Food for Thought wins Best Experimental Film in Brooklyn

By AI, Created 9:38 AM UTC, May 20, 2026, /AGP/ – The Asbury Park short “Food for Thought” picked up Best Experimental Film at the 26th Annual Coney Island Film Festival, adding to its Best Silent Film win in Milan. The latest recognition lifts the film’s profile ahead of the filmmakers’ next collaboration, which is set to shoot in Asbury Park this summer.

Why it matters: - “Food for Thought” is building a festival run that now spans the U.S. and Italy, giving the short broader visibility. - The film’s back-to-back wins strengthen the profile of Gary Hanna and Adam Nelson as a creative team. - The result also keeps Asbury Park in the spotlight as a filmmaking location.

What happened: - “Food for Thought” won Best Experimental Film at the 26th Annual Coney Island Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York. - The film previously won Best Silent Film at the 9th annual Festival Del Cinema Assurdo, also called the Absurd Film Festival, in Cinisello Balsamo outside Milan, Italy. - Gary Hanna directed, shot and edited the short. - Adam Nelson wrote and starred in the film. - The short was created for the AP’N3 Film Challenge, the Asbury Park Arts Council’s three-week filmmaking competition. - “Food for Thought” competed in the On Location category, which required every frame to be filmed entirely within Asbury Park.

The details: - The story follows a half-starved sailor adrift on the Asbury Park boardwalk, searching for food, memory and meaning. - The film is described as a meditation on hunger, erasure and the price of progress. - The Coney Island Film Festival is in its 26th year. - MovieMaker Magazine has named the festival one of its “25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” and “25 Coolest Film Festivals.” - Coney Island USA produces the festival. - Past honorees include Darren Aronofsky. - The film’s awards and selections also include an official selection at the 24th Annual Garden State Film Festival and a finalist spot in the 2025 AP’N3 Film Challenge. - Credits list Nelson and Hanna as producers, Hanna as cinematographer and editor, and Nelson with original music in collaboration with ElevenLabs.

Between the lines: - The award streak suggests the film is resonating with festivals that favor distinctive visual style and unconventional storytelling. - The Asbury Park setting is not just a backdrop. The challenge rules made the city part of the film’s concept and production. - Hanna and Nelson’s partnership appears to have grown from a documentary connection into a continuing creative pipeline. - Nelson and Hanna first connected through Hanna’s documentary series, “University of the Arts – We’re Still Here,” after the 2024 collapse of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

What’s next: - Hanna and Nelson are already developing their next collaboration, “BUSE!,” a factory-inspired comedy for the 2026 AP’N3 Short Film Challenge. - Production on “BUSE!” is scheduled to begin this summer in Asbury Park, New Jersey. - Nelson also continues as professor and academic lead for the New Jersey Film Academy’s Script to Screen program. - Hanna continues contract work across filmmaking, animation and 3D production.

The bottom line: - “Food for Thought” has turned a local film-challenge project into an international festival winner, and the team behind it is moving straight into its next project.