Trenton Film Festival: Regional Documentaries

For immediate release

Regional Documentary Film Festival

The Trenton Film Society presents our Regional Documentary Film Festival on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2, at the Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton, NJ. Screenings are scheduled at 6:30 on Friday and noon, 3PM, and 6PM on Saturday, followed by a reception and awards ceremony. It is a great opportunity to see locally made documentaries from shorts to features, on issues with local impact from addiction treatment to inclusiveness, skateboarding to softball, bilingualism to business survival, and lots of joyful noise, including “Listen Up—Trenton Makes Music.” Several filmmakers (and maybe some musicians) will be available for Q&A after the showings. You can purchase tickets at the Trenton Film Society website, http://trentonfilmsociety.org/, or at the door. The tickets will cost $7 for a single block of movies, $6 for students, and $14 for an all-access pass to four shows, $12 for students.

On opening night, May 1, we celebrate our semiquincentennial in the literal sense with the short film “Dare to Declare,” directed by Chris Cotter, which features students and community members reading the Declaration of Independence aloud, highlighting how the nation’s founding ideals remain relevant, contested, and powerful 250 years later. Embodying those ideals is the feature film “Ridge Army.” A group of skateboarders transform an abandoned industrial site into a hub of creativity, friendship, and resilience, fighting to protect not just their playground, but each other. It’s a tale of risk, rebellion, and unwavering unity—proof that even in the toughest places, passion and connection can build something lasting.

The short films showing at noon on Saturday, May 2, interrogate the meaning of community. Anne Cieko’s beautiful “Key{stone}/Lime{stone}” entwines histories and memories of industry (especially cement manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania), domestic labor, immigration, and family through narrative poetry, stop-motion animation (melding mineral and organic materials), and documentary-style video footage. A funeral home may be “The Dying Business” in more than one sense, with cremation rates spiking and the observance of traditional rites surrounding death on the decline. Joe Duca pays tribute to his quirky Italian American family’s attempts to innovate their third-generation funeral home in Johnstown, PA, and participates in the act of preserving memories and honoring the efforts of those who came before us. “Extra Innings: The Story of the Over-the-Hill Gang,” directed by Robert Mandelberg, is about more than a softball league for seniors. It’s about showing up. It’s about refusing to fade quietly. It’s about what happens when you keep chasing joy, even when your knees hurt and your batting average isn’t what it used to be. Festival regular Dan Preston proves that a film doesn’t have to be long to inspire. “The TEDI Story: 35 Years of the Trenton Education Dance Institute” features current students and staff, as well as alumni, revealing the impact and value of TEDI. “Twin Tongues/Lenguas gemelas” asks the question: In an English-dominant world, can a pair of Latinx twins learn English without losing their Spanish? Shot in Philadelphia (United States), Puerto Rico, and Peru, this film celebrates multilingualism as it wrestles with the choices that speakers make in relation to their languages today. Director (and mother) Illiana Pagán Teitelbaum advocates for empowering migrant communities to represent and preserve their culture, identity, and languages.

At 3:00 PM, three more films celebrate the communities we make. The GET Café in Narberth, PA, is a neighborhood coffee shop where more than half the staff—even supervisors—have disabilities. In “Brewing Possibilities,” directed by David Y. Block, employees share their stories of how it was hard for them to get jobs and to keep them, and their sense of accomplishment in becoming part of the working world. For some employees, Get Café is more than a job; it’s a lifesaver. The protagonist of “Mercy at the Gates” needs saving, but will it come in time? Follow Nick’s harrowing journey from addiction to mercy on the streets of the world’s largest open-air drug market in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Mother of Mercy House offers help, but the rest is up to the recipient. This film, directed by Dan Tarrant, is raw, honest, and yet still inspiring. This film contains drug use. On a lighter note, “Fading Frequencies” (directed by Matt Dixon) takes us to a record store in Wayne, NJ, where we meet a passionate community of collectors, locals, and younger listeners who bond between generations and refuse to let go of the physical music that matters even as the world moves closer to an all-digital future.

The festival ends at 6:00 PM Saturday with an earful of joyful noise. “Why I Love You: Meet the Ultimates” profiles the West Philadelphia R&B girl group The Ultimates. They may not be household names, but their song “Why I Love” found a home with an unlikely revival 50 years after it was originally recorded. Shontel Horne’s film proves great art will always find its audience. The feature “Listen Up—Trenton Makes Music” (directed by Art Varga) explores the deep musical legacy of Trenton, from the 1960s to today. Through interviews with artists, historians, and community voices, the film looks at the city’s once-vibrant music scene and the gifted performers who shaped it—some who reached national stages as well as others who devoted their lives to local audiences.

At the reception and awards ceremony that follows, prizes for best feature and best short, as well as best Trenton-based film and the audience favorite award, will be announced.