Even amid the ongoing actors strike — which keeps SAG-AFTRA members from promoting their films — the Montclair Film Festival goes on.
Over nine days this month, the North Jersey festival will celebrate cinema with a slate of events and screenings that includes some of the year’s most talked-about films. Audiences will hear from big-name directors, and get a look at some lesser-known, independent, documentary and local works.
Tom Hall, co-head and artistic director of the festival, said organizers “look all year long at movies that may have slipped under the radar” and zero in on “new voices, new filmmakers and new ideas.” The goal, he said, is to make the Montclair Film Festival event a “festival of discovery.”
Among the films featured this year is “Dream Scenario,” which kicks off the festival on opening night, Oct. 20. It’s a buzzy film that stars Nicholas Cage as an introverted professor who wakes up one day to realize he’s begun appearing in other peoples’ dreams. Following the screening, writer-director Kristoffer Borgli will take questions.
Hall said Q&A sessions are an integral part of the festival, an “incredibly important in building a cinema-going culture in our community.”
Other highlights of this year’s festival include a behind-the-scenes look at the prestigious Chopin Piano Competition, a profile of composer and musician Jon Batiste and director Todd Haynes’ film “May December,” starring Julianne Moore and Nathalie Portman.
The biggest draw may be the conversation between “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert and legendary director Martin Scorsese on Oct. 27. Colbert will also present Scorsese with the 2023 “Filmmaker Tribute” award.
“Honestly, it’s a dream come true to be able to host an artist of his stature 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 whispers about award…
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