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
Montclair Film has announced its full slate of films and events for the 9th annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF), Presented by Investors Bank, taking place October 16-25, in Montclair, NJ.
Chloé Zhao's Nomandland opens the film festival; Director Regina King's debut One Night in Miami will close, and Francis Lee's Ammonite is the featured centerpiece.
The program features over 100 films, conversations, and special events, from drive-in screenings at Montclair Film's Carpool Cinema to screenings on Montclair Film's new Virtual Cinema platform, powered by Eventive.
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Programs in today's announcement join the previously announced Opening, Closing, and Centerpiece films, as well as the Storyteller Series, presented by Audible. Passes and individual tickets are available beginning October 5 for Montclair Film Members, and October 8 for the public. To become a member or purchase tickets, please visit montclairfilm.org.
Each film in the MFF's Virtual Cinema will have a unique set of screening availabilities, with some being available only to residents of New Jersey, others to the entire United States, some scheduled for a certain date and time, others available on demand throughout the festival. Patrons will find a full set of information for each film at montclairfilm.org and are urged to check their availability and viewing location prior to purchasing tickets.
"We want to recognize everyone who supported Montclair Film in bringing the memorable films, events and discussions to our communities during this year's film festival," said Investors Bank Chairman and CEO Kevin Cummings. "The opening night of the ninth annual festival, which we are proud to co-present, celebrates the successful efforts of the Montclair Film staff to share a showcase of exceptional films with our neighbors."
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"This year's program is a tribute to the generosity and tenacity of filmmakers from around the world," said Montclair Film Executive Director Tom Hall. "These films represent a diverse range of ideas, stories, and experiences, and we hope our audience will take some time to explore the program and come together as a community around the power of cinema."
Competitions
The festival's annual feature film competition line-ups will all screen on Montclair Film Virtual Cinema and join Ramona Diaz's previously announced A THOUSAND CUTS, winner of the festival's 2020 David Carr Award for Truth In Non-Fiction Filmmaking, as the films eligible for the MFF's juried prizes.
The Documentary Feature Competition, featuring three non-fiction films competing for the Bruce Sinofsky Prize, is COLLECTIVE, directed by Alexander Nanau, CRAZY, NOT INSANE, directed by Alex Gibney, and US KIDS, directed by Kim A. Snyder. The Documentary jury is comprised of Alex Billington (Now Showing), Kerensa Cadenas (The Cut / New York Magazine), and Joey Magidson (AwardsRadar).
The Fiction Feature Competition, featuring three fiction films from international filmmakers, competing for the Fiction Feature Prize, is THERE IS NO EVIL, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, THIS IS NOT A BURIAL, IT'S A RESURRECTION, directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, and UNDINE, directed by Christian Petzold. The Fiction jury is comprised of Scott Mantz (Film Critic), Clarence Moye (Awards Daily), and Alison Stewart (WNYC / All of It with Alison Stewart).
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The Future/Now Competition, featuring three films by independent fiction filmmakers competing for The Mark Urman Prize, which includes a $5,000 cash prize and over $40,000 in in-kind film services, is FREELAND, directed by Mario Furloni and Kate McLean, THE OUTSIDE STORY, directed by Casimir Nozkowski, and REUNION, directed by Jake Mahaffy. The Future/Now jury is comprised of Deborah Davis (Author), Jeva Lange (The Week), and Wilson Morales (BlackFilmandTV).
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The Documentary Feature Competition, featuring three non-fiction films produced in New Jersey or made by New Jersey-based filmmaking talent competing for the New Jersey Competition Prize, is THE ANTIDOTE, directed by Kahane Cooperman, BEAUTIFUL SOMETHING LEFT BEHIND, directed by Katrine Philp, and TWO GODS, directed by Zeshawn Ali. The New Jersey Films Competition jury is comprised of Amy Kuperinsky (New Jersey Star Ledger), Rafael Motamayor (The Playlist), and Tambay Obenson (Indiewire).
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.
