Fans of one of the longest running film festivals in New Jersey will be taking it in virtually this year, and these movies will be coming to the audience at home.

"We're in Saran Wrap. It's not something you'll see on the street, but it's the feeling of being trapped, maybe it's just trapped behind a mask," says Eriel.

Sisters Eriel and Charly Santagado are New Jersey-based dancers and choreographers who produced the experimental five-minute film called "De-Eschatology," which was shot early in the pandemic in a deserted parking deck.

“It feels like the world has ended and everything is closed, and then there's this idea of coming back together in the new normal," says Charly.

Theirs is one of 100 short films that will begin virtual screenings Saturday in the Thomas Edison Film Festival.

“There's not a spot-on Netflix for experimental work, but we give voice to those filmmakers because the work is really extraordinary and important," says Steuerwald.

Jane Steuerwald is the festival's executive director and says its commitment to short, experimental work seldom seen elsewhere makes it stand out.

Now it's in its 40th year, the festival has a new name, formerly called the Black Maria Festival named after Thomas Edison's film production studio of the 1890s in West Orange, where the earliest films were made.

The festival, based in Hoboken, travels nationally, but not this year with the pandemic leaving movie theaters with limited capacity. The short films will instead come to the audience at home.

The movies will be streamed - free of charge - on the festival's website, along with special programming.