Nominations have been announced for student films that were submitted to the New Jersey School Boards Association’s sponsored category in the upcoming 23rd 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. (Refer to the chart at the bottom of this article for a complete list of schools where the nominated students attend.)

“The NJSBA is so proud to sponsor this category to promote student participation in the arts and to promote the value of a well-rounded education,” said Dr. Timothy Purnell, executive director and CEO of the New Jersey School Boards Association. “The talent of New Jersey’s student filmmakers is on full display with these impressive films.”

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 (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) 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 arts.

Entries must be documentary film shorts that are written, directed, shot and edited by students.

Winners are showcased at the prestigious annual four-day Garden State Film Festival and then announced at a banquet that closes out the weekend. The student film nominees and their respective schools/counties are also screened at NJSBA’s annual Workshop in October.

All the nominated films were produced, directed and edited by New Jersey High School students.  The winning school in the NJSBA-sponsored category will be announced at the Garden State Film Festival on Sunday, March 30, at the awards gala at Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park New Jersey. The school district will receive $500 to support film and television curriculums in the schools.

The festival runs March 27th- 30th and is expected to attract over 20,000 people to screen over 200 films in 10 different venues in Asbury Park and Cranford.

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

Student FilmHigh SchoolCounty
Piece by PieceWinslow Township HS  Camden
Anything is PossibleHopewell Valley Central HSMercer
CisnerosEast Brunswick Magnet SchoolMiddlesex
Forever a CardinalWestwood Regional HSBergen
Silent Whinny Hopewell Valley Central HSMercer
Lavish Life of Lucy the ElephantCharterTech HS for the Performing ArtsAtlantic
Midnight MadnessMiddletown HS SouthMonmouth
Wreaths Across AmericaPassaic County HSPassaic
A Tradition of ServiceCollingswood HSCamden
El Sabor MexicanoCollingswood HSCamden
Bomba WorkshopPassaic HSPassaic
Inside Dot StudiosMonroe Township HSMiddlesex
AspectsFranklin Township HSSomerset
The History of Haddon AvenueCollingswood HS    Camden