While the full line-up has not yet been announced, Montclair Film has declared its initial slate of Special Event films for the eighth annual Montclair Film Festival May 3-12.
The opening film, on Friday, May 3, will be Tom Harper’s “Wild Rose,” with star Jessie Buckley attending. The film is the story of Rose-Lynn (Buckley) an ex-con reunited with her family, who is unprepared to accept responsibility as a mother.
On Saturday, May 11, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ “Toni Morrison: the Pieces I Am” will screen as the festival’s Closing Film, with the director in attendance for a post-screening Q&A. The film is a portrait of the American Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. It follows Morrison from her childhood to her work as a leading literary editor and through her influential career as a novelist.
Writer and star Mindy Kaling will attend the festival’s screening of “Late Night,” the festival’s Narrative Centerpiece, starring Kaling and Emma Thompson. Kaling will participate in a post-screening Q&A, moderated by Stephen Colbert, on Saturday, May 4. In it, a legendary late-night talk show host’s world is turned upside down when she hires her only female staff writer.
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The festival’s Documentary Centerpiece, “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” will feature a pre-screening performance by students from Montclair Film’s partners Jazz House Kids, and a post-screening Q&A with director Stanley Nelson, on Friday, May 10. The film uses words from Davis’ autobiography of the same name, and includes newly-released archival material and performance footage.
On Tuesday, May 7, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Montclair Film are partnering to present “Tolkien: Live from The Montclair Film Festival” with Stephen Colbert. The screening will be followed by an extended Q&A with stars Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins, and director Dome Karukoski, moderated by Stephen Colbert. In a first for the festival, the Q&A will be broadcast live to select movie theaters across the country via Fathom Events for only one night.
Tickets and more information will be available April 5 at FathomEvents.com. “Tolkien” opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, May 10.
The full 2019 Montclair Film Festival line-up will be announced on April 5, 2019. Tickets for Montclair Film members go on sale on April 8, with public tickets on sale April 12. To become a member or purchase tickets, visit montclairfilm.org.
