The Montclair Film Festival has released its 2017 juried awards. Most of the awards were announced at a ceremony held on Saturday evening at MFF’s new home, The Investors Bank Film & Media Center. The audience award was announced via press release this morning. This year’s festival featured four competitive categories with five films in each: Fiction, Documentary, Future/ Now, and New Jersey Filmmaking. The 2017 festival featured over 150 feature and short films screened over ten days.
Fiction Feature Award: “Lady Macbeth.” directed by William Oldroyd
Special Jury Prize: Florence Pugh, for her performance in “Lady Macbeth.”
Bruce Sinofsky Award for Documentary Feature: “Strong Island,” directed by Yance Ford.
Special Jury Prize for Direction to Matthew Heineman, for “City of Ghosts.”
Future/Now prize: “Beach Rats,” directed by Eliza Hitman.
New Jersey Films Award: “Swim Team,” directed by Lara Stolman.
American Truth Seeker Award: “Acorn & the Firestorm,” directed by Reuben Atlas and Samuel D. Pollard.
The David Carr Award for Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking: “The Reagan Show”
Audience Awards:
Fiction: “Maudie,” directed by Aisling Walsh
Documentary: “Dolores,” directed by Peter Brett
World Cinema: “Clash,” directed by Mohamed Diab
Short Film: “Edith + Eddie,” directed by Laura Checkoway
Junior Jury:
Special Prize for Innovative Filmmaking, “Cating JonBenet,” directed by Kitty Green
Jury Prize: “Elián,” directed by Tim Golden