Indie Films This Saturday

In 1893, Thomas Edison's "Black Maria," the world's first film studio, was constructed on Main Street in West Orange. America's earliest commercial films were shot both there and on location in northern New Jersey. That same year, the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County opened its doors on 35 Cleveland Street, just off Main Street, in Orange.

This Saturday at 8 p.m., those doors open for the church's fifth annual evening of indie works presented by the internationally acclaimed Black Maria Film and Video Festival, a 29-year-old, international juried competition and award tour dedicated to artist and experimental shorts and animations. A reception follows.

Deeply involved in community revitalization, the church's motto is "Where every mind is free and every soul is welcome," said The Rev. Darrell Berger, its spiritual leader.

Black Maria Festival founder and director, John Columbus, of West Orange, talked about the event and the films coming in. The Black Maria has a repertoire of about 60 films each year. "We hand pick which films to show to match the goals and audience at each venue," Columbus said.

"At the Unitarian Church we show pieces that are progressive and intellectual. They are geared towards an audience age 13 and up and have story lines. Elsewhere, we may show purely abstract works."

Among those being shown are "Sputnik Fire," an animation skewering chauvinism, and another satire, "Corporate Art Policy," looking at bad taste in the home office.

A highlight will be the last chance this year for audiences to see the multi-award winning 18 minute documentary, "Breaking Boundaries: The Art of Alex Masket," by Montclair still photographer and filmmaker Dennis Connor with music by noted Montclair pianist, composer, and big band leader/arranger Diane Moser.

"I'm interested in what motivates people to make art," Connor, 57, said. "Masket is severely autistic, he has a vocabulary of about 30 words, but this film is not pity party about autism. It's an upbeat film about a prolific young artist."

Connor was initially hired to photograph Masket's catalogue of work in 2006, just as Connor had enrolled in the Montclair State University program on film making. He arrived at the Maskets' home with both still and film equipment and took it from there.

I like to think of this film as "Alex Masket, Chapter One."  I came on the scene as Masket was experimenting with new materials suggested by Marshall Okin and Stanley Sudol at Jerry's Artist Outlet in West Orange," Connor said. "I was floored. How does he do it? And not just the work. He was on fire." 

Connor gave Moser a rough cut of the film and about a week to create the sound track. "I think of the music as another character in the film, another member of the ensemble cast," Moser said.

"I first improvised through the whole film, listening to the rhythm of the family members' voices, the sounds Masket made, and the movement of the film's edits. I matched the final composition to the moods and beat of the action and then recruited four musicians from my big band to record the sound track with me," Moser said.

Both Connor and Moser will be at the church showing. Frank Barszcz, Columbus' neighbor and president of the church's board of trustees, brought the festival to Orange.

"Our area is rich with talented musicians, actors, photographers and painters. And, film is part of that richness," Barszcz said.

View the movie trailer here.