Even with the ongoing actors’ strike preventing SAG-AFTRA members from promoting their films, the Montclair Film Festival continues.
Over nine days this month, the North Jersey festival will celebrate cinema with a variety of events and screenings, including some of the most talked about films of the year. Audiences will hear from renowned filmmakers and see some lesser-known, independent, documentary and local work.
Tom Hall, the festival’s co-chair and artistic director, advised organizers to “look throughout the year at films that may have flown under the radar” and focus on “new voices, new directors and new ideas.” The goal, he said, is to make the Montclair Film Festival a “festival of discovery.”
Among the films presented this year is “Dream Script,” the festival of which starts on the night of its premiere on October 20. It’s a rollicking film starring Nicolas Cage as an introverted professor who wakes up one day and realizes he’s started showing up to other people. ‘dreams. Following the screening, writer and director Kristoffer Borgli will answer questions.
Hall said the question-and-answer sessions are an integral part of the festival and “incredibly important to building a movie-going culture in our community.”
Other highlights from this year’s festival include a behind-the-scenes look at the prestigious Chopin Piano Competition, a portrait of composer and musician Jon Batiste, and director Todd Haynes’ film May December starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman.
The biggest prank may be the conversation between Late Show host Stephen Colbert and legendary director Martin Scorsese on October 27th. Colbert will also present Scorsese with the 2023 Tribute to the Director award.
“It’s honestly a dream come true to be able to host an artist of this caliber at our festival,” Hall said.
Scorsese’s latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and has already sparked a flurry of awards speculation.
Colbert will also moderate a discussion on what the emergence of generative artificial intelligence means for creative work in the film industry. He is no stranger to the Montclair Film Festival and the community that surrounds it. He has hosted events in previous years, and his wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, is president of the festival’s board. The couple moved to Montclair in the 1990s.
This summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon – a combination of blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” – gave audiences a reason to leave the comfort of their living rooms and head to movie theaters. But in a letter to festival-goers, McGee Colbert acknowledged the unprecedented changes taking place in film and television, saying that attendance was “influenced by changes in both movie-going habits and film exhibitions.” She said people are becoming more selective about which movie they go to see, and more and more moviegoers are choosing to watch movies at home.
So the onus is on filmmakers and promoters to be “a little more straightforward” about why moviegoers should come to the theater to see a film, she said.
Much of Hollywood was on strike ahead of this year’s festival. The Writers Guild of America strike has ended, giving writer-directors the opportunity to participate in film promotion, but the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike continues. Hall said MFF organizers “absolutely respect SAG-AFTRA’s position” and hopes this year’s presentation both celebrates the films and demonstrates that respect.
This year, as in years past, much of the appeal of MFF was that the organization highlighted local filmmakers and generally brought New Jerseyans together in a celebration of cinema. The festival includes the New Jersey Films Juried Competition, which celebrates non-fiction filmmaking from Garden State artists, as well as the New Jersey Shorts short film competition.
The final film, “Eileen,” shown Sunday, Oct. 29, at Montclair High School Montclair Kimberley Academy, also has local ties. The film takes place in 1964 and was filmed in New Jersey. Thomasin McKenzie plays Eileen, a young secretary. She is fascinated by juvenile detention center counselor Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), who is hiding a dark secret (Hathaway grew up in nearby Millburn and is an alumna of the nearby Paper Mill Theater).
McGee Colbert highlighted several tactics and noted that the festival itself has provided a boost to local businesses.
“It really revitalizes the city,” she said.
The Montclair Film Festival will take place October 20-29, 2023 in Montclair. New Jersey. Tickets and information about the week’s events can be purchased at montclairfilm.org.