Lambertville and "Halloweenville" head NJ Film Festival

Halloween is to the town of Lambertville in Hunterdon County what Mardi Gras is to New Orleans, according to filmmaker Gary P. Cohen.

And after seeing the festivities firsthand, he and a few friends grabbed their cameras and set out to determine why.

Cohen's movie, "Halloweenville," directed with high school friend Paul Kaye, will screen at the New Jersey Film Festival, which begins tonight and runs through March 1 at Rutgers University.

Presented by the Rutgers Film Co-Op and the New Jersey Media Arts Center, the annual festival features selections from filmmakers from New Jersey and beyond.

Additionally, seminars on screenwriting, raising money to produce a film, audio production, the legal matters involved with film distribution and basic filmmaking will be open to the public on varying dates for a fee.

The admission for all screenings is $10, $9 for students and seniors and $8 for Rutgers Film Co-Op and NJMAC Friends.

All films will be shown in either Room 105 of Voorhees Hall, 71 Hamilton St., located on the College Avenue campus of Rutgers University, or Room 001 of the Ruth Adams Building, 131 George St., on Rutgers University's Douglass campus.

Cohen, 59, is a self-described "Horror-film fanatic," and director of the 1987 release "Video Violence" which he also wrote with Kaye.

Cohen said about eight hours of film was shot using three Canon GL2 cameras, edited down to 2.5 hours. The finished film has a run time of 63 minutes.

"Paul was very familiar with the obsession (Lambertville) has for Halloween and three Halloweens ago we attended the festivities with an eye towards making the documentary," Cohen said.

They premiered the film to a crowd this past Oct. 31 at the Acme Screening House in Lambertville, a cinema built from a former Acme Supermarket.

"Everyone loved it, and the biggest comment from those in it was "I didn't know my neighbors did THAT," Cohen said.

"Halloweenville" will screen at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 in Room 105 of Voorhees Hall.

Another film at the festival produced by NJ natives is a film about student humanitarian efforts in Thailand, entitled "Thailand Untapped."

Chantal Eyong, co-producer and a cinematographer for the film, said the project documents Rutgers University students involved with the organization Engineers Without Borders, as they worked to bring clean water to the village of Nong Bua in Thailand.

"We followed the student engineers and documented their process and challenges in cleaning Nong Bua's water system. It was an unforgettable opportunity that Rutgers gave us," Eyong said.

A 2009 graduate of Rutgers, Eyong currently works with the Rutgers Film Bureau.

50 hours of film were shot on three Canon Vixia camcorders and a
Canon XHA1 by Eyong and student Steve Holloway, which was ultimately edited down to 37 minutes, Eyong said.

"The goal of the project was to make a sustainable, clean, water supply
for a small Village in Phrao, Thaliand-Nong Bua which has about 143
households. The income per household is ~40,000 Baht (US $1,270) per
year, with over half of their income spent on purchasing bottled
water," she said.

"Thailand Untapped" will be screened at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 in Room 105 of Voorhees Hall.

For more information on the film festival, including a schedule of screenings, visit www.njfilmfest.com.