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‘Caricature Carl’ takes county film festival prize
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Gilder House receives rare visitors
jumping off point [for Caricature Bordentown Carl] was, I want to make filmmaker wins something about competing artists.” award for best That drive for competition movie in its category appears to have served him
By LiLLy WArD In Ross Stern’s short film, “Caricature Carl,” the protagonist checks all the boxes of a comedic antihero. Carl (David Hamed), a caricature artist with a Jackson Pollock-like scowl, presides over his domain, a local park. Carl has a knack for creating unflattering depictions of his subjects, causing him to be less than popular with park goers. His territory is threatened when newcomer Abstract Abdul (Jayandra Chiluwal) appears on his turf, quickly charming newcomers with his “good vibes” and inoffensive aura paintings. “I guess the characters Carl and Abdul can be taken from two separate halves of my personality,” said Stern, a 24-year-old, 2022 graduate from Montclair State University and resident of Bordentown. “I think I can be slightly competitive as an artist, and I think that
well. In April, “Caricature Carl” received the top prize in the Parks category during Burlington County’s Second Annual Juried Film Festival. The film has received numerous awards and nominations in film festivals throughout New Jersey including, winner for Best Comedy in August of 2022 at the Brightside Tavern Film Festival in Jersey City. In July 2022, it was a Jury Favorite at A Lyte in the Dark Festival in Princeton, and was nominated for Best Concept in both the Bergen International Film Festival of NJ, and the Northeast Film Festival in Teaneck. In October 2022, At New Visions 22, a Film Festival at Montclair State showcasing students’ short films in the Filmmaking BFA Program, Stern’s film received an Official Selection. For Stern a passion for film making emerged early, in middle school. He remembers his first short film, Captain See CARL, Page 12
Linda Gilder-Palmer and husband, Reese, second and third from left, in front of the Gilder House in Bordentown with Doug Kiovsky, Michael Skelly and Bonnie Goldman of the Bordentown Historical Society. Reese is the great-grandson of Richard Watson Gilder, poet and editor of Century Illustrated magazine. They reside on RW Gilder’s Four Brooks Farm, in Tyringham, Massachusetts. They visited Bordentown to see Reese’s ancestor’s birthplace and family gravesites on May 12–13.
Bassist Justin Lee on making, teaching and sharing music By SUsAN VAN dONGeN There’s much more to the average public school music teacher than meets the eye and ear. Justin Lee, a Bordentown Township resident and educator at John P. Stevens High School in Edison, is a prime example — something that will be dem-
New Jersey’s only
onstrated with two upcoming events. As an acclaimed acoustic and electric bassist specializing in classical and jazz, when the school day is over, Lee can be found performing with groups like the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey and the New Yorkbased Chelsea Symphony. Or,
he might be commuting to New York City to play in such venerable clubs as Birdland. If that’s not enough activity for Lee, he’s also an active substitute in the orchestra for various off and on-Broadway shows, for example, the recent revival of the musical “Caroline, or See JUSTIN, Page 10
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