‘All We Imagine As Light’ Wins 2024 Montclair Film Festival Fiction Feature Competition

October 28, 2024, MONTCLAIR, NJ – Montclair Film has announced the winners of the festival’s 2024 Montclair Film Festival’s competitions. This year’s festival featured four competitive categories: Fiction, Documentary, Future/ Now, and New Jersey Filmmaking. Additionally, the Fiction and Documentary juries also awarded films for the festival’s Short Film competitions. The MFF also announced the festival’s 2024 Audience Awards and Junior Jury prizes.

Feature Film Jury Awards

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, directed by Payal Kapadia, was awarded the festival’s Fiction Feature Prize, with a Special Jury Prize awarded to THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

The Fiction Feature Competition featured ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, directed by Payal Kapadia, GRAND TOUR, directed by Miguel Gomes, I’M STILL HERE, directed by Walter Salles, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, and UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, directed by Matthew Rankin.

The Fiction jury was composed of Janette Afsharian, Artist & Podcaster, Lost In Jersey, Jake Coyle, Film Critic, AP, David Fear, Film Critic, Rolling Stone.

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SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT, directed by Johan Grimonprez, was awarded the festival’s Bruce Sinofsky Award for the Documentary Feature Competition, the festival’s top documentary competition prize, with a Special Jury Prize awarded to Petra Costa for APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS.

In a statement the jury said, “We award SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT for it’s compelling illumination of the merging of politics and culture on a global scale, and a Special Jury Prize is awarded to Petra Costa for  APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS, for its unflinching look at religion and politics in 21st Century democracies, and the dangers to both, told with urgency and intelligence.”

The Documentary Feature Competition featured APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS, directed by Petra Costa, DAHOMEY directed by Mati Diop, A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS directed by Silje Evensmo Jocobsen, NIGHT IS NOT ETERNAL directed by Nanfu Wang, SOUNDTRACK FOR A COUP D’ETAT directed by Johan Grimponpez.

The Documentary Feature Competition Jury was composed of Jon Sesrie Goff, Filmmaker/Multidisciplinary Artist; Program Officer, Ford Foundation, Dalton Ross – Editorial Director, EW,  Joe Neumaier, Film Critic, 710AM-WOR Radio.

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EXTREMELY UNIQUE DYNAMIC, directed by Ivan Leung, Harrison Xu, and Katherine Dudas, won the Future/Now Competition and the $5000 The Mark Urman Award For Fiction Filmmaking, honoring early career filmmakers. This award was established in 2019 in memory of the film distribution executive Mark Urman, a longtime Montclair resident, and funded through Montclair Film’s Mark Urman Award Fund.

The Future/Now Competition featured CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT, directed by Tyler Taormina, EEPHUS, directed by Carson Lund, EXTREMELY UNIQUE DYNAMIC, directed by, GAZER directed by Ryan J. Sloan, and MICRO BUDGET, directed by Morgan Evans.

The Future/Now jury was composed of Kate McEdwards, Partner, TrackShot Media, Matt Patches, Film Critic, Polygon UPROXX,Mara Reinsten, Film Critic, Us Weekly, Parade.

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ZURAWSKI V TEXAS, directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, took home the New Jersey Films Competition prize.

The New Jersey Feature Competition featured BEYOND THE GAZE: JULE CAMPBELL’S SWIMSUIT ISSUE, directed by Jill Campbell, HOMEGROWN,  directed by Michael Premo, SONGS FROM THE HOLE, directed by Contessa Gayles, SPACE COWBOY directed by Marah Strauch and Bryce Leavitt, and ZURAWSKI V TEXAS, directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault.

The New Jersey Films Competition jury was composed of Ned Booth, Managing Editor, The Playlist, Yana Collins Lehman – CEO, Trevanna Post, Stephen Whitty, Film Critic, NJArts.net

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Audience Awards

The Audience Award for Fiction Feature was awarded to THE PIANO LESSON directed by Malcolm Washington

The Audience Award for Documentary Feature was awarded to ZURAWSKI V TEXAS directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault

The Audience Award for World Cinema was awarded to YOUNG HEARTS directed by Anthony Schatteman

The Audience Award for Short Film was awarded to ANUJA directed by Adam Graves

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Short Film Jury Awards

DISSOLUTION, directed by Anthony Saxe, won the festival’s Fiction Short Film Competition. The Fiction Shorts jury was composed of Janette Afsharian, Artist & Podcaster, Lost In Jersey, Jake Coyle, Film Critic, AP, David Fear, Film Critic, Rolling Stone.

DEATH BY NUMBERS, directed by Kim A Snyder, won the festival’s Documentary Short Film Competition. The Non-Fiction Shorts jury was composed of Jon Sesrie Goff, Filmmaker/Multidisciplinary Artist; Program Officer, Ford Foundation, Dalton Ross, Editorial Director, EW,  Joe Neumaier, Film Critic, 710AM-WOR Radio.

THE BELIEVERS, directed by Evan Newman, won the festival’s New Jersey Shorts competition, with a Special Jury Prize awarded to THE SACRIFICE, directed by Christopher Werner.  The Competition featured films in the fiction and non-fiction categories from New Jersey.  The New Jersey Shorts Competition jury was composed of Ned Booth, Managing Editor, The Playlist, Yana Collins Lehman, CEO, Trevanna Post, Stephen Whitty, Film Critic, NJArts.net.

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Junior Jury

The 2024 Montclair Film Festival’s Junior Jury included fifteen area high school students representing twelve area schools. The Junior Jury awarded their top prize to  BIRD directed by Andrea Arnold, with a Special Jury Prize for Cinematography awarded to Isabelle Stachtchenko for her work on Matthew Rankin’s UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE .

The 2024 Montclair Film Festival Junior Jury participants were Viren Abroal (South Brunswick High), Mark Campbell (Orange High), Kara Castano (Mount Saint Dominic Academy), Isabelle Crandell (Montclair High), Olivia Harrison (Montclair High), Henry Hekman (Verona High), Mason Lippman (Montclair High), Xavier Marte (Liberty High), Norah Pharaon (Columbia High), Camilla Rodriguez (Hakensack High), Jonah Roter (Livingston High), Henry Slater (James Caldwell High), Ethan Szymanski (West Orange High), Reese Wolfinger (Columbia High).

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“This year’s award winners are a reflection of the powerful ways in which cinema can bring the world together,” said Montclair Film Artistic Director and Co-Head Tom Hall. “We are incredibly honored to be able to share the work of these brilliant artists and we congratulate them, and all of our filmmakers, for their outstanding work.”