MFF 2019 Festival Catalog

Programming Welcome
PRESENTS THE
A message from our
programming team
CELEBRATING DIVERSITY & NEW PERSPECTIVES
The Montclair Film Festival strives to not only reflect the diversity of our
community, but to bring new voices, points of view, and experiences to our
screens. Our programming team actively seek movies that speak to a wide
range of perspectives, films that challenge us to think and feel in new ways.
This year’s program features several films that speak to the African American
experience, including powerful documentaries like THE APOLLO, MILES
DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL, and our Closing Film TONI MORRISON: THE
PIECES I AM. We also feature new, independent voices like Rashaad Ernesto
Green, who brings his beautiful new film PREMATURE to the festival, as
African American subjects take center stage in films like WHILE I BREATHE,
I HOPE, PAHOKEE, RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT, MOSSVILLE,
and many more.
As we approach the 50th Anniversary of Pride, this year’s program examines
contemporary LGBTQ+ experience in cinema, including films like BEFORE
YOU KNOW IT, HALSTON, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO, and GAY
CHORUS DEEP SOUTH, while welcoming LGBTQ+ filmmakers with new films
that explore a variety of engaging stories and subjects.
Films by women directors make up roughly 40% of our film program, with
established artists like Mary Harron and Petra Costa joined by exciting
contemporary filmmakers like Nisha Ganatra, Erin Lee Carr, Emily Hubley,
Hannah Pearl Utt, Jessica Oreck, Celine Held, and dozens more. Our efforts
to create a balanced program continue as we work to offer opportunities for
women in all capacities of filmmaking to showcase their work.
While this is only a small sample of the range of work on show at the festival,
we believe that this year’s films offer an opportunity for our audiences to
connect with great new stories, stories that reflect the best in cinema today.
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