The Thomas Edison Media Arts Consortium in collaboration with the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Visual Arts at Princeton University presents a screening of 10 international short films from the Thomas Edison Film Festival’s 2025 touring collection representing animation, documentary, experimental, narrative, and screen dance film genres from Armenia, China, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. The screening includes an award-winning animated short by Princeton Visual Arts Program alum Tyler Benson, Class of 2024. The event on March 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the James Stewart Film Theater at 185 Nassau Street on the Princeton campus is free and open to the public.
The films are recent additions to the Thomas Edison Film Festival (TEFF) collection. TEFF is an international showcase celebrating innovation in filmmaking, inspired by the pioneering vision of Thomas Edison. Since its inception in 1981, TEFF has sought to honor Edison’s legacy by promoting creativity and artistry in the moving image, much like how Edison’s films revolutionized visual storytelling, and his phonograph changed the way people experienced sound.
As an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival for animation and experimental shorts, TEFF is a socially conscious, traveling showcase that connects diverse audiences to the compelling works of independent filmmakers worldwide. By focusing on underrepresented voices, TEFF provides a platform for accomplished and emerging artists who may lack access to live public exhibitions. The festival, open to all filmmakers, emphasizes artistic excellence and strives to promote empathy and engagement through films that both teach and entertain addressing such issues as environmental challenges, race and class relationships, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights, disability advocacy, and social justice.
The Lewis Center has partnered with TEFF since 2018 to host an annual premiere of each year’s new collection of films and additional screenings.
The films to be screened are:
Still from the animated film I used to play bass by Tyler Benson ’24
Hunky Dory, an animated film by Steven Vander Meer of Arcata, California, juxtaposes scenes of animal life with images of human existence, observing the quirky and unexpected ways in which we are similar. The meticulously hand-drawn animation moves and morphs in perfect time to the banjo music of Béla Fleck and his bandmates on the album My Bluegrass Heart.
Rickshaw is a narrative film by Raphaël Hernandez of London in which Paul and his parents embark on a fun rickshaw ride to celebrate his birthday when, suddenly, a surprising encounter stops them on their journey home.
I used to play bass is an animated film by Tyler Benson of San Francisco in which an exploration of a shift in hobbies results in a questioning of identity. The animated frames are drawn and cut from paper using stop motion animation.
Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History is Los Angeles-based filmmaker Cheri Gaulke’s documentary about a retired feminist scholar who takes up iPhone photography and creates a new body of work, placing her queer, often naked, octogenarian body into master works of art.
Still from Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History by filmmaker Cheri Gaulke of Los Angeles
The Callback, a narrative film by Kara Herold of Syracuse, New York, is a comedy short about a struggling artist in an out-of-touch film industry. The film blends fiction, animation, humor, and poetry to call out an industry and profession where women are underrepresented and underwritten.
The Song of Flying Leaves, an animated short by Armine Anda of Yerevan, Armenia, is a journey within a dream through an encounter between Suna, a young girl who uses leaves as a blanket, and an old man who possesses secret knowledge. The film reflects on the friendship between a father and a daughter, a teacher and a student, an adult and a child, and the path that can turn the impossible into the possible. The invented letters in the film are inspired by old Armenian symbols.
Entity, a film by George Steffens of Berlin, Germany, in the screen dance film genre, is a striking exploration of the human experience. Against the backdrop of Iceland’s landscapes, the film invites the audience to witness the evocative journey of two isolated souls, as they discover the boundless energy within and ultimately evolve into a unified, expressive whole.
Assemblages is an experimental animated film by Chicago-based filmmaker Martin Mulcahy exploring core memories through the objects that trigger them. The film combines digital stop motion, found footage, found objects, collage, image composites, visual effects, and sound effects.
Still from The Song of Flying Leaves by filmmaker Armine Anda
Serious and Lively, a narrative short by Jieying Song of Shanxi, China, evokes The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain in a film that contrasts the lives of two young Chinese boys. The masterful intercutting of the boys’ lives is comical, heartbreaking, and profound.
Le Charade is an animated film by Erika Totoro of Dobbs Ferry, New York. A psychological comedy set in a run-down 1950s diner, the film follows the final performance of a lonely mime after a psychotic episode that ensues after his imaginary friend breaks up with him, and he is forced to re-enter society.
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 dialogue 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 the New Jersey State Council on the Arts; the Charles Edison Fund–Edison Innovation Foundation; the Hudson County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs and Tourism; New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund hosted by the Princeton Area Community Foundation; the Hoboken Historical Museum; Big Sky Edit; APM Music; Sonic Union; Lowenstein Sandler, LLP; the NBA; NJ Motion Picture and Television Commission; Rowan University; Syracuse University; Fairleigh Dickinson University; Digital Film East Brunswick Magnet School; Adobe Systems, Inc.; and Microsoft through TechSoup.org.
The James Stewart Film Theater is an accessible venue. Wheelchair and companion seating is available in the top row; a mechanized lift provides access to all levels in the theater. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at lewiscenter@princeton.edu.
Visit the film festival website to learn more about the Thomas Edison Film Festival and Thomas A. Edison Media Arts Consortium.
Visit the Lewis Center 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.
