film
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF MOVING THE FESTIVAL TO OCTOBER ? Hall : It was areally great spot for us in terms of film festivals around the country , when they land . We ’ re not the only ones that moved : Dallas has moved , and a ton of former spring festivals have moved to the fall . I think we ’ re going to stay here .
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE CLAIRIDGE THEATER ? Hall : The Clairidge is going to be a very dynamic film space . It will be more robust than just , “ These are the six films opening on Friday , come see them , and we don ’ t talk about them .”
By taking over the lease , we ’ ve ticked the last box on our five-year strategic plan . The Clairidge is literally across the street from our offices . It ’ s not like we ’ ve been pressed up against the window staring at it every day for the last three years , but kind of ( laughs ). It ’ s an opportunity for us to grow . With the Clairidge , we are well-positioned to help movies connect to audiences , make them more of an event , make them special again .
Colbert : We ’ ve found that what people really like is conversation and exposure to things they might not already have seen . At the Clairidge there will be events , talk-backs , panel discussions . Community engagement is in our DNA ; it ’ s how we created ourselves . We are going to be engaging audiences at the Clairidge on a year-round basis , with different community partners .
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY
COMMUNITYPARTNERS ? Feinberg : Partnering with community organizations , from the very large to the very small , has been in the blood of the organization from the very start .
It seems kind of quaint now in comparison to what we are going through with COVID , but when
INTERVIEWER AND AGENTLEMAN Stephen Colbert talks with Richard Gere at the Wellmont Theater as part of the 2015 Montclair Film Festival .
Montclair Film was founded in 2008- 2009 , itwas in the wake ofthe 2008 economic collapse . We were looking at a lot of cultural and arts landmarks in town that were either pulling back or closing entirely , like the Montclair Arts Council . So we joined forces with some of those struggling arts organizations , partnering with some large ones , such as the Montclair Art Museum and Montclair State University , and smaller ones , too . We perhaps provided the kernel of inspiration for other festivals , such as Succeed2gether ’ s Montclair Literary Festival , launched soon after ours . In fact , a number of festivals have sprung up following the warm reception the Montclair Film Festival got from the community . So this idea of partnering with other arts organizations in town is really very organic for us .
We now have 29 or so board members , most of whom are from Montclair and surrounding areas . Many bring relationships with local nonprofits to the board . We think it ’ s part of what being a community film festival is all about .
Hall : A partnership for us isn ’ t about money so much as using film as aformat for the community group to talk about their mission with their constituencies . For example , in the current festival , we are partnering with OUT Montclair ; we will co-present films about LBGTQ + issues , including one called Great Freedom , and co-host an event with audience members . We ’ re also doing a day with the Trans
Affirming Alliance , bringing in trans filmmakers and audience members to connect and talk about opportunities in the film business .
Groups like the Trans Affirming Alliance are fighting legal battles on behalf of the trans community day to day , and not thinking about using film as a story-telling platform to talk about their experiences and have an empathetic conversation with an audience . We ’ re able to do that for our community partners .
For the past few years , we ’ ve worked with Outpost in the Burbs , the music venue at the First Congregational Church . Bill Frisell will be performing a film score he wrote there on Oct . 22 ; we ’ ll show the film , and he and the director will answer questions afterward . It will be a bonus for those with tickets for the concert . We try to find things where we can find a natural synergy .
We have numerous partners including the Nature Conservancy , with whom we present environmental films related to New Jersey , and the Unitarian Church , a partner on racial justice issues . We work with our education department year-round to find partnerships and do outreach to the schools . We have ajunior jury and bus kids in to see films and filmmaker Q & As during the festival for free in the afternoons .
We ’ re partner-agnostic . If there are people who want to work with us , we ’ re always open to hearing more from them . We do as much as we can to get out and reach new people and use film as a format for conversation .
FEINBERG : MITSU YASUKAWA ; COLBERT : ADAM ANIK
22 FALL 2021 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE