The Bellevue Theater is back and so is the Montclair Film Festival. We sit down with Montclair Film’s Artistic Director, Tom Hall, to break down the 14th edition: what’s bold, what’s risky, and what’s bound for awards season.
Highlights include opening night’s Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach’s meta comedy starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler. Nicholas Britell who scored the film will be there for a Q&A. Get tickets for headline events with Spike Lee and Stephen Colbert, and Pam Abdy on Hollywood’s future. Cinephiles can dive into Rebecca Miller’s Scorsese portrait, Richard Linklater’s black-and-white Godard homage, Jesse Plemons in Bugonia, and Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident by Jafar Panahi.
Docs bring the emotional punch with Come See Me In the Good Light (Tig Notaro + Ryan White), while Saturday pairs the deeply moving (Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value) with the urgent (Laura Poitras’s Cover Up). Brendan Fraser shines in Rental Family, and the festival closes on Christy, a fierce Sydney Sweeney performance that refuses the easy sports-biopic arc.
Grab your tickets, join the Q&As, and meet us in the dark—this year’s festival promises films to argue over, cheer for, and remember long after.
Watch / Listen
Come See Us Live!
+ Our Support Friends & Colleagues Picks!
Come see us!
Lost in Jersey Live at the Montclair Film Festival! We’ll be talking with the Oscar and Emmy-winning documentary company Shine Global, celebrated for their powerful films that spotlight resilience and the human spirit.
This special conversation, Resilience in Film: A Conversation with Shine Global, will explore the impact of storytelling in creating change and empathy through film.
Panelists include:
Albie Hecht
Co-Founder of Shine Global and former President of Nickelodeon. An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer.
Susan MacLaury
Co-Founder of Shine Global, Susan MacLaury is an Oscar and Emmy-winning producer.
Jackson Provan & Henry Slater
Winners of Shine Global’s 2025 Resilience Award for Young Filmmakers, Jackson Provan and Henry Slater co-directed In Case You Forgot.
Moderated by Janette Afsharian and Rachel Martens, co-hosts of the Lost in Jersey podcast — a show celebrating the stories found in Jersey!
Our Hot Panel Picks!
Technology and the Art of Visual Storytelling a fascinating conversation with leading innovators in cinematic storytelling. Sponsored by CoreWeave and moderated by Yana Collins, this session explores cutting-edge practices and what’s next for the future of film.
Panelists include:
- Yana Collin, Trevanna Post CEO (Host)
- Dan Schrecker, VFX Supervisor (Caught Stealing, The Phoenician Scheme)
- Alana Newell, CEO Crafty Apes
- Mac Moore, GM of Media and Entertainment COREWEAVE
- Brad Carpenter, Producer (The Diplomat)
- Chris Aruda, Producer (Your Friends and Neighbors, See)
- Get tix!
Local Voices Picks!
And get super local support level status and catch:
Montclair Pod power duo live!
Thom Powers, a film festival icon in creating and directing them, shares stories from his new book,
And have fun with Improv and Spooky Stories events by Montclair Film in-house talent!
Related Interviews!
