Welcome to the Rutgers Film Co-op and the New Jersey Media Arts Center
Home of the New Jersey Film Festivals and the United States Super 8 Film and Digital Video Festival dedicated to exhibiting independent, classic, international, and experimental films.
Schedule of Events:
Online for 24 Hours!
Films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VOD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA.
Best of the 2025 New Jersey International Film Festival Program #1
Becoming an Oyster - Elizabeth Schneider, Michael Covello (Kutztown, New York)
Becoming an Oyster is an animated short film by Michael Covello and Elizabeth Schneider. It explores the intersection of two significant generational crises: climate change and opioid addiction. Told through the eyes of a young boy, the allegorical narrative touches on themes of consumption, excess, and trauma. The metaphor of an oyster’s life cycle reflects the vulnerability of human and ecological systems. These filter animals become a two-way mirror through which one may glimpse ecological failure and the consequences of climate disruption as well as the broader struggles and individual trauma of addiction. Becoming an Oyster blends ecological metaphors with human narratives to create a surreal landscape of boyhood adventure, heartbreaking loss, and the legacy we each leave to future generations. 2025; 7 min.
Elisa in Wonderland – Clea van der Grijn (Sligo, Ireland)
Following a period of rehabilitation, Elisa (Nora Ní Anluain Fay) returns to her ancestral stately home, Stradbally, where she is haunted by acute anxiety, mental illness, and struggles with addiction. Despite the tender ministrations of Mary (Hilary Bowen-Walsh), the devoted housekeeper, she finds herself unravelling as reality and imagination blur and the paintings in her room come to life to pull her into their surreal narratives. Inspired by “The Raven” and other works by Edgar Allan Poe, this powerful and unsettling cinematic journey delves into the depths of the human psyche to explore themes of loss, madness, and the shadowy forces within. 2025; 107 min
