The 6th Montclair Film Festival, taking place April 28 to May 7, 2017, will open with Amanda Lipitz’s STEP on Friday, April 28 and close with Zoe Lister-Jones’ BAND AID on Saturday, May 6. In addition, the fiction centerpiece film, Geremy Jasper’s PATTI CAKE$, will be presented on Friday, May 5 and the documentary centerpiece film, Stanley Nelson’s TELL THEM WE ARE RISING: AMERICA’S BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES will be presented on Saturday, May 6.
Montclair Film is teaming up with the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) on a partnership that helps build meaningful opportunity for African American professionals in the film and television industry, and which celebrates the work of established artists in the field. This year’s partnership includes a new program, Emerging Black Voices, which will offer opportunity to filmmakers and producers at both the MFF and ABFF, as well as multiple panel discussions, screenings, and the House Party, a celebration of African American filmmakers held each year at the MFF.
The festival will welcome Retro Report as the partner for a two-part series at this year’s festival that examines the state of news, reporting, and media consumption. The partnership features a program of films, curated by the Retro Report team and including the premiere of their latest film ZAPRUDER , that examines the way in which media stories can shape the public conversation, as well as a conversation entitled TRUE OR FALSE?: REPORTING IN THE AGE OF “FAKE NEWS” which will feature a panel of distinguished journalists and offer a look inside the job of reporting the facts when audiences are more inclined than ever to challenge them.
Two special restorations – George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and Andrei Tarkovsky’s STALKER will be presented at this year’s festival.
First, George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD will screen in a stunning new 4K restoration and will be presented on April 29 at the Wellmont Theater. Featured special guests will include Producer Russ Streiner, who also played Johnny in the film and delivered the now-famous line “They’re coming to get you, Barbara,” actress Kyra Schon, who portrayed the 11 year-old Karen Cooper in the film and provided one of the film’s most unforgettable moments, and investor and the film’s sound recordist Gary Streiner, who oversaw the film’s restoration on behalf of Image Ten.
Next, the Festival will present Mosfilm’s beautiful new 2K restoration of Andrei Tarkovsky’s STALKER, screening Saturday, April 29. This restoration will be the first film ever screened in Cinema505, Montclair Film’s own cinema located in their new home at the Investors Bank Film and Media Center at 505 Bloomfield Avenue in downtown Montclair.