PUTTING INDEPENDENT FILM FIRST

The SOMA Film Festival features and supports independent and emerging filmmakers. We believe that independent film can change the way people experience the world.

Set in the bucolic and artistically rich enclaves of Maplewood and South Orange, NJ, just thirty minutes from Manhattan, the four-year-old festival has the warmth and spirit of a small town mixed with the creative force of a big city.    

Now in our fourth season, we have expanded the festivities to 5 days and nights from March 20th to 24th at The Woodland. We will have four Locals Only! programs, a kids and local teens program, as well as independent film from near and far, a welcome party, an evening with Hollywood legend Frank Oz, and much, much more.

From the opening night to the final program, the SOMA Film Festival is four days packed with amazing and entertaining short and feature films, as well as our popular Kids, Youth Filmmaker, and Locals Programs. Tickets are affordable and many of them come with a filmmaker Q&A to follow the screening, and free popcorn and water.

We are excited to announce that on the evening of Thursday, March 21, we will welcome legendary filmmaker, actor, and voice-over artist Frank Oz and his film "Muppet Guys Talking."

The film features five of the original Muppet performers coming together to discuss the creation of their iconic characters under the visionary leadership of Jim Henson. The stories are legendary and the film catches the innovation and the madness through conversation and archived video imagery.