65 Scotland Rd, South Orange, NJ
Time: 7:00pm
Join us for the 30th Black Maria Film Festival to be held on Tuesday, April 12th, at 7:00. The program will consist of award-winning works selected from this year's more than 700 entrees by some of the nation's most prominent cutting-edge filmmakers. Among the works to be shown by John Columbus, Director/and Founder of the Black Maria Film and Video Festival are:
HAIL - This whimsical hand drawn animation is based on a song composed and performed by the musical Hamell on Trial. Hubley's art illustrates the song about three hate-crime victims who meet up in heaven.
A CITY SYMPHONY UNDERGROUND - In an homage to classic documentaries such as Berlin: Symphony of City (1927), by Walter Ruttman and Manhattan (1921) by Paul Stand and Charles Sheeler, Catherine Stratton's work is arranged in movements that evoke her subject's daily shifting timbre. The topic is the New York City subway system, shot in an intimate, highly observational manner. Blending footage shot in 1905, six months after the subway opened, with present day scenes the film capture the spirit, energy and rhythms of the people and the textures and colors of the underground marvel in all of its gritty beauty.
YARD WORK IS HARD WORK - Disillusionment plus hope in collage and song: part experimental animation, part romanaatic comedy, Yard Work Is Hard Work is also a biting critique of certain mysths about marriage and consumerism. This initially droll work turns into poignant musical follows a pair of newlyweds as they learn the perils of "upward mobility" and life in general.
MRS. BUCK IN HER PRIME - Mrs. Buck in Her Prime is a tender documentary portrait of a spirited 104 year old African American church pianist who, despite her physical frailties, carries on playing the piano with verve and vigor at services in her small hometown of Washington, North Carolina.
THE STITCHES SPEAK - Fabric art graces this intriguing animation/documentary racing Kutch aratisans' journeys between Pakistan and India in the forming of the Kala Raksha Trust and School for Design. The women's appliques and embroideries reveal a powerful narrative as this visually rich work unfolds.
The Black Maris Festival, one of only nine festivals in the work d to be designated as an Oscar-qualifying competition for short documentaries of 40 minutes or less by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, has often been awarded the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Citation for Excellence.
There is no charge for the program and all are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served. For further information, please contact Phyllis Kalb, Program Coordinator, at the South Orange Public Library (973)762-0230 or e-mail pkalb@sopl.org