Center Players will present four award-winning short films by filmmaker Anthony Marinelli of Manalapan at 2 p.m. and at 5 p.m. Sept. 10 at Center Playhouse, 35 South St., Freehold Borough.
The event will be a fundraiser for Center Players, a community theater, according to a press release.
The first film will be “Walt Whitman Never Paid For It,” about two brothers in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, one a semi-employed would-be poet (who also happens to be a 32-year-old virgin) and the other a neighborhood tough guy who pays a Ukrainian prostitute to put an end to his brother’s celibacy. The film won the Audience Choice Award in the 2014 Richmond International Film Festival. It was produced, directed and edited by Marinelli.
The second film is “Acoustic Space.” A couple dining at an elegant restaurant cannot complete a conversation due to their constantly ringing cell phones, which alters the course of their relationship and serves as a comment on how technology has changed the way people communicate. The film was written, directed and edited by Marinelli.
Third on the list is “Subway,” a two-minute short about a connection that is made between a man and a woman on a New York City subway train.
The final selection is “Marital Arts,” a short film about the art of marriage and a celebration of cinema. Joseph Cassese and Amanda Greer play a married couple in the midst of a heated argument who have agreed that neither of them can leave the bedroom until it is resolved.
Tickets are $15 and are available online at www.centerplayers.org or by calling 732-462-9093. Due to mature themes, the event is not recommended for children, according to the press release.
“We are fortunate to have a relationship with an artist of Anthony’s caliber,” said Center Players Artistic Director Bernice Garfield-Szita, “and we are thrilled he has made these excellent films available to our patrons and local residents, which will expose Anthony’s work and our theater to new audiences.”
Marinelli’s latest screenplay, “Books, Beds and Baths,” was a finalist in the HollyShorts Film Festival Screenplay Competition and is a semifinalist for the Screen Craft Film Fund, according to the press release.
Another project on the horizon is a web series to be filmed in the area, “Simple Things.” Marinelli is the co-founder of a post-production company, TwoPoint0. He resides in Manalapan with his wife and three children.