaun Seneviratne, Rita Marie Stapleton, Dave Szarejko, Kolleen Whitley,
Advisors :   Bob Brodsky, Pam Blake, Victoria Connor, Helen DeMichiel, Dennis Doros, Steve Garfinkel, Steve Gorelick, Charlie Humphrey, Isabel Nazario, Dr. Daniel Nigrin, Toni Treadway, Dr. Alan Williams
Board of Trustees: Dr. John Belton, Dr. Irene Fizer, Michael Hajduk, Bill Harris, Albert Gabriel Nigrin, Rosemary Passantino, Steven C. Schechter, Esq.