2026 Trenton Film Festival: Regional Documentaries
Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, 2026
Screenings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday and at 12 noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. Saturday. A reception & awards ceremony follow the final screening.
Location: Passage Theatre at Mill Hill Playhouse, Trenton
Purchase Tickets & All-Access Passes
Single Screening Blocks
General admission: $7 per event + fees
Students with ID: $6 per event + fees (use code "STUDENTTIX26" for discount)
All-Access Passes
These passes will get you into all 4 screening blocks.
General admission: $14 + fees
Students with ID: $12 + fees (use code "STUDENTPASS26" for discount)
Scroll down to see the film schedule and listings.
Our second Regional Documentary Film Festival is a great opportunity to see documentaries from shorts to features, on issues with local impact from addiction treatment to inclusiveness, skateboarding to softball, bilingualism to business survival, and lots of joyful noise, including “Listen Up—Trenton Makes Music.” Several filmmakers (and maybe some musicians) will be available for Q&A after the showings.
Awards for best documentary feature and short, and best Trenton-based documentary, will be announced after the last screening. And you the audience can vote for your favorite. Be sure to get your ballot from the ushers.
Online ticket sales will close 2 hours before each screening block, but tickets will remain available at the box office.
SCREENING BLOCKS
Purchase Tickets & All-Access Passes
BLOCK A: 6:30 p.m., Friday, May 1
Dare to Declare (dir. Chris Cotter, 4 min.)
We celebrate our semiquincentennial in the literal sense with students and community members reading the Declaration of Independence aloud, highlighting how the nation’s founding ideals remain relevant, contested, and powerful 250 years later.
Ridge Army (dir. Sean Wixted, 103 min.)
A group of skateboarders transform an abandoned industrial site into a hub of creativity, friendship, and resilience, fighting to protect not just their playground, but each other. It’s a tale of risk, rebellion, and unwavering unity—proof that even in the toughest places, passion and connection can build something lasting.
BLOCK B: 12 Noon, Saturday, May 2
Key{stone} Lime{stone} (dir. Anne Cieko, 8 min.)
This beautiful film entwines histories and memories of industry (especially cement manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley, Pa.), domestic labor, immigration, and family through narrative poetry, stop-motion animation, and documentary-style video footage.
The Dying Business (dir. Joe Duca, 50 min.)
A funeral home may be “The Dying Business” in more than one sense, with cremation rates spiking and the observance of traditional rites surrounding death on the decline. The filmmaker pays tribute to his quirky Italian American family’s attempts to innovate their third-generation funeral home in Johnstown, PA.
Extra Innings: The Story of the Over-the-Hill Gang (dir. Robert Mandelberg, 27 min.)
More than a softball league for seniors, this group’s tale is about showing up. It’s about refusing to fade quietly. It’s about what happens when you keep chasing joy, even when your knees hurt and your batting average isn’t what it used to be.
The TEDI Story: 35 Years of the Trenton Education Dance Institute (dir. Dan Preston, 3 min.)
Festival regular Dan Preston proves that a film doesn’t have to be long to inspire. His documentary features current students and staff, as well as alumni, revealing the impact and value of TEDI.
Twin Tongues (dir. Iliana Pagán-Teitelbaum, 50 min.)
Shot in Philadelphia, Puerto Rico, and Peru, this film celebrates multilingualism as it wrestles with the choices that speakers make in relation to their languages today.
BLOCK C: 3 p.m., Saturday, May 2
Brewing Possibilities (dir. David Y. Block, 18 min.)
Employees share their stories of how it was hard for them to get jobs and to keep them, and their sense of accomplishment in becoming part of the working world. For some employees, Get Café is more than a job; it’s a lifesaver.
Mercy at the Gates (dir. Dan Tarrant, 46 min.)
The protagonist needs saving, but will it come in time? Follow Nick’s harrowing journey from addiction to mercy on the streets of the world’s largest open-air drug markets in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood.
Fading Frequencies (dir. Matt Dixon, 50 min.)
We visit a record store in Wayne, NJ, where a passionate community of collectors, locals, and younger listeners bond between generations and refuse to let go of the physical music that matters.
BLOCK D: 6 p.m., Saturday, May 2
Why I Love You: Meet The Ultimates (dir. Shontel Horne, 16 min.)
West Philadelphia R&B girl group The Ultimates may not be a household name, but their song “Why I Love” found a home with an unlikely revival 50 years after it was originally recorded.
Listen Up - Trenton Makes Music (dir. Art Varga, 62 min.) The film looks at the city’s once-vibrant music scene in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and some of the gifted performers who shaped it and continue to celebrate it.
Reception and Award Ceremony
7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 2
Please join us in the lobby for a reception and announcement of awards for best documentary feature and short, best Trenton-based documentary, and audience favorite award.