Montclair Film Festival Schedule Announced

Organizers of the Montclair Film Festival have announced that the opening, closing and centerpiece films for the 2017 event will take place April 28 through May 7.

The 6th annual festival will open with Amanda Lipitz’s "Step" on Friday, April 28, and close with Zoe Lister-Jones’ "Band Aid" on Saturday, May 6.

The documentary centerpiece film, Stanley Nelson’s "Tell Them We Are Rising: America's Black Colleges and Universities" will be presented on Friday, May 5, and the fiction centerpiece film, Geremy Jasper’s "Patti Cake$," will be presented on Saturday, May 6.

Each of these screenings will be held at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair

Additionally, Montclair Film and the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) have announced a partnership that organizers say will help build "meaningful opportunity" for African American professionals in the film and television industry

This year’s partnership includes a new program, Emerging Black Voices, which will offer opportunities to filmmakers and producers, as well as multiple panel discussions, screenings, and the House Party, a celebration of African American filmmakers held each year at the MFF.

Montclair Film will also welcome "Retro Report" as its partner for a two-part series at this year’s MFF 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.

The Montclair Film Festival will also present two special restorations at this year’s festival. First, George Romero’s "Night of the Living Dead" will screen in a new 4K restoration, 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.

Tickets for the 2017 Montclair Film Festival go on sale for Montclair Film members on Monday, April 3 at 10 a.m., and to the general public on Friday, April 7 at 10 a.m.

Tickets are available online or at the festival’s new Box Office, located in the lobby of the Investors Bank Film & Media Center at 505 Bloomfield Avenue in downtown Montclair. The full program will be announced on Monday, April 3.

Photo courtesy of Montclair Film Festival