Near Enemy Film Festival Showcases Martial Arts and Fight Films

Fists flew this past weekend at the Near Enemy Film Festival, a debut event that showcased independent films that featured martial arts and fight choreography.

Organized by Near Enemy Creative of Morristown, short films, ranging in length from two minutes to 17 minutes, were showcased to a crowd of between 40-50 people.

Organizer Cara Parmigiani of Near Enemy Creative said that the idea for the festival came from Near enemy's links to martial arts: Parmigiani teaches classes in Danzan-Ryu Jujitsu, and also practices Judo.

Plus, martial arts films are fun to watch, she said.

"Everyone likes to see fights," she said.

Festival submissions came from the U.S., Canada and Norway, and the Canadian film "Alive and Kicking" by Global Authority was voted best in show.

Submission grappling school Grapplers Quest, one of the festival's sponsors, showcased a film from the Beast of the East Tournament in Wayne, and Near Enemy showed their own film, "Kicking Marias" as a bonus feature.

"(The festival was) organized by two women, so I think that's kind of cool," Parmigiani said.