The Second Annual Nassau Film Festival returns to Princeton’s Garden Theatre (160 Nassau Street) on Sunday, May 15, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This event is free of charge and open to the public.

Lew Goldstein, who co-founded the festival with Dan Bauer, got the idea to start the festival after noticing a gap in the Princeton film scene. “I felt there was a void for individuals who focused on short documentaries and short films. These are all remarkable films that deserve to be seen,” he says.

Last year’s inaugural Nassau Film Festival received approximately 45 submissions. This year that number has grown to over 250 film submissions by students and non-students from all over the world. “The response has been overwhelming,” says Bauer. “We have received films from every continent with the exception of Antarctica.”

In addition to extraordinary independent films from Iran, France, Greece, Italy, and India, the Nassau Film Festival will also celebrate filmmakers from the U.S. and from right here in Princeton.

Kicking off the festival will be two documentaries with local connections Fabric of Opportunity, which highlights the mission of Princeton Community Housing and George McCollough’s Image & Faith: The Art of Charles McCollough. In addition, there is a film that traces Eamon Foley on his yearlong journey of creating an original theater-dance work, Hero, for his senior thesis from Princeton,” Katherine Azaro’s Everyday Magic — Transforming Young Dancers Into Artists, and Tatianna Sims’s Portrait of a Sand Dancer, which tells the story of her grandfather, the legendary hoofer and philanthropist Howard “Sandman” Sims. Plus, works by filmmakers Talia Zinder, Marvin Cheiten, Steven and Sheila Halpern, all from Princeton; Maria Katsamanis of Lambertville; Brian Kissig of Lansdale, Pa.; Adam McGill of Princeton Junction; and Jake Roseman, a 2016 graduate of Rutgers University.

Other highlights of this year’s festival include The Ground is Breathing by Iranian filmmaker Ali Pour Issa, CrISIS by Baghdad filmmaker Ali Kareen Obaid, the U.S. premiere of Children’s Allowance by Irish filmmaker Brian Stynes, and Powerful Medicine, Simply Magic by illusionist, educator and humanitarian Kevin Spencer.

According to Bauer, “Powerful Medicine, Simply Magic explores the transformational benefits of the art of illusion in bringing about authentic and meaningful changes in the lives of individuals with disabilities. These real-life accounts demonstrate the revolutionary results magic therapy achieves by honing motor skills and social interactions alike. It’s an incredibly powerful film and I am thrilled that we will be screening it at the Nassau Film Festival.”

For more information, visit www.nassaufilmfestival.org.

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