About the Festival

Since 1981, the annual Black Maria Film and Video 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 videomakers. The festival is known for its national public exhibition program, which features a variety of bold contemporary works drawn from the annual collection of 50 award winning films and videos.

Some notable elements that differentiate the Black Maria are below:

• We annually disperse more than $10,000 in cash awards to independent filmmakers
• We are focused on short works that reveal an inventive, insightful, and uncommon spirit
• Every program presentation in the tour is custom curated to specific audiences
• Virtually every program is presented in person by the Festival’s Director
• We tour across the United States at more than 55 institutions annually

The Consortium is generously
supported by:
- Thomas Phillips Johnson and Jane Moore Johnson Foundation
- The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar
- The Puffin Foundation
- New Jersey Network
- New Jersey City University
- The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
- The Charles Edison Fund
- New Jersey State Council on the Arts
- National Endowment for the Arts
- Eastman Kodak Corporation
- NFL Film & Video
- The Warhol Foundation