Arts & Entertainment

Millburn Film Fest Announces Winners

See them all at the Red Carpet Premiere on Thursday, April 10. A daytime encore is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16.

The Education Foundation of Millburn-Short Hills is putting students in the spotlight again this year and will be showcasing nine winning films at the Millburn Film Fest. The Red Carpet Premiere is made possible thanks to our Academy Award Sponsors Towne Realty Group and New York Film Academy, and Studio Sponsor The Gonnella Team and will be on Thursday, April 10, 7 p.m. at Millburn High School.  

The Red Carpet will open at 6:30 p.m. and attendees will be treated to a paparazzi entrance as photographers take their photo on the red carpet. The community is invited to view nine short family friendly films Millburn students have created, walk the red carpet, take home a complimentary photo, and exit the event to a fanfare. Tickets are available online at www.millburnfilmfest.eventbrite.com.

This year we will be screening Connected, Cowboys of Chincoteague, Dream, iShrink, Life in 5 Short Chapters, My Second Home,Voodoo, Written, and Zeitgeist Productions Presents. You can view the trailer for the winning films above. 

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The top film will be given a New York Film Academy one week scholarship to summer film camp and a submission fee waiver for the Fall 2013 New Jersey Film Festival held at Rutgers, and the top two films will receive gift cards to B&H Photo—$250 for first place and $100 for second place—provided by Jodi Daley of West End Productions NY.

Hannah Geller, Millburn High School senior, submitted, directed and filmed “Connected.” Connected is an age-old love story with a modern twist. This original story is written by senior Alana Yeager and co-edited by Hannah and Alana. It stars MHS junior, Daniela Kaplun, MHS seniors Charles Zhang, Jacob Krol, Jorge Solodkin, and Stephanie Cabrera, as well as Ben Reydel and Haya Taitel.

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The documentary “Cowboys of Chincoteague” takes you on a journey through an American pass time in which a herd of wild horses are led by modern day cowboys. Senior Ethan Stupp captures the beauty of the horses through his cinematography. The film is written and edited by Stupp and co-directed with senior, Dylan Leslie

Millburn Middle School sixth grader, Alex DeRosa, makes her film fest debut with a stop action/claymation film “Dream.” The film is about a two-dimensional figure that wants to add another dimension to his unhappy life. Alex wrote, directed, filmed, edited and is the artist that brought this film to life. “Dream” also stars her sister Charlotte DeRosa.

“iShrink” is a wonderful special effects film about the adventures of a boy who has a smart phone and gets his hands on the wrong app. Sophomore, Jasen Aziz, not only wrote, directed, filmed, and edited “iShrink”, he is also the film’s star. His sister Mariam Aziz also stars in the film.

“Life in 5 Short Chapters" is a film by MHS junior Emma Quong, which displays the internal struggles of three individuals. Inspired by true events, the film explores the stages of overcoming self-conflicts, while in search for ultimate liberation and inner peace. It stars MHS junior Anna Antselevich, MHS senior Bradley Bun, MHS teacher David Drechsel and the film's creator.

In “My Second Home,” Jeremy Hochman conveys the emotional warmth that emanates from the Adirondack region to which he travels every summer, warmth that persists even through the enveloping snowfall of the winter months. Hochman, a sophomore, co-wrote this cinematographic essay with his brother Josh who is a senior at MHS.

Max Retik’s film, “Voodoo,” follows an imaginative young girl that brings magic to her playtime. Retik, an MHS junior, includes special effects in his film that he wrote, directed, filmed, and edited. The film stars his sister Lia and cameo by his sister Ellie.

A girl finds a mysterious notebook that can make anything she writes come true. Find out if she really gets what she wants in the film “Written.” MMS seventh grader, Kyle Farscht, filmed, directed, and edited the film and co-wrote it with classmate Jessie Yeager. The film stars Jessie as well as fellow seventh graders Catherine Shea, Renee Nubel, Darcy Gruer, Matthew Green, Ben Schonhorn, Daniel Moore, Will Cerulli and fifth grader Taylor Farscht.

Seniors collaborated to make “Zeitgeist Productions Presents” a hilarious comedy. The film was submitted by Nicole LaChance. She co-wrote and co-starred in the film with Claire Denson, Meri Scheiner, David Gould, Sam Curtis, and Mary Collins. Cinematographers on the film were Nicole, Meri and Caire. Nicole and Meri directed and edited the film.

The selection of films was chosen by the 2014 judging panel: Cathy Scorsese, Frank Meo, Yale Chasin, Trish Gonella-Russo, Kerry Glass, and members of the Millburn-Short Hills Arts Advisory Committee: Laraine Brennan-Barach, Andrew Permison, Amy McGovern, Donna Davis and Kathi Hecht.  

If you can't make it to the Red Carpet Premiere on Thursday, April 10 there will be a daytime encore performance on Wednesday, April 16, at 11 a.m. at the Millburn Bow-Tie Cinema. 


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