The 44th season of the renowned Thomas Edison Film Festival will premiere with an in-person screening, a live-streamed discussion with award-winning filmmaker Misja Pekel, and films available to view on-demand in collaboration with the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. On February 28 at 6:30 p.m. a reception at the James Stewart Film Theater kicks off the festival prior to the 7:00 p.m. screening of six films at 185 Nassau Street on the Princeton campus, followed by a Q&A with several festival filmmakers. On March 1, the live-streamed discussion with Netherlands-based filmmaker Pekel will begin at 4:00 p.m. (ET), hosted by Festival Director Jane Steuerwald. Pekel’s film will be available to view on the film festival’s website prior to the discussion. From March 1 through 7, all seven films will be available to view on-demand on the site. All activities are free and open to the public with no tickets or advance registration required. The film theater is an accessible venue.
The Thomas Edison Film Festival (TEFF) is an international juried competition celebrating all genres and independent filmmakers across the globe. TEFF is an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival for animated and experimental shorts and a Canadian Screen Award Qualifying Festival, the only film festival in New Jersey to hold these designations. For more than 40 years, the festival has been advancing the unique creativity and power of the short film by celebrating stories that shine a light on issues and struggles within contemporary society. The festival was founded in 1981 as the Black Maria Film Festival and originally named for Thomas Edison’s West Orange, New Jersey, film studio dubbed the “Black Maria” because of its resemblance to the black-box police paddy wagons of the same name. The festival was renamed in 2021 in recognition of Thomas Edison’s invention of the motion camera and the kinetoscope and his experimentation with the short film that inspired the festival’s origins.
This is the seventh year the Lewis Center has collaborated with the Consortium to host the TEFF premiere. In addition to premiering the season, the Consortium programs other screenings for Princeton audiences and brings festival filmmakers together with Princeton students and faculty.
The festival received 654 submissions for the 2025 season from every continent including Antarctica. Following an extensive pre-screening process by experts in the field of film curation, media studies and production, the highly regarded festival jurors, Margaret Parsons, Curator Emerita of Film at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and Henry Baker, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and former director of Synapse Video Center, chose 98 films for the 2025 collection and awarded the top prizes. Following the premiere at Princeton, these films will be made available for screenings in the U.S. and abroad.
The seven prize-winning films being screened for the premiere weekend include:
A still from Tennis, Oranges, a Jury’s Stellar Award for Animation by Sean Pecknold, one of the works to be screened as part of the Thomas Edison Film Festival’s premiere at the James Stewart Film Theater at Princeton University on February 28, followed by the virtual premiere launching on March 1. Photo credit: Courtesy of Sean Pecknold
Tennis, Oranges is the Jury’s Stellar Award-winning film in animation by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Sean Pecknold. In the film, a robotic vacuum suffering from burnout quits its job at a hospital and sets out to find community and a greater purpose on a quiet street where two lonely rabbits are stuck in perpetual loops.
The Insides of Our Lives by Pekel received the Jury’s Stellar Award for documentary. The film is a poetic combination of fiction with found footage. From a selection of thousands of hours of found footage—mostly 8mm material—the film tells the coming-of-age story of two girls growing up along a border in Europe, as the border gradually drives them apart. The story sensitively portrays what it means to grow up in a world where one day fences appear, creating an ‘us’ and a ‘them.’ Pekel’s film can be viewed in advance of the March 1 livestreamed conversation on the festival website (click on “The Insides of Our Lives – Misja Pekel 2025”).
A is for Ant is the Jury’s Stellar Awardee for experimental film by British photographer Jack Davison. In this immersive film, Davison explores the alphabet through a captivating blend of live action and animation. This charming and engaging film celebrates concepts of creativity, play, the natural world, beauty, and silliness.
Dawn Every Day is the recipient of the Jury’s Stellar Award for narrative film by Amir Youssef, who is based in Egypt and Antioch, California. Set in 1956, eight-year-old Nabil navigates through new social norms he cannot fathom that impact his next-door, best friend in post-nationalized Egypt. While this story takes place during a complicated and difficult moment in Egypt’s history, the audience never really sees the external events happening at that time, as this story is told from the point of view of Nabil. The film relates directly to how today’s political events and social movements tend to separate us rather than connect us.
At First Sight received the Jury’s Stellar Award for screen dance. New York City-based filmmaker Kate Harpootlian tells a poignant tale of serendipity and heartbreak, following the fateful encounter between a man and a woman whose lives intertwine in a single, life-altering moment. Drawn together by an inexplicable force, they experience love at first sight, only to have their bond tragically severed by a sudden accident moments later. Before being drawn apart, they are granted a brief glimpse into an alternate reality, where they explore the depths of their connection and envision the future they could have shared.
A still from Jerusalema: From Austria to Zimbabwe, a Global Insights Stellar Award-winning film by Su Friedrich, to be screened as part of the Thomas Edison Film Festival’s premiere at the James Stewart Film Theater at Princeton University on February 28. Photo credit: Courtesy of Su Friedrich
Jerusalema: From Austria to Zimbabwe is the Global Insights Stellar Award-winning film by Brooklyn-based filmmaker and Princeton Professor, Emerita, Su Friedrich. The film is a loving look back at a viral phenomenon that burst out during the Covid pandemic: The Jerusalema Dance Challenge.
How I Roll, winner of the Diversity, Equity, Access and Inclusion Stellar Award, is by Palisades, New York-based filmmakers Brianne Berkson and Miguel Gluckstern. Facing unthinkable hardships including murder, loss, and battling Multiple Sclerosis for 24 years, Robin Cohen impressively defies the odds, finding light despite the darkness.
To view all seven films on-demand from March 1 through 7, go to the Thomas Edison Film Festival website and click on “TEFF 2025 Premiere.”
To join the livestreamed discussion with Misja Pekel on March 1, visit the Lewis Center event page for the Zoom link; no advance registration is required.
Venues interested in scheduling a screening should contact Festival Director Jane Steuerwald at Jane@TEFilmFestival.org. The festival offers programming options ranging from a custom-curated program to an online film presentation by the festival director, including a Q&A and dialog with the audience.
In addition to the support provided for the 2025 season by the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Thomas Edison Film Festival receives support from New Jersey State Council on the Arts; the Charles Edison Fund; the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs and Tourism; New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund at the Princeton Area Community Foundation; the Hoboken Historical Museum; Big Sky Edit; APM Music; Lowenstein Sandler, LLP; the NBA; Rowan University; Fairleigh Dickinson University; Syracuse University; and East Brunswick Magnet School’s Digital Film Program.
The James Stewart Film Theater is an accessible venue with wheelchair and companion seating available in the top row and a mechanized lift providing access to all levels in the theater.
Visit the Thomas Edison Film Festival website to learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival and Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium.
Visit the Lewis Center for the Arts website to learn more about the Program in Visual Arts, which includes film studies and production, and the more than 100 performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts and lectures offered each year at the Lewis Center, most of them free.
