The New Jersey Film Festival is coming to the University in a few weeks, and University alumnus Jon Kalafer couldn’t be more excited.
His film, “We Love You,” is in the running for both the Best Documentary award and the Best of the Fest award. Kalafer, who graduated in 1998, said his film has already won the Best Documentary award at the Los Angeles Film Festival, but he is really looking forward to screening it at his alma mater.
“Rutgers was where I really started to see film as the incredibly expressive medium that it is. I also loved the extracurricular stuff at Rutgers,” Kalafer said. “I remember going to the New Jersey International Film Festival, doing yoga for the first time [and] reading the Targum before class. It is a really fulfilling experience to now be screening here at the Film Festival.”
“We Love You” is a documentary about the Rainbow Gatherings, which Kalafer said occur once every year in a variety of locations. Participants in the Rainbow Gatherings build a city in the middle of a different wilderness area for each Gathering.
“I first met Rainbows while an undergraduate here at Rutgers. There was a couple I was friends with … they told me about the Gatherings,” Kalafer said. “To be honest I didn’t really believe them. In 1999, the Annual Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes was in Pennsylvania so I attended. I was pretty surprised to find that it was exactly like they described. There is nothing else like a Rainbow Gathering.”
Kalafer said the intellectual and visual stimulation of the Gatherings immediately came to mind when he began brainstorming ideas for a documentary subject. He encountered some resistance because many of the Rainbows are distrustful of cameras and media, but he felt the documentary needed to be made, and his persistence paid off.
“I wanted to document the way they organize themselves. They are co-operative, anarchic, non-commercial yet they create this amazing city every year that meets the needs of all the inhabitants,” Kalafer said. ”I also felt strongly about documenting the prayer for peace, which is the central focus of the Gathering, and occurs on July 4.”
Kalafer said his film is competing against approximately 12 other contestants for the Best Documentary Award.
Professor Albert G. Nigrin is the Executive Director/Curator of Rutgers Film Co – Op/New Jersey Media Arts Center, the organization that sponsors the film festival. Nigrin said that other contestants for the Best Documentary include Steven Soderbergh’s “The Girlfriend Experience” and Chris Pepino’s “We Enjoy Yourself.”
Kalafer said he has enjoyed all of the films he has seen which will be in the festival, but he is interested in viewing one in particular.
“I would say I am most looking forward to ‘The Cartel.’ I am a teacher at Dickinson High School in Jersey City and this documentary takes a hard look at New Jersey schools, which is a subject very close to my heart,” Kalafer said.
The film festival will run from Oct. 4 through Nov. 8, according to the Web site. All films will be played in Scott Hall and the Ruth Adams Building. Films screened in Scott Hall will begin at 7 p.m., and those in the Ruth Adams Building will begin at 6 p.m.
Kalafer’s film, “We Love You,” will be playing in Scott Hall on Friday, Oct. 9. Tickets are $10 for the general public, and $9 for University students.
The full festival schedule is available online at www.njfilmfest.com.
Alumnus chases, films Rainbows
Published: Thursday, September 17, 2009
Updated: Thursday, September 17, 2009
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