2013 United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival this weekend at Rutgers University-Part 1!

2013 United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival-Part 1
Now in its 25th year, the United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival is the largest and longest running juried Super 8mm film and digital video festival in North America. The festival encourages any genre (including animation, documentary, personal, narrative, and experimental) made on Super 8mm/8mm film, Hi 8mm/8mm, or digital video.  The 25th annual United States Super 8mm Film + Digital Video Festival will be held on February 15-17, 2012 at Voorhees Hall #105, beginning each evening at 7 PM, on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.  The Festival will include a different program each evening. 

All of the submitted works were screened by a panel of fifteen jurors comprised of media professionals, journalists, students, interns, and film scholars. The panel included: Nia Allen-Lee, Yasmeen Ali, Alexandra Chin, Erika Conty, Ryan Dembek, Rugved Deshpande, Daniel Fisher, Irene Fizer, Victory Furniture, Allyson Hensley, Albert Nigrin, Matt Riddle, Johanna Ruiz, Allie Steiger, and Andrew Zrebiec. The nineteen finalist works were selected from over 166 works submitted by filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the jurors chose the Prize Winners in conjunction with the Festival Director.  During the three days of the festival, audience members will participate in the judging process by voting for their favorite works via the "Audience Choice Prize." All of the award-winners will be publicly announced after the closing-night screenings on Sunday, February 17, 2013. In addition, there will be special tribute programs for two Super 8 filmmakers -- Sanjiban Sellew and Anne Robertson -- who won many awards at our Festival.  We join their families and friends in mourning their untimely passing as we celebrate their remarkable work.

2013 United States Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival Schedule

Friday, February 15, 2013

The Transmission – Brian Lonano (Atlanta, Georgia)
While a storm rages outside and Henry drinks from his bottle of absinthe, he receives a bizarre television transmission. 2012; 6 min.

Nothing Seems to Last - Daniel Robin (Atlanta, Georgia)
A haunting family memory about infidelity, desperation, and lust is told from somewhat conflicting perspectives. 2012; 6 min.

Decapoda Shock-Javier Chillon (Madrid, Spain)
An astronaut returns to Earth after a fatal accident on a distant planet. 2012; 9 min.

TROBIA - Benjamin Ross Hayden (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
This abstract animation film explores fractal entities that provide a harmonic emotional resonance, and pays homage to the forgotten 3D modeling software developed by Lazarus Plath. 2012; 7 min.

Dead Good - Beverley Jordan (Norwich, United Kingdom)
A “living statue” street performer encounters some devilish competition. He doesn't get mad - he just tries to get even... 2012; 8 min.

Olivia - Ana García Abad (Toluca Lake, California)
In this short film, Olivia is a 13-year-old narcoleptic girl who is constantly bullied by her classmates. However, her luck changes when her disorder brings her an unexpected power: the ability to step into other people's dreams. 2012; 15 min.

Story City – Phillp Docken (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
A mesmerizing meditation on the limitations of attachment and desire, inspired by Buddhist scripture. 2012; 14 min.

A Tribute to Sanjiban, The Restless Rascal  (1953 – 201
As Sanjiban wrote, "my filmmaking career began in 1976. I was 23 years old. At the time I was a disciple of a charismatic East Indian meditation teacher who gave me a Beaulieu Super 8 camera and told me to entertain the world. I was thrown off guard. […] As time went on my film style became more and more vaudevillian in nature. Living in San Francisco gave me permission to explore different exaggerated comic dispositions on multiple levels. I felt a sense of freedom and relief that I didn't have to be sophisticated to be in the film/art scene. Perhaps I was no more than a gag artist and that label was fine with me." In the 80s Sanjiban moved back to his roots, the woods of Western Massachusetts. He continued to work as a cabinet-maker and carpenter and gathered a team of co-conspirators around him styled as the Konkapot Big Boys of Super 8. When his camera broke in 1995, Sanjiban took up digital video until his untimely death in 2012.  This tribute celebrates Sanjiban's style, skill, understanding, fun, ferocity, and the embrace of the absurd that marks his film work.  Visit the website SanjibanFilms.com for more information.

Film selections:
1. Me against you (1988) 1 min. A capsule of conflict.
2. I Got Mail (1999) 3 min.  Retrieving the news of the day.
3. Roadkill Revival (1990) 4 min.  Animal Rescue 9-1-1.
4. Pinnacle Man (1989) 5 min. Comic reflections on the path to knowledge.
5. Prayer Box (2003)  7 min. Wayside in.
6. Self Arrest (2006) 5 min. A therapeutic remedy in times of terror.
7. Remembering Lao (1990) 7 min. Re-imagining a fabled event in the life of Lao Tzu.
8. Parada Vida (1990) 7 min. A life pause, a resting place.
39 min.  

Friday—February 15, 2013
7PM
Voorhees Hall #105, Rutgers University,
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey
$10=General; $9=Students+Seniors; $8=Rutgers Film Co-op Friends

Jimmy John’s of New Brunswick will be providing free sandwiches prior to this screening!

More info is available at www.njfilmfest.com or 848-932-8482!