Black Maria Film Fest at SCCC

Newton — Sussex County Community College will host the annual Black Maria Film and Video Festival spring tour on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 10:50 a.m. in the PSEandG Student Center Theater and on Friday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center. Since 1981, the annual festival, an international juried competition and award tour, has been fulfilling its mission to advocate, exhibit and reward cutting edge works from independent film and video makers. The festival is known for its national public exhibition program, which features a variety of bold contemporary works drawn on the annual collection of 50 award winning films and videos. The festival’s roots are in New Jersey, where just over 100 years ago the inventor Thomas Edison developed motion picture technology at his West Orange lab facilities. One of these laboratories was the Black Maria, the world’s first motion picture studio. It was a purpose built structure that had a hinged roof and rotated on a circular wooden track, allowing the studio to follow the sun and illuminate the stage within. Today the works exhibited by the festival explore the human condition as well as the creative potential of the medium. The festival offers a mosaic of artistically conceived film and video forms — documentary, experimental, animation and narrative. Admission for the matinee is $5, and the evening show admission is $7. Students are free for the matinee show with a valid SCCC ID. For tickets and more information, call 973-300-3171 or visit www.sussex.edu.