Montclair Film announces 2022 Emerging Filmmaker winners

Montclair Film has named the winners of the 2022 Emerging Filmmaker Competition, including one Montclair High School student who won the inaugural Visionary Award.

The competition has two categories, storytellers for grades six through eight and visionaries for grades nine through twelve, according to a press release by Montclair Film. The films represent a wide range of styles and voices, and categories include drama, comedy, documentary, experimental and more.

“The continued excellence of the work of young filmmakers in our EFC program is a testament to these incredibly talented young artists,” Sue Hollenberg, Montclair Film Director of Education, said in the release. “We are so proud to have received so many wonderful films from all of the filmmakers who submitted their work, and we celebrate these extraordinary students in the hopes that they will continue their passion for filmmaking.”

Each year, the competition's jury is made up of industry professionals who evaluate the films in each category, the press release says. This year’s judges were Evan Baily (producer), Evan Cutler (producer), Rasheed Daniel (Producer, Director and Owner, TeamSheed Productions), Mark Fitzmartin (Producer), Amy Friedman (Head of Kids and Family Programming, Warner Brothers) and Manny Galán (Writer/ Director/Producer).

Montclair High School student Olyvia Okochi won the inaugural Visionary Award for outstanding overall creative and technical achievement in her films “How to Murder Your Husband” and “To Cheat or Not to Cheat”.

For a full list of winners and to view the winning films, visit montclairfilm.org.