12th ANNUAL NORTHEAST FILM FESTIVAL

The Northeast Film Festival will be held September 2024 at the Teaneck Cinemas in Teaneck, NJ. The Northeast Film Festival (NEFF) showcases top independent films from celebrated filmmakers, as well as new talent. The diverse array of films, selected by a committee, includes features and shorts from all genres, as well as documentaries.

Schedule:

September 7, 2024

(Theater 1)

12PM - BLOCK 1

THE FUTURE OF AMERICA: UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION
Student Kristin Tokarev asks mighty questions of a mighty country.
directed by Kristin Tokarev

LET FREEDOM RING
Original song about the power of the 1st Amendment from middle school student, Maisie Munroe!
directed by Maisie Munroe

FREE TODAY
Colt Jaxon sings original song about the importance of the Bill of Rights.
directed by Colt Jaxon

WHY THE CONSTITUTION IS RELEVANT TODAY
Student Documentarian, Casey Chapter, interviews academics and professionals about the Constitution and how it remains relevant in their fields.
directed by Casey Chapter

A MINUTEMAN'S MINUTE (OR FIVE) OF HISTORY: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND ITS RELEVANCE TODAY!
Student Filmmaker, Steph Jackman, uses humor and creative visuals to tell the story of the US Constitution.
directed by Steph Jackman

RIPPLE
Rae Ripple, a welder from the outskirts of West Texas transforms neglected metal into works of art and in the process finds healing from her traumatic past.
directed by Michael McCourt

OH, JOHNNY!
John Santillo, a World War II D-Day survivor, travels back overseas for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day to relive his time at war. Through a story that moves between the past and present, John opens up about the time he spent overseas using his unique blend of charisma, optimism and humor that captivates everyone he meets along his journey.
directed by Lawrence Schwartz

1:15PM - BLOCK 2

TALK IT OUT (AVA DELLA PIETRA - OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
The official music video of Ava Della Pietra's original song "talk it out".
directed by Adam Lukowski

MY DATE WITH KAIA
Based on a true story, fresh off the talking phase, Gia a young Queer woman goes on a date with a fun loving woman named Kaia who’s just moved to NYC. Experience the awkwardness and drama of a first date in the modern technological world.
directed by Betsy Marie Regus, Becca Erdenebulgan, and Jake Shoop

PUTT PUTT
Will brings his girlfriend Piper to a miniature golf course for a date to mark their second anniversary. Piper fields a phone call from her mother, who says Will has called Piper's father and now Will guesses that Piper is expecting a proposal.
directed by George Grotheer

INTERTWINED REPETITION
A tumultuous relationship comes to its final conclusion
directed by Michael Vezza

MY SWEET ANGEL
On the eve of Saylor’s 17th birthday, she tries her hardest to continue to put up with her mother’s abuse. As the misery of living inside her house continues, Saylor’s final breaking point is when her mother attempts to kill her.
directed by Shay'la Duca

TWICE A DAY
A film exploring loss, love, and the reality of living with psychological disorders.
directed by Shelby O'Boyle

THE PIECE
In her last rehearsal, a pianist fights to perfect her piece before fear manifests into an apparition beyond her control.
directed by Emma Young

3PM - BLOCK 3

MINUTE FILMS

CONTAMINADO
A contemporary telenovela that shows the different emotions we can feel when one person we love goes away, leaving us behind with only an object.
directed by Léna Charlon

HEART OF GOLD
A young girl experiences difficulties adapting to a new environment. She meets and overcomes her challenges with love and kindness.
directed by Jack Foley

AND SOMEHOW NOW...
Four women cross paths hiking on a trail, each questioning their lives. Their shared struggles lead them to friendship.
directed by Trifon Dimitropoulos

DISCHARGE
As his world begins to crumble around him, a troubled police detective, who has tried to ignore the effects from trauma he suffered, must finally confront his past in order to begin healing and reclaim his present.
directed by Ryan Metcalf

5PM - BLOCK 4
WON'T BE AROUND (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
A song written and performed by singer-songwriter Terry Blade. At its core, the song is about leaving an abusive relationship by having the will to speak it, the courage to do it, and the strength to never return to it.
directed by Terry Blade

MILLIE'S CARE FREE DAY
Weighed down and despondent from crushing depression, Millie tries to escape the daily grind by deciding today will be different. However, she must first confront her trauma before it consumes her.
directed by Michael Licisyn

THERAPIST CRUSH
Soul-searching transmasculine Frankie has a crush on his hot, new therapist, until one day things get too real.
directed by MJ Kaufman

MIJA
The complicated relationship between an immigrant mother, Antonia and her US-born daughter, Yesenia. Things start to shift after Yesenia has a conversation with her friend.
directed by Valerie Abrego Amaya

CHECK-IN
A close father-daughter relationship, is soon discovered to be fractured through the inhuman dings of a cellphone.
directed by Caleb Mihill

FIVE QUESTIONS
Jill comes to terms with an early trauma in her life.  In each of the film's five scenes, a question is asked that propels Jill forward and toward an answer that opens a path to resolution.
directed by David Arrow

THE CONCERT
Farrah and Lisa hang out in Angie’s basement, waiting on her dad to give them a ride to their first big rock concert.  They face what so many women face.  And they face it together.  A realistic coming of age story that pulls no punches told from the girl’s point of view.
directed by Elizabeth Bourgeois

A VIOLENT BREAKUP
Paul is a jealous, possessive boyfriend who finally crossed the line that made Isabelle realize she wants out of the relationship - any way possible.
directed by Tyrell Jason

A CALLING
Set in a small town in Southern Georgia during the struggle for school desegregation, In the wee hours of a September night in 1969 the peaceful slumber of four households is broken by ringing telephones, and the unrest of a community roiled by change envelops.
directed by Susanne Boulle

7PM - RED CARPET

8PM - BLOCK 5

BOUND
In order to escape her overprotective drug-dealing stepfather, a young introvert flees to NYC with her pet pocket squirrel. After successfully reinventing herself, she realizes she must confront her dark past, to truly be free.
directed by Isaac Hirotsu Woofter

(Theater 4)

12PM - BLOCK 6

LATIN SUPER 7 +
A story of Latin culture through the prism of social dancing.  Filmed at amazing social gatherings around the world, we discover dancing in natural Latin settings  as never seen before.
directed by Tom Wieschenberg, Mary Aguilar Massey, and Sonia Apolinario

1:15PM - BLOCK 7

GHOSTS OF THE BIG SANDY
A summer of adventure, ghost hunting, and mysteries await Clayton, Scot, JayLynn, after the trio make a wish under the bridge to see ghosts, which starts them on a path of discovery that results in them uncovering a decades-long secret.
directed by Joe Robertson

3PM - BLOCK 8

ALL YOU NEED IS BLOOD
When a strange meteor lands in his backyard and turns his deadbeat father into a brain-eating zombie, a 16-year-old aspiring director teams up with his friends to create the ultimate student film.
directed by Cooper Roberts

5PM - BLOCK 9

L.A. 4ORCE
A gritty crime thriller set in Los Angeles in the midst of a historic crime wave. Two veteran Los Angeles homicide detectives track down a gang of arms dealers responsible for a quintuple murder that has captivated the country. Meanwhile, the four husbands of the women killed in the "Salon Slaughter" deal with their loss as they learn to protect themselves from the escalating crime that threatens them and the city.
directed by Giovanni M Zelko
 

7PM - RED CARPET

8PM - BLOCK 10

HIGH LIGHT
A young man musters the courage to face an alien lifeform rooting through his garage.
directed by Anthony John Orlando

DESPERATELY SEEKING SIKH
Tensions run high during dinner as a couple is educated on Panjabi culture, language and some of the principles of Sikhism by a Sikh guest.
directed by Kelly Goldstein

BITTER ANGELS
Two young women kidnap a billionaire. Venom wants revolution, Angel wants revenge.
directed by Mark L Mazzeo

FENWICK
When an ambitious journalist investigates rumors of unethical practices at the now defunct Fenwick School, he unwittingly becomes part of the school’s sinister history.
directed by Rachel S. Thomas-Medwid

LYRICAL
A privileged, Black law student, trying to escape pressure from his dad, finds himself in a potential police violence situation with a group of adjudicated youth on probation, led by a talented spoken word artist.
directed by Carter M. Stewart

BOUND BY BUSHWICK
In the gritty and ethnically mixed neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn, during the turbulent 1970s, a talented and ambitious young man finds himself caught between the allure of a brighter future and his loyalty to his neighborhood friends.
directed by Mark Montalbano

10PM - AFTER PARTY

September 8, 2024

(Theater 1)

12PM - BLOCK 11

YOUR VALLEY, MY VALLEY

A heartfelt and humorous portrait of a community through the lens of nine seemingly disparate characters — a cowboy, a jingle composer, a journalist, a phonographer, a historian, a painter, a radio host, a self-appointed investigator, and an heir to country music royalty — who are all connected by the legacy of strange phenomena in their beloved Valley.
directed by Brendan Fay

2PM - BLOCK 12

X-MAS ANONYMOUS
When a group of Christmas addicts gather for their regular meeting, the addition of a new member could be the catalyst for a relapse they've all been waiting for.
directed by Sammy Smedley

ALWAYS WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES
Paula learns the hard way, regarding one of the golden rules to surviving a horror movie.
directed by Angie Hansen

MIMI GOES TO REHAB
Mimi, a people-pleasing psychotherapist, is fed up with her hostile work environment, abusive boss, and cheating boyfriend. She poses as a cocaine addict for a free "vacation" at a luxury rehab, but will she get away with her scam?
directed by Asger Folmann

CONVERSION OF THE ATHEIST
Two Mormon boys with a dark secret knock on an atheist woman's door.
directed by Michael Ambrosino

DAD'S NEW ROOMMATE
Joe, a retired mechanic, Vietnam veteran, and widower, who has been without his wife for a long time, decides to take in a roommate. His three grown children and daughter-in-law have shown him over the years how to be more accepting of other people, to be a more open and loving man, and how to stay with the times both socially and technologically. And when they find out the reality of what their dad actually has going on, it forces them to re-examine what they truly feel as opposed to what they say they do.
directed by Patrick F Devaney

3:30PM - BLOCK 13

THE CHAT
Two neighbors meet on the street for a quick chat.
directed by Matthew Taylor

DEEP SLOP
Struggling with a recent spat of unexplained headaches, Jewel Skibicki and her buzzed friend Dominic head to the free clinic where they encounter an opportunistic doctor driven to hatch an incredibly insulting scheme.
directed by Adam Michael Tuckey

STATIC CLING
While attempting a love connection, an obnoxious guy gets trapped inside his own coat at a laundromat.
directed by Steven Lifshey

THAT'S MESSED UP!
An after hours romance between diner staff is interrupted by unforeseen visitors.
directed by Chris Mastro

THE LIFE AND LOVES OF ALLAN GLICKMANA
A light comedy in the manner of Neil Simon. Allan, recently divorced, conducts marriages in City Hall___not exactly a great job for meeting wife number two. But when an old high school crush arrives to be married, he must desperately find a way to sabotage the impending ceremony.
directed by Stanley Katz and Eric Lau

5PM - BLOCK 14

THE MARTINI SHOT
This existential drama follows an ailing movie director as he begins to shoot what he believes to be his final work of art. What starts out as a normal movie, ends up being an exploration of mortality and one's profound effect on the world.
directed by Stephen Wallis

6:30 - 7:30PM - RED CARPET

7:30PM - AWARDS CEREMONY

9PM - AFTER PARTYUNPRODUCED SCREENPLAYS
Aliens & Powers & Lily Ômai! (written by Jonny Kandell)
Ban the Bullet (written by Salvatore Klezmer Riggio)
Don't Eat Paper! (written by Julius Galacki)
Last Seen Alive (written by Jillian Lozano)
Old Men at the Club (written by Michael Jonathan Gellis)

Date: September 7 - 8, 2024

Location:

Teaneck Cinemas - 503 Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666

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