nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
most well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF) usually held in late April, early May in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...
. The festival showcases new works from American and international filmmakers, and has year-round events. The festival features a program of films in the Fiction, Non-Fiction, World Cinema, Short, and Student Filmmaking categories.
Notable advisory board members include
J.J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as ''Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' For ...
,
Jonathan Alter
Jonathan H. Alter (born October 6, 1957) is a liberal American journalist, best-selling author, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and television producer who was a columnist and senior editor for ''Newsweek'' magazine from 1983 until 2011. Alte ...
,
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
,
Abigail Disney
Abigail Edna Disney (born January 24, 1960) is an American documentary film producer, philanthropist, and social activist. She produced the 2008 documentary ''Pray the Devil Back to Hell''. Disney and Kathleen Hughes are producers and directors ...
,
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...
,
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy A ...
,
Emma Freud
Emma Vallencey Freud (born 25 January 1962) is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator.
Early life
Freud was born in London on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009) and June ...
,
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...
,
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
,
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King'' debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best ...
, and
Patrick Wilson
Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...
, among others.
History
The film festival was founded by
WNET-TV
WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...
Vice President and General Counsel Bob Feinberg, a Montclair resident, who hired festival programmer Thom Powers and director Raphaela Neihausen and developed a
Board of Directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
composed of many of Montclair's prominent residents, including film and media professionals, philanthropists and community leaders.
Editions
Inaugural festival, May 2012
Attracted an estimated 5,000 - 7,500 attendees. Over 45 films were presented. Notable attendees included
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), ''Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), ''Executiv ...
,
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and two Tony Awards.
Turner became widely k ...
,
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in theater. Not lon ...
,
Patrick Wilson
Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...
,
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
and author
Judy Blume
Judith Blume ( née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...
. Early screenings included ''
The Oranges
The Oranges are a group of four municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey, all of which have the word ''Orange'' in their name. The four municipalities are Orange, East Orange, South Orange and West Orange. All of these communities were name ...
Held at seven venues across one community, the festival attracted more than 14,000 attendees to 80+ films and events including selected world and New Jersey premieres. A favorite film category was established to offer a platform for dozens of established and lesser-known filmmakers from New Jersey to exhibit new work. Prominent guests included a return visit from
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
,
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
,
Darlene Love
Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and she also recorded as a solo artist.
She began singing as a child with her ...
,
Lake Bell
Lake Siegel Bell (born March 24, 1979) is an American actress, screenwriter and director. She has starred in various television series, including '' Boston Legal'' (2004–2006), ''Surface'' (2005–2006), ''How to Make It in America'' (2010–2 ...
Alex Gibney
Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time".
Gibney's works as director include '' ...
Frances Ha
''Frances Ha'' is a 2012 American black and white comedy-drama film, directed by Noah Baumbach and written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig. Gerwig also plays the title role, a struggling 27-year-old dancer. The film premiered at the Telluride Film F ...
The Spectacular Now
''The Spectacular Now'' is a 2013 American coming-of-age Romance film, romantic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by James Ponsoldt, from a screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, based on the 2008 novel of th ...
'', ''
Dirty Wars Dirty wars are offensives conducted by regimes against their dissidents, marked by the use of torture and forced disappearance of civilians.
Dirty War may also refer to:
Specific historical events
* Dirty War (Argentina, 1974–1983), period of ...
The Kings of Summer
''The Kings of Summer'' is a 2013 American independent coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and starring Nick Robinson, Moisés Arias, Gabriel Basso, and Nick Offerman. The film premiered under its original title ''Toy's ...
Still Mine
''Still Mine'' is a 2012 Canadian romantic drama film. The film had a limited release under its original title ''Still'' at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival;''Stories We Tel''l and
Valley of Saints
The Valley of Saints is located in Khuldabad, a town in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. Several Sufi saints of the Chishti Order chose to reside in Khuldabad in the fourteenth century. The dargah of Muntajib al-Din (Khuldabad), ...
Jon Favreau
Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...
.
Fourth annual festival, May 2015
MFF15 opened with ''
Hello, My Name Is Doris
''Hello, My Name Is Doris'' is a 2015 American coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay by Laura Terruso and Showalter, about a woman in her 60s who tries to act on her attraction to a younger co-w ...
'' with
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...
.
Fifth annual festival, May 2016
MFF16 opened with
Roger Ross Williams
Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film ''Music by Prudence''; this film won the Academy Award for Bes ...
' film ''
Life, Animated
''Life, Animated'' is a 2016 American documentary by director Roger Ross Williams. It is co-produced by Williams with Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn and Christopher Clements. ''Life, Animated'' is based on journalist Ron Suskind's 2014 book ''Li ...
''. Following the film, a panel discussion was held with Advisory Board Member Stephen Colbert, members of the Suskind family, film creators, and
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous ro ...
, who appeared in the film. Other films shown included ... The festival closed with the film '' Miss Sharon Jones!'', documenting the story of Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings as Jones fought cancer
Ninth annual, October 2020
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
opening film ''
Nomadland
''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand ...
Ammonite
Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...
'' and
Derek DelGaudio
Derek DelGaudio is an American interdisciplinary artist, primarily known as a writer, performer and magician.
He created the theater show ''In & Of Itself,'' directed by Frank Oz, and co-founded, along with artist Glenn Kaino, the performance ...
’s ''In & Of Itself'' will be screened at a
drive-in
A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or movie theater) where one can drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by staff who walk or rollerskat ...
. Minari was selected as the virtual centerpiece film.
Year-round programs
Montclair Film also presents a schedule of educational and public programs and events for audiences across the region including: Free Summer Series Under the Stars; Kidz Shortz Filmmaking Competition and Workshops for youth ages 9–18 Free African American Heritage Month screenings; The Underdog Festival at Montclair State University featuring screenings of rarely seen Oscar-nominated shorts; Behind the Screen: Media Career Day for high school and university students; Screenings with industry insiders and up-and-coming stars; Festival Poster Competition; Community-wide art projects for youth; Networking events for industry insiders and newcomers; Celebrity Fundraiser (with Advisory Board Member Stephen Colbert), Oscars’ Eve Party, Trivia Night and more.
Past Award Winners
Montclair Film Festival Fiction Feature Award
2019 – ''
Monos
Monos is an island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is one of the "Bocas Islands", which lie in the ''Bocas del Dragón'' (''Dragons' Mouth'') between Trinidad and Venezuela. It is so named as the island was once home to noisy red ho ...
'', directed by
Alejandro Landes
Alejandro Landes Echavarría (born in 1980, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Colombian-Ecuadorian film director, producer, screenwriter, and journalist. He is mainly known for directing Spanish-language films such as '' Porfirio'', a Colombian drama tha ...
2018 – ''
First Reformed
''First Reformed'' is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, and Cedric Kyles, and follows a Protestant minister (Hawke) struggling with his faith while serving as pastor of a dw ...
'', directed by
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collabo ...
Sinofsky Award for Documentary Feature
2019 – ''
Honeyland
''Honeyland'' ( mk, Медена земја, transliterated: ''Medena zemja'') is a 2019 Macedonian documentary film that was directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. It portrays the life of Hatidže Muratova, a loner beekeeper of ...
'', directed by
Ljubomir Stefanov
Ljubomir Stefanov ( mk, Љубомир Стефанов; born 1975) is a Macedonian filmmaker best known for co-directing the 2019 documentary ''Honeyland'' with Tamara Kotevska. The documentary received two nominations at the 92nd Academy Awar ...
and
Tamara Kotevska
Tamara Kotevska ( mk, Тамара Котевска; born 9 August 1993) is a Macedonian filmmaker best known for her 2019 documentary ''Honeyland''.
Early life
Kotevska was born in Prilep, Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia). She earne ...
2018 – ''
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
''Hale County This Morning, This Evening'' is a 2018 American documentary film about the lives of black people in Hale County, Alabama. It is directed by RaMell Ross and produced by RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim, and is Ross's first nonfict ...
'', directed by
RaMell Ross
''Hale County This Morning, This Evening'' is a 2018 American documentary film about the lives of black people in Hale County, Alabama. It is directed by RaMell Ross and produced by RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Su Kim, and is Ross's first nonfictio ...
The David Carr Award For Truth In Non-Fiction Filmmaking
Dark Money
In the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections where the source of the money is not disclosed to voters. In the United States, some types of nonprofit organizations may spend money on campaigns wi ...
American Animals
''American Animals'' is a 2018 heist film written and directed by Bart Layton. Starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, and Ann Dowd, it follows four college friends who plan a heist of their library. It tells the story ...
'', directed by
Bart Layton
Bartholomew Nicholas Layton (born 1975) is an English documentary filmmaker. He is the writer and director of the films '' The Imposter'' and '' American Animals''.
Early life and education
Both of his parents were artists, one a sculptor and the ...