Montclair Film Festival Announces Full 2020 Program: Nomadland, One Night In Miami, Ammonite Featured

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Monday, 05 October 2020 13:21

Written by Hildy Johnson

Carpool Theater
Including the previously announced Opening Night (NOMADLAND), Closing Night (ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…), Fiction Centerpiece (AMMONITE), and Documentary Centerpiece (IN & OF ITSELF), the full schedule of MFF's Carpool Theater drive-in screenings, located at 3 Cherry Lane in West Orange, NJ, is:

OPENING NIGHT
NOMADLAND

Director: Chloé Zhao

Producers: Chloé Zhao, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey

Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Charlene Swankie, Bob Wells

USA/107 min

Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The third feature film from director Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND features real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as Fern's mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West.

Friday, October 16, 9:30 PM

Presented in partnership with Investors Bank

US KIDS

Director: Kim A. Snyder

Producers: Kim A. Snyder, Maria Cuomo Cole, Lori Cheatle

USA/98 min

When a gunman entered the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day 2018, gruesome images of the deadliest high school shooting in US history quickly emerged. In the massacre's aftermath, students unite in their frustration at the inaction of elected officials. Over the next month, their actions grow into the nationwide March For Our Lives movement, the largest youth protest in American history. Peabody Award-winning director Kim A. Snyder (NEWTOWN) follows the teenage activists as they fight for gun control and compel the political system into action. Insightful and rousing, US KIDS chronicles a new generation of youth leaders and their remarkable dedication to enact change.

Saturday, October 17, 6:30 PM

FICTION CENTERPIECE
AMMONITE

Director: Francis Lee

Producers: Ian Canning, Emile Sherman, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly

Cast: Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones, James McArdle, Alec Secăreanu, Fiona Shaw

UK/117 min

In 1800s England, acclaimed but unrecognized fossil hunter Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) works alone on the rugged Southern coastline. With the days of her famed discoveries behind her, she now searches for common fossils to sell to tourists to support herself and her ailing mother. When a wealthy visitor entrusts Mary with the care of his wife Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan), she cannot afford to turn his offer down. Proud and relentlessly passionate about her work, Mary initially clashes with her unwelcome guest, but despite the distance between their social class and personalities, an intense bond begins to develop, compelling the two women to determine the true nature of their relationship.

Saturday, October 17, 9:30 PM

Presented in partnership with William H. Connolly & Co.

FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARKER WORLDS

Director: Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer

Producers: André Singer, Lucki Stipetic

UK/Austria/USA/97 min

The non-fiction films of director Werner Herzog (GRIZZLY MAN) are a unique body of work that demonstrate how the power of the natural world has both framed and challenged the aspirations of humanity. In the new film FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARKER WORLDS, Herzog joins with British volcanologist and co-director Clive Oppenheimer to undertake a globe-trotting exploration of meteors that fell to Earth, both ancient and recent, the powerful impact they have had in shaping civilization, our connection to cosmic time, and the possibilities they harbor for a devastating blow to our fragile planet.
Sunday, October 18, 6:30 PM

THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM

Director: Daniel Gordon

Producers: John Battsek, Sarah Thomson, Nick Batzias, Virginia Whitwell

Australia/UK/106 min

From Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem to the recent wildcat strike by NBA and WNBA players in support of Black Lives Matter, sport has become a powerful platform for Americans to challenge racism. But America is not the first nation to face this reckoning. The story of Adam Goodes, an aboriginal superstar of the Australian Football League who stood up against racist abuse in the sport, THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM is a profoundly moving, universal story of personal and social responsibility and the long, difficult fight for equality, understanding, and justice for all.
Sunday, October 18, 9:30 PM

KINDRED

Director: Joe Marcantonio

Producers: Dominic Norris, Jack Lowden

Cast: Tamara Lawrance, Jack Lowden, Fiona Shaw, Edward Holcroft

UK/101 min

A psychological thriller rippling with suspense, director Joe Marcantonio's KINDRED follows vulnerable mother-to-be Charlotte (Tamara Lawrance) as she is taken in by her recently deceased boyfriend's mother (Fiona Shaw) and her stepson (Jack Lowden), who seem increasingly obsessed with her every move. Plagued by mysterious hallucinations, Charlotte's suspicions grow about Margaret and Thomas's intentions for her unborn child, sending her into a downward spiral that forces her to question her own sanity. KINDRED is a classic tale of dread that draws you in through slow-burning storytelling that will have you on the edge of your seat. 

Wednesday, October 21, 6:30 PM

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

Director: Roger Corman

Producers: Roger Corman

Cast: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher

USA/UK/86 min

In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of The Film Foundation, dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history, the 2020 Montclair Film Festival is proud to present Roger Corman's 1964 horror classic THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH! Vincent Price stars as the diabolical Prince Prospero, who isolates himself among his sycophantic enablers and hosts a
masquerade ball as a plague roams the countryside, terrorizing his subjects. Corman's film, widely considered a gothic horror classic, finds new resonance today, a must-see experience restored to its beautiful, big-screen, cinematic glory.

Restored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Wednesday, October 21, 9:30 PM

THE SOUL OF AMERICA

Director: Katie Davison

Producers: 

USA/ 90 Min

Katie Davison's new documentary THE SOUL OF AMERICA, based on Jon Meacham's 2018 bestselling book of the same name, illuminates our present-day, fraught political reality by exploring historical challenges of the past. Examining the women's suffrage movement, the incarceration of Japanese Americans, McCarthyism, and the struggle to pass Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, the film brings America's legacy of political exclusion and struggle into sharp focus, calling upon citizens of today to embrace the "better angels" of our shared national ideals in order to create a democracy that works for all of us, together. 

Thursday, October 22, 6:30 PM

OUT OF THE BLUE (1980)

Director: Dennis Hopper

Producers: Jean Gontier, Gary Jules Jouvenat, Leonard Yakir

Cast: Linda Manz, Dennis Hopper, Sharon Farrell, Don Gordon, Raymond Burr

Canada/94 min

After serving time for a devastating drunk driving accident. Don Barnes (director Dennis Hopper) tries to reconnect with his wife Kathy (Sharon Farrell). In his absence, their daughter CeBe (Linda Manz) has grown into a traumatized teen misfit, fascinated both by Elvis and the punk rock movement. Each of these lost souls dreams in their own way of forming a united family again, struggling against the dark past that still tears them apart. One of the most powerful, moving works of Dennis Hopper's legendary career, and featuring a timeless, heartbreaking performance by the great Linda Manz, the Montclair Film Festival is proud to present the new 4K restoration of OUT OF THE BLUE, which makes its drive-in premiere at the festival.
Thursday, October 22, 9:30 PM

BLITHE SPIRIT

Director: Edward Hall

Producers: James Spring, Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft, Hilary Bevan Jones, Peter Snell, Tuni Pinnous

Cast: Dan Stevens, Judi Dench, Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Emilia Fox

UK/95 min

In this light-hearted comedy, best-selling crime novelist Charles (Dan Stevens) suffers from terrible writer's block and is struggling to finish his first screenplay. His picture-perfect new wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) is doing her best to keep him focused, so they can fulfill her dream of leaving London for Hollywood. Charles's quest for inspiration leads him to invite the eccentric mystic Madame Acarti (Judi Dench) to perform a séance in his home. He gets more than he bargained for when Madame Acarti inadvertently summons the spirit of his first wife: the brilliant and fiery Elvira (Leslie Mann).

Friday, October 23, 6:30 PM

GUNDA

Director: Victor Kossakovsky

Producers: Anita Rehoff Larsen

Norway/USA/93 min

Through encounters with a mother sow (the eponymous Gunda), two ingenious cows, and a scene-stealing, one-legged chicken, GUNDA movingly recalibrates our moral universe, reminding us of the inherent value of life and the mystery of all animal consciousness, including our own. Shot in luminous black-and-white from the perspective of the animals, without dialogue, narration, or music, the natural world comes alive on its own terms. GUNDA is a unique cinematic experience, a gorgeous meditation on the value of life from master filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky, reminding us of our role as stewards of life on this planet.

Friday, October 23, 9:30 PM

DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE
IN & OF ITSELF

Director: Frank Oz

Executive Producers: Evelyn & Stephen Colbert

Producers: Glenn Kaino, Vanessa Lauren, Jake Friedman

USA/90 min

Derek DelGaudio's IN & OF ITSELF, directed by Frank Oz, is a performance film unlike any you have seen before, capturing DelGaudio's intimate, mind-boggling story of identity and illusion. Filmed live and harnessing the collective experience of the audience to create an allegory of the events, ideas, and roles that define who we are, DelGaudio uses his skill as a storyteller to craft a moving story of redemption, one which forces us to explore the boundaries of our own identity. The Montclair Film Festival is proud to present IN & OF ITSELF as our 2020 Documentary Centerpiece Film.
Saturday, October 24, 6:30 PM
Presented in partnership with Mountainside Medical Center

CLOSING NIGHT
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...

Director: Regina King

Producers: Jody Klein, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder

Cast: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom, Jr.

USA/114 min

On one incredible night in 1964, four icons of sports, music, and activism gather to celebrate one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. When underdog Cassius Clay, soon to be called Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), defeats heavyweight champion Sonny Liston at the Miami Convention Hall, Clay memorialized the event with three of his friends: Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom, Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). Based on the award-winning play of the same name, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI... is a fictional account inspired by the historic night these four formidable figures spent together. It looks at the struggles these men faced and the vital role they each played in the civil rights movement and cultural upheaval of the 1960s. More than 40 years later, their conversations on racial injustice, religion, and personal responsibility still resonate. 

Saturday, October 24, 9:30 PM
Presented in partnership with Coldwell Banker Realty

For information about Montclair Film Festival and the complete lineup, visit www.MontclairFilm.org.

ABOUT MONTCLAIR FILM

Montclair Film, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization connects filmmakers from around the region and world with audiences by presenting films and year-round programs that engage, educate, and entertain through the power of visual storytelling. The ninth annual Montclair Film Festival, presented by Investors Bank, will take place from October 16-25, 2020. The Storyteller Series is presented by Audible. We are grateful for generous support from Craig Newmark Philanthropies; the County of Essex Department of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs; and Hackensack Meridian Health, Mountainside Medical Center. Additional support is provided by Chubb; Coldwell Banker Realty; William H. Connolly & Co.; Hiker; Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; The Nature Conservancy; and RBC Wealth Management, as well as from Ashenfelter, Trembulak, McDonough, Golia & Trevenen, LLP; The Bravitas Group; Genova Burns; Kore Private Wealth; Partners for Health Foundation; and Rao's Homemade. All programs are made possible with funds from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, as well as the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, among many others. Montclair Film provides unique and meaningful ways to engage with diverse, creative, and sophisticated audiences and seeks sponsors for its signature spring film festival and other year-round programs that attract more than 46,000 annual attendees and generate more than 750 million media impressions yearly.

For information about Montclair Film, visit www.MontclairFilm.org.