Loew's Jersey Theatre

The Golden Door Film Festival is a film festival in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, which was inaugurated in 2011. The four-day festival shows features, documentaries, and shorts. The opening and closing night awards ceremony are located at the 1929 movie palace Loew's Jersey Theatre at Journal Square with many screenings and other events at various Downtown venues. The festival was founded by actor, producer, and musician Bill Sorvino. There are competitive awards for features, shorts, documentaries, student works, LBGT-themed films and the Women in Cinema-Alice Guy-Blaché Award for female directors.

America's Golden Door

The Statue of Liberty National Monument, comprising Liberty Island and Ellis Island, is located in the Upper New York Bay opposite Liberty State Park in Jersey City. "I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" is the last line of "The New Colossus," the poem by Emma Lazarus. Many immigrants passed through the city's Communipaw Terminal and it is sometimes referred to as "America's Golden Door".[1][2][3][4][5][6] The festival's name is inspired by the immigrant experience.[7][8][9]

2011

The first festival took place on October 14 to 17, 2011. 43 films were shown[10] and there were 18 categories for competition.[11] Lifetime achievement awards were given to Academy Award winner Leon Gast[12] and Paul Sorvino. Night Club (2011) by director Sam Borowski won awards for Best Feature, Best Director of a Feature, Best Male Lead in a Feature (Ernest Borgnine), Best Female Lead in a Feature (Natasha Lyonne), and Best Acting by a Supporting Actor/Actress (Sally Kellerman).[13] Life! Camera Action... and Another Day Another Life also picked up several nominations.

2012

Fiftythree films were screened during the 2012 festival held on October 11 through 14, 2012.[14][15][16][17] Two new categories for competition were added: the Student Filmmaker Award and the Women in Film-Alice Guy Blache Award, named for Alice Guy-Blaché, the narrative film director whose studio was located in Fort Lee, the birthplace of America's first motion picture industry at the beginning of the 20th century.[18][19][20] Guy-Blaché is also considered a pioneer in the business.[21]

Michael Wolfe's Maybe Tomorrow won several awards including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. Best Supporting Actor went to Dominik Tiefenthaler.[22]

2013

The 2013 festival opened on October 10[23] with the documentary Fall to Grace about former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. Armand Assante was given a lifetime achievement award.[24][25] Sorvino announced that he would be working with Saint Peter's University to develop a film institute.[26][27]

2014

The 2014 festival was held on September 16 through 21 throughout Jersey City, with its opening night and awards ceremony at the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre.[28] Autism awareness was now one of the philanthropic missions of the festival. Tommy Hilfiger, on the board of Autism Speaks, became a sponsor of the festival in 2014,[29] and kicked off the event.

The two opening films were Six Letter Word, a short about autism, and The Odd Way Home. 92 films were shown during the festival.[30] Best fFlm this year was African Gothic, which also won Best Screenplay (Damon Shalit), Best Director (Gabriel Bologna), Best Actress (Chella Ferrow), Best Cinematography (Massimo Zeri), and Best Editor (Pavel Savchuk). Garry Pastore's Destressed best documentary.

2015

Actress Famke Janssen and director Artur Balder at the 2015 festival

The festival took place from September 24 to 27.[31] Brute Force, a Jersey City native, performed with Daughter of Force at Brightside Tavern after a showing of a documentary about his life and work.[32] Many events took place at New Jersey City University.

The organisation screened JR's Ellis in November.

2016

The festival ran from September 22 to 25. It hosted the world premiere of Chris Robert's Another You, and screenings of Miles Doleac's The Hollow, Mara Lesemann's Detours, John Asher's Po, and Thomas Baldinger's Who's Jenna..?, starring festival founder Bill Sorvino.[33]

2017

More than 175 films were screened over four days at the seventh annual festival, which took place on October 5–8.[34][35] The Girl Who Invented Kissing won four awards: Best Feature Film, Best Director (Tom Sierchio), Best Actor (Dash Mihok), and Best Supporting Actor (Vincent Piazza). Brooklyn in July received three awards in the short film category: Best Feature, Best Director (Bob Celli), and Best Actor (Thaddeus Daniels). Lonely Souls of Microbes received the Best International Short Film award.[36]

2018

The festival took place from September 20 to 23, 2018.[37] 265 films were screened[38] at different venues: Pope Lecture Hall and the Roy Irving Theater at Saint Peter's University, Communipaw Terminal in Liberty State Park, the Beacon Paramount Theater, Jersey City Theater Center's Merseles Studio, and White Eagle Hall.[39]

2019

The festival ran from September 17 to 22, 2019. It included the New Jersey premiere of Cupid’s First Day and the world premiere of Last Rehearsal of the Dangerous Kitten,[9] by Bayonne-based Narrow Bridge.[40] Best Local Film was Like Us.[41] The Best Music Video Winner was Jahan Nostra for his video Embrace The Rain.[42]

2020/21

The festival was scheduled to take place from September 19 to 26, 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[43] Tango Shalom won best feature film.

2022

The festival took place in May 11-14.[44] Scrap, by Vivian Kerr won best feature and best director. Anthony Rapp won bet actor in a short.

2023

The 12th season ran June 22-24, 2023. Seventy-two films were screened at two venues: Art House Productions and Nimbus Arts Center. The nearby Canopy Hotel was the filmmakers hub.[45]

2024

The 13th annual GDIFF will take place June 22-24, 2024.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Golden Door..." Random Number. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  2. ^ "Jersey City America's Golden Door". Legal Force Trademarks. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  3. ^ "Jersey City: "Wall Street West"". Business Weekly. October 28, 2001. Archived from the original on November 22, 2001. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  4. ^ "Hudson Shakespeare Company". Hudson Shakespeare Company. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  5. ^ Scherer, Glenn; DeCoste, Paul (2009), Hiking New Jersey: A Guide to 50 of the Garden State's Greatest Hiking Adventures, Falcon Guide, ISBN 9780762711192
  6. ^ "Jersey City New Jersey USA". The Rotary Club. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  7. ^ "Golden Door International Film Festivals launches at Landmark Lowe's in Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. October 14, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  8. ^ Glasner, Pamela (September 10, 2014). "Golden Door International Film Festival: The Stuff of Dreams". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Journal, David Mosca | The Jersey (September 10, 2019). "Established filmmakers and up-and-comers will show off work at the 9th annual Golden Door Film Festival". nj.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Robb, Adam (October 14, 2011), "Golden Door International Film Festival begins in Jersey City", The Jersey Journal, retrieved October 6, 2012
  11. ^ "2011 nominations". Golden Door Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  12. ^ Robb, Adam (October 16, 2011). "Jersey City Oscar winner Leon Gast feted with lifetime achievement award at Golden Door International Film Festival". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  13. ^ Wright, E. Assata (October 17, 2011), "Golden Door Film International Festival wraps up; Night Club big winner of night", Hudson Reporter, retrieved October 6, 2012
  14. ^ Ruptam, Mahindra (October 6, 2012), "Now in second year, Golden Door Film Festival, starting Oct. 11, has 53 offerings", The Jersey Journal, retrieved October 6, 2012
  15. ^ Ruptam, Mohindra (October 5, 2012), "53 films to be screened at Golden Door International Film Festival", The Jersey Journal, retrieved October 6, 2012
  16. ^ "Take two Golden Door Film Fest set to return", Hudson Reporter, retrieved October 6, 2012
  17. ^ Hortillosa, Dawn (October 5, 2012), "Celluloid Heroes: Second Annual Golden Door Film Festival Puts Local, International Filmmakers in the Spotlight", Jersey City Independent
  18. ^ Koszarski, Richard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8
  19. ^ "Studios and Films". Fort Lee Film Commission. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
  20. ^ Fort Lee Film Commission (2006), Fort Lee Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 0-7385-4501-5
  21. ^ Picconito, Ann (July 4, 2011), "About Town: The True Story of Alice Guy Blache", Fort Lee Patch, retrieved October 6, 2012
  22. ^ "Winners 2012". Golden Door Film Festival. November 18, 2012. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013.
  23. ^ "Withoutabox". www.Withoutabox.com. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  24. ^ "Golden Door film fest opens with McGreevey documentary, Assante film". NJ.com. October 11, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  25. ^ "Golden Door Film Festival returns to JC McGreevey will do Q&A at third annual event - Two years ago when the Golden Door International Film Festival made its big debut on Jersey City's cultural landscape the event grabbed center stage as the city'..." HudsonReporter.com. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  26. ^ "Saint Peter's University to launch film institute in 2015". NJ.com. October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  27. ^ "St. Peter's Announces New Film Institute to Debut in 2015". JerseyCityIndependent.com. October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  28. ^ Sullivan, Al; Writer, Senior Staff (September 21, 2014). "Everybody's a star".
  29. ^ Hortillosa, Dawn (June 2, 2014). "Tommy Hilfiger backs Golden Door International Film Festival in Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  30. ^ Hortillosa, Dawn (September 14, 2014). "Golden Door Film Festival returning to Jersey City with 92 films". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  31. ^ FOX. "Golden Door International Film Festival". Fox5ny.com. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  32. ^ "60s legend Brute Force to appear at Jersey City's Golden Door Film Festival". NJ.com. August 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  33. ^ Murthi, Vikram (August 26, 2016). "Golden Door International Film Festival Announces 2016 Lineup - IndieWire". www.IndieWire.com. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  34. ^ Journal, Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey (October 7, 2017). "Stars light up red carpet at Golden Door International Film Festival opening gala (PHOTOS)". nj.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ "Golden Door Film Festival - Schedule -". goldendoorfilmfestival.org. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  36. ^ https://commentator.hawkweb.org/archives/3507
  37. ^ "Golden Door Film Festival | Schedule |". goldendoorfilmfestival.org.
  38. ^ "Golden Door Film Festival draws movie veterans and newcomers". newjersey.news12.com.
  39. ^ Sullivan, Al; Writer, Senior Staff (October 11, 2018). "The stars came out".
  40. ^ "Bayonne Briefs". August 23, 2019.
  41. ^ "'Like Us' film created by Jersey City students claims two Golden Door awards". September 26, 2019.
  42. ^ "HIP HOP ARTIST WINS BEST MUSIC VIDEO". NewsInEntertainment. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  43. ^ "Golden Door Film festival returns for tenth year in Jersey City". September 15, 2021.
  44. ^ https://www.nj.com/hudson/2022/05/golden-door-to-open-again-in-two-jersey-city-locations-next-week.html
  45. ^ https://www.arthouseproductions.org/products/golden-door-international-film-festival-at-art-house-june-22-24-2023

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