Black Maria Film Festival at the Morris Museum, May 8

Black Maria Film Festival
2019 Winners to Be Screened on May 8
at the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum

Special guest Ann Tallman, actress, singer, writer, filmmaker, and storyteller will be present to discuss her film collaboration with Seth Kramer of Ironbound Films and lead a Q & A about their film “Woody’s Order,” with the audience.

The Morris Museum is pleased to once again present the Black Maria Film Festival on Wednesday, May 8, at 7:30 PM with the screening of award winners in this year’s juried competition at the Bickford Theatre. Since its founding in 1981, the Festival, named after Thomas Edison’s original film studio in West Orange because it resembled a Black Maria or black box paddy wagon of with the same name. The Black Maria Film Festival has been celebrating the diversity, invention, and vitality of short films through an international juried film competition. The films encompass four major genres including narrative, experimental, animation, and documentary. Unlike other film festivals which bring filmmakers and their films to one location for recognition, the Thomas Edison Black Maria Film Festival takes the winning films to the people in venues all over the world from Morristown, New Jersey to Gloucestershire, UK.

Festival Director Jane Steuerwald will present the program and introduce the winning films. Selections include work from genres including animation, narrative, and documentary.

The evening will begin with Random Thoughts, an animated film about the ups and downs of entering film festivals by acclaimed filmmaker Steven Vander Meer.

A Rose in My Garden, by filmmaker Deborah Peretz, NY, NY, is a moving documentary about mysterious stone figures springing up along the Hudson River in Upper Manhattan. The Sisyphus Stones, as they have come to be known, are the creations of Uliks Gryka, an idiosyncratic genius of Albanian descent who worships stone and honors it daily with his toil. “Like a faithful servant, I am obedient to my master.”

The featured film of the evening is Woody’s Order! a film based on a one-woman show written and performed by actress Ann Talman. Family legend has it that Ann was “ordered” into this world in 1956 by Woody, her then eight-year-old brother with severe cerebral palsy. Ann’s raison d’être was to care for Woody if and when their parents could not. At the time, Woody was not expected to live past twelve. Ann’s performance details her struggles to understand her brother’s disorder, build a career, and even sustain her sanity while fulfilling her sacred obligations.

Ann Talman made her Broadway debut playing Elizabeth Taylor’s daughter in The Little Foxes. Her other Broadway credits include The House of Blue Leaves, Some Americans Abroad, and The Women. She’s done off-Broadway, regional theatre, film and television. The award-winning documentary Woody’s Order! by Seth Kramer of Ironbound Films, featuring Ms. Talman and her brother Woody, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Additional films slated for screening on May 8 include Gloria’s Call a feminist documentary by Cheri Gaulke, Studio City, CA; Ulises (Ulysses) the Stellar Award-winning narrative by Jorge Malpica of Catalonia, Mexico; Inverse, a morality tale in 3-D animation by Ioanna Tsinividi and Harold Herbert of Athens, Greece; and The Italian Gaze a beautifully drawn, personal memoir by artist Sandro Del Rosario, as he reflects on his conflicted relationship with his home country of Italy.

Tickets for the Black Maria Film Festival

• Museum Members: $12
• Non-Members: $15
• Students with valid ID: $10

Tickets may be purchased online at morrismuseum.org/film, by phone at 973.971.3706 or in person at the Bickford Theatre Box Office. The Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre is located at 6 Normandy Heights Road in Morristown, NJ, and offers free parking and full accessibility. Box office hours for phone sales are Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Walk-up hours are during the Museum’s normal operating hours.

About the Morris Museum

Founded in 1913, the Morris Museum is an award-winning, community-based arts and cultural institution serving the public through its exhibitions in the arts, sciences and humanities. The Museum is home to the historic and internationally-significant Murtogh D. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata. Changing exhibits of contemporary content also explore the Guinness themes of art, sound, and motion. The adjacent Bickford Theatre is the museum's 312-seat performing-arts facility, offering unique programming, often related to the museum's exhibition themes. Continuously serving the public since 1913, the Morris Museum has a proud tradition of innovative educational programs and family events. The first museum in New Jersey to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, it has been designated a Major Arts Institution and has received the New Jersey State Council on the Arts’ Citation of Excellence, among other awards.

The Morris Museum is a Blue Star Museum, offering free admission to active duty military personnel and their families, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.