High school filmmakers will have their work previewed and celebrated at Rutherfurd Hall on Sunday, June 26, thanks to the Rutherfurd Hall Foundation.

The film festival will also showcase documentary and experimental films, including the John General documentary Extra 1104: The Rockport Train Wreck.

In the evening, narrative films will be shown.

The Rockport Train Wreck was one of the worst railroad tragedies in history. On the night of June 16, 1925, hundreds of German-Americans were headed toward New York City to catch a boat to return for a visit to their homeland. A violent storm washed out the railbed at the grade crossing on Rockport Road sending the engine onto the rocky verge with three passenger cars piling up. Steam pipes burst, scalding many passengers, killing 50 passengers and crewmen. A plaque marks the site of the crash.

Lightning from the storm also ignited a major fire at the Williams and Hibler lumberyard in Hackettstown, taxing emergency responders.

Other films in the festival also deal with Warren County history and culture. These include Mikey Kampmann’s “Shell Jeff,” a philodosophical farce about a day in the life of a daydreamer. Isaih Gomez of Perth Amboy also brings his modern film noir, “The Smile,” to the festival.

The high school films which begin at 1 p.m. are from students at Blair Academy, Middletown High School in Milburn and Warren Hills Regional High School and other schools.

The documentaries and experimental films begin at 3 p.m. and the narrative films at 5 p.m.

Tickets for the film festival can be pre – purchased at https://rutherfurdhall.org/event/celebrate-the-arts-film-festival/.Tickets are $7 for one screening session or $15 for all three. Question and answer sessions will be held for an hour between screenings.

Guests are invited to bring food and refreshments ans may enjoy the historic grounds of Rutherfurd Hall. Rutherfurd Hall is located at: 1686 Route 517 Allamuchy, (908) 280-3654

Supporters of the film festival are: John Johnson Automotive Group, Steve Somers Philanthropy Fund, House of the Good Shepherd, John and Margaret Post , Robert and Mayor Rosemary Tuohy, Blue Ridge Lumber, RE/MAX Heritage

Properties, Progressive Comprehensive Services LLC, WRNJ Radio, Fulton Bank, the Foundation for Hackettstowen Medical Center, White Space Art & Event

FILMS:

High School

5 Years From Water. Documentary A dream 19 years in the making. (5:52)

Black on Maroon. Narrative A boy risks it all to save a friend. (5:00)

Airstream. Narrative. Attempt to heal a parental relationship. (13:05)

Unpopped. Animation. There’s always one (1:47)

Submergent Sound. Documentary. A musician & songwriter named Pete (4:45)

Staple. Narrative. A student takes on his classmates (2:00)

Conception. Animation. The story of a blue ball of clay (4:55)

An Experimental Experience. Experimental. A film takes a girl into the unknown (3:00)

Run Away. Animation. An inanimate object comes to life (2:51)

Documentary /Experimental

Extra 1104:The Rockport Train Wreck. Documentary. One of N.J.’s worst train wrecks (21:05)

Jewel’s Hunt. Documentary. Subsistence hunting in Alaska (9:02)

Postmark Vietnam. Documentary. A soldier’s letters home to his wife. ( 5:00)

Fixed Gaps Experimental. Narrative through dance illusion (20:00)

Narrative

The Smile. Detective caught in a web of corruption ( 18:45)

Shell Jeff. Gas station attendant who is going nowhere (7:04)

Blink. Asian-American experience in 2020 (11:11)

The Slammer. Characters in an Atlanta prison (9:37)

Searching. 2 people find more than they’re looking for. (6:18)