Nominations Announced for Student Films in NJSBA-Sponsored Category at Garden State Film Festival

Trenton, Feb. 24, 2026 – Nominations have been announced for student films that were submitted to the New Jersey School Boards Association’s sponsored category in the upcoming 24th Annual Garden State Film Festival.

The nominations in the NJ Hometown Documentary Short category come from students hailing from eight different counties throughout the Garden State.

“The New Jersey School Boards Association is deeply honored to sponsor this category because it shines a spotlight on the creativity, voice, and lived experiences of our students,” said Dr. Timothy Purnell, executive director and CEO of the New Jersey School Boards Association. “These films represent far more than artistic expression – they reflect critical thinking, storytelling, collaboration, and pride in community. Supporting opportunities like this ensures our students are not only consumers of media, but confident creators whose perspectives deserve to be seen and celebrated.”

Robin Kampf, digital media producer at NJSBA, plays a leading role in organizing the NJSBA effort – and she noted the initiative has been rewarding for everyone involved. “NJSBA, in cooperation with The Garden State Film Festival, created the NJ Hometown Documentary Short category in the festival over six years ago,” she said. “We wanted to support the art of filmmaking in school districts as it is such an important part of the STEAM curriculum.”

Student films that are nominated must be five minutes or less and focus on some aspect of the student’s hometown, such as a profile of an interesting person, place, time period or subject related to the student’s community. Entries must be documentary film shorts that are written, directed, shot and edited by students.

The nominees and winning school in the NJSBA-sponsored category will be announced during a separate event at the start of the festival on Tuesday, March 24 at Brookdale College.

The winning school district will receive a $500 grant from the Education Leadership Foundation of New Jersey (ELFNJ) to support film and television curriculums in the school. All the nominated films will also be screened at NJSBA’s annual Workshop in October.

The festival runs March 26-29 and takes place at various venues in and around Asbury Park and the Cranford Theater. Over 20,000 people are expected to attend to screen over 200 films.

The nominated films in this year’s NJ Hometown Documentary Short category sponsored by the NJSBA are listed in the chart below.