Black Maria Film Festival: A Celebration of Short Films

The Italians have an expression…the small barrel has good wine. If we translate those words into the language of film, then a good short film, in its brevity, has a value of its own: it captures our attention, holds it, and presents us with something to think about in a span of minutes. The eleven award winning short film selections presented at the 30th Annual Black Maria Film and Video Festival did just that Feb. 6 at the AMC theater.

It was difficult to pick the highlights of these cinematic offerings which ranged in length from one to sixteen minutes. Each of them, in its own way, was compelling to watch. The subject matters were as varied as the lengths of the films. Some samples of shorts shown are as follows: 

"The Burning Wigs of Sedition" is a colorful, frenzied, music driven film of decadence on the high seas. Visualize a funky marching band being held captive on a timeless ship with slaves rowing down below and an orgy going on, if you can, to understand what this film is about. (Bet you can’t…and it’s all done in nine minutes). 

"Mrs. Buck in Her Prime," a charming documentary about one hundred and four year old Neva Buck, follows Buck as she demonstrates her spirited piano playing and singing at church services in her hometown of Washington, North Carolina. 

A combination of live action and digital animation techniques set in Pittsburgh’s industrial landscape is seen in "Pinburgh," a creative musical fantasy in which a live actor dances down a drawn set of steps and into a bar where pinball is being played. Balls bounce out of the bar and into the city where they stir up drawings reminiscent of the work of M.C. Escher, a famous Dutch graphic artist, in a whimsical way. 

Other films shown were "Bike Race," "Hail," "Carpe Diem," "Lucky Charm," "Just About Famous," and "Transformations on Bartok." 

An afternoon bonus was the presence of two New Jersey filmmakers who were available to chat with the audience about their films which were also viewed.

Catherine Stratton Chiarello of Maplewood is the director, cinematoghapher and editor of the twelve minute film, "A City Symphony Underground." In the film,scenes of daily life on the New York City subway come streaming by as do images of musicians entertaining underground passersby. Historical footage shot six months after the subway opened in 1905 are combined with present day scenes. 

"I’ve always been a big subway fan," said Chiarello. "City Hall was where the subway started. I wanted the emphasis to be less on performers and more on the journey. The theme is to notice little moments. We are all on a journey," she added. 

The film was made to pay tribute to a documentary film genre, "City Symphonies," first made in the 1920’s. In these films, the goal was to provide images of ever-changing city rhythms and moods. They were inspired by the musical symphony which has different movements, evoking different feelings. 

The students at Beacon High School in New York City had a whopping good time in their after school dance club as seen in Marta Renzi’s sixteen minute film, "Where the Dance Is." Renzi, a choreographer and filmmaker from Nyack, focused on a diverse group of youngsters learning dance moves under the supportive instruction of their choreographer, Doug Elkins. In this film, Renzi explained ,"Performance is not where the dance is, it’s about the process of kids having fun and learning new skills." The energy and enthusiasm of the students was joyful to watch, despite some less than perfect dance postures.

Township resident John Columbus is the festival’s founder and director. The AMC theater was the third stop on its national tour. The program kicked off at New Jersey City University, then previewed at the Newark Museum before coming to West Orange, where its namesake, the Black Maria motion picture studio, was first seen at Thomas Edison National Park in 1980 by Columbus. Built by Edison, the building was the world’s first motion picture studio. It was thought to resemble a police paddy wagon, then called a black maria. Columbus took that name for his festival in honor of Edison.

Before the films were shown, Greg Marshall, Superintendent of Thomas Edison National Historical Park, made congratulatory remarks to Columbus on the 30th anniversary of the festival, as did township resident, Ken Mandel, who created the event at the AMC theater under the auspices of the West Orange Film Society.