The Montclair Film Festival Announces 2025 Honors 

Festival Awards include Filmmaker Tribute to Spike Lee, Visionary Award to Pamela Abdy, Screenwriter Award to Will Tracy, Composer Award to Nicholas Britell, and Breakthrough Director Award to Shih-Ching Tsou

2025 David Carr Award For Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking Awarded to Mark Oberhausen and Laura Poitras for their film COVER-UP

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy To Serve as Festival’s Honorary Chairs

September 17, 2025, Montclair, NJ– Montclair Film has announced the Montclair Film Festival’s 2025 Honors, the festival’s annual awards, to be presented at the 14th Annual Montclair Film Festival, taking place October 17-26, 2025 in Montclair, NJ.

Montclair Film is honored to welcome New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy as the Honorary Chairs for the 2025 Montclair Film Festival. On Friday, October 17, at 7:00pm at The Wellmont Theater, the festival will welcome the Governor and First Lady to officially open the festival.  For their contributions to the legacy of filmmaking in New Jersey, and their enduring support for filmmakers, artists, and producers seeking a home for their creative work, Montclair Film is proud to welcome Governor Philip Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy as the Honorary Chairs of the 2025 Montclair Film Festival.

Also on Friday, October 17, at 7:00pm at The Wellmont Theater, the festival will honor Nicholas Britell with the 2025 Composer Award. Mr. Britell will participate in a post-screening Q&A, discussing his score for the festival’s 2025 Opening Night film JAY KELLY. For his beautiful, sensitive compositions, and his outstanding contributions to the art of the film score, The Montclair Film Festival is honored to present Nicholas Britell with our 2025 Composer Award.

On Saturday, October 18, at 3:30pm at The Wellmont Theater, the festival will honor filmmaker Spike Lee with the 2025 Filmmaker Tribute. Mr. Lee will be honored after an in-depth conversation moderated by Stephen Colbert, discussing his legendary career as one of our leading cinematic artists, with a special focus on Mr. Lee’s latest work HIGHEST 2 LOWEST. For his transcendent, urgent, and transformational contributions to the art of cinema, The Montclair Film Festival is honored to present Spike Lee with our 2025 Filmmaker Tribute.

On Saturday, October 18, at 6:00pm at MKA Upper School, the festival will honor Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Co-Chair and CEO Pamela Abdy with the 2025 Visionary Award. Ms. Abdy will be honored after an in-depth conversation, moderated by Montclair Film Artistic Director Tom Hall, with a focus on her outstanding career as a creative executive, with a special focus on her company’s 2025 slate of #1 Box Office hits, which include A MINECRAFT MOVIE, SINNERS, Apple’s F1, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES, WEAPONS, THE CONJURING: LAST RITES, as well as the upcoming ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER.  For her career as a bold, risk-taking, creative executive whose support of artists has shaped the lives and experiences of film lovers everywhere, The Montclair Film Festival is proud to honor Pamela Abdy with the festival’s inaugural Visionary Award.

On Saturday, October 18, at 7:00pm at The Wellmont Theater, the festival will honor screenwriter Will Tracy with the 2025 Screenwriter Award following a screening of Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA, based on a screenplay by Mr. Tracy. For his brilliant, timely, and darkly comic new screenplay for BUGONIA, The Montclair Film Festival honors Will Tracy with our 2025 Screenwriter Award.

On Sunday, October 19, at 5:00pm at The Bellevue Theatre, the festival honors director Shih-Ching Tsou with the 2025 Breakthrough Director following a screening of her new film LEFT-HANDED GIRL, which has been selected as Taiwan’s country’s submission for the best international feature category at the 98th Academy Awards. For her emergence as a deeply humanistic filmmaker whose compassion for her characters and energetic visual style establish her as an exciting new voice in cinema, The Montclair Film Festival honors Shih-Ching Tsou as with the festival’s 2025 Breakthrough Director Award.

On Saturday, October 25 at 7:30pm at The Bellevue Theatre, the festival honors directors Mark Oberhaus and Laura Poitras with the 2025 David Carr Award For Truth In Non-Fiction Filmmaking for their film COVER-UP. Each year, the Montclair Film Festival honors the legacy of New York Times reporter and longtime Montclair resident David Carr by presenting an award to an outstanding film that honors Mr. Carr’s passion for the truth and his commitment to great journalism. For COVER-UP, their engaging, probing portrait of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, The Montclair Film Festival honors Mark Oberhaus and Laura Poitras with the 2025 David Carr Award.

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The full 2025 Montclair Film Festival program, including the 2025 Competition Films, will be announced on Friday, September 26, 2025.

Tickets for Montclair Film Festival events go on sale on Monday, September 29, 2025 at 10:00am for Montclair Film Members and Friday, October 3, 2025 at 10:00am for the public. Tickets for all events will be available at montclairfilm.org. 

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ABOUT SPIKE LEE

Academy Award® Winner Spike Lee’s iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. He recently released his latest joint HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, his fifth film with Denzel Washington via A24. The film is currently streaming globally on AppleTV+.  He previously directed DA 5 BLOODS for Netflix.

In 2018, the visionary filmmaker co-wrote and directed the Academy Award®-nominated and critically acclaimed hit feature BLACKKKANSMAN, which won the Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay.

His career spans over 30 years and includes: SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, SCHOOL DAZE, DO THE RIGHT THING, MO’ BETTER BLUES, JUNGLE FEVER, MALCOLM X, CROOKLYN, CLOCKERS, GIRL 6, GET ON THE BUS, HE GOT GAME, SUMMER OF SAME, BAMBOOZLED, 25TH HOUR, SHE HATE ME, INSIDE MAN, MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA, RED HOOK SUMMER, OLD BOY, AND CHI-RAQ. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double Emmy® Award-winning IF GOD IS WILLING and DA CREEK DON’T RISE, a follow up to his HBO documentary film WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS and the Peabody Award-winning A HUEY P NEWTON STORY. In the Television arena, his Netflix original series SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, ran 2 seasons on the platform. The series was a contemporary update of his classic film.

Lee is also known for his legendary Air Jordan TV commercials and marketing campaigns with Michael Jordan for Nike. In 1997, he launched the advertising agency Spike DDB, a fully integrated agency with a focus on trendsetter, cross-cultural, and millennial audiences. He recently directed new additions to the Capital One “Road Trip” national campaign featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley.

In addition to his films, TV series, and commercials, Lee has directed a number of music videos and shorts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis, and Anita Baker.

Spike Lee is a five-time Oscar nominee (DO THE RIGHT THING for Original Screenplay, 4 LITTLE GIRLS for Documentary Feature, BLACKKKANSMAN for Picture, Director and Best Adapted Screenplay-Winner) and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences.  He is a graduate of Morehouse College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film and Artistic Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is based in Da Republic of Brooklyn, NY.

ABOUT PAMELA ABDY

Pamela Abdy serves as Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, encompassing Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. WBMPG continues to build on its legacy of iconic feature franchises and world-class cinema, working across all genres with both established and emerging talent – in front of and behind the camera – to deliver the industry’s most diverse slate of films for a global audience. Abdy serves as Co-Chair and CEO with Michael De Luca, sharing oversight of the Studio’s global theatrical production, marketing, and distribution operations.

In addition to her Motion Picture Group responsibilities, Abdy, along with De Luca, has curatorial oversight of WBD’s TCM (Turner Classic Movies) network, in partnership with filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.

Since joining Warner Bros. in 2022, Abdy has overseen hits such as A  MINECRAFT MOVIE, SINNERS, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES, WEAPONS, BEETLEJUICE, GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, DUNE: PART TWO, WONKA, and the record-shattering global phenomenon BARBIE.

Prior to joining Warner Bros., Abdy served as MGM’s Motion Picture Group President, overseeing development, production and post-production for all MGM and Orion films. She oversaw Sarah Polley’s Academy Award® Best Picture-nominated WOMEN TALKING which earned Polley the Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay, Ridley Scott’s HOUSE OF GUCCI, starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver; Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award® Best Picture-nominated LICORICE PIZZA, which marked the studio’s first such nomination since Rain Man won in 1988; CREED III, starring and directed by Michael B. Jordan; Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan’s ADAM’S FAMILY 2; and Ron Howard’s 13 LIVES, which was nominated for three SAG Awards.

Before that, she was a Partner and Head of Film at Makeready, managing the independent production company’s feature development, production, and post-production. During her time at Makeready, the company financed and produced QUEEN & SLIM from director Melina Matsoukas and writer Lena Waithe, and A MILLION LITTLE PIECES from director Sam Taylor-Johnson.

From 2013 until 2016, Abdy served as President of Production at New Regency. During her post at the company, New Regency released Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Academy Award®-winning BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE), Adam McKay’s Academy Award®-winning THE BIG SHORT, Justin Kurzel’s ASSASSIN’S CREED and Gore Verbinski’s CURE FOR WELLNESS. Abdy also oversaw the release of Iñárritu’s THE REVENANT in 2016, which received 12 Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture, and won two Golden Globe awards, for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Actor.

Prior to New Regency, Abdy was the President of Scott Stuber’s Bluegrass Films, where she procured, developed and produced features including 47 RONIN, IDENTITY THIEF, KILL THE MESSENGER and ENDLESS LOVE.

Abdy previously served as Executive Vice President at Paramount Pictures, where she oversaw the development and production of numerous films, including Martin Scorsese’s SHUTTER ISLAND, THE LOVE GURU starring Mike Myers, Kimberly Peirce’s Stop-Loss, the Judd Apatow-produced DRILLBIT TAYLOR, Oliver Stone’s WORLD TRADE CENTER, Karyn Kusama’s AEON FLUX, Richard LaGravenese’s FREEDOM WRITERS, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Golden Globe-winning BABEL and Mark Waters’ MEAN GIRLS.

Abdy started her career as an intern at Jersey Films while participating in the Emerson College internship program. She was hired as the receptionist and went on to become Danny DeVito’s assistant. From there, she rose through the company and ultimately became President, where she associate-produced MAN ON THE MOON; co-produced Caveman’s Valentine; executive produced How High; and produced the film GARDEN STATE, which won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Film and a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Abdy is a member of the Producers Guild of America, serves as a Governor on the Executive Board of the Executive Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sits on the American Film Institute’s Board of Trustees, and is a part of The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program.

ABOUT WILL TRACY

Will Tracy was a writer and executive producer on the HBO series SUCCESSION, where he won three Emmy awards, as well as a WGA award for writing the episode “Tern Haven.”  He was part of the inaugural writing staff of LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER, winning three Emmys, and created the HBO limited series THE REGIME.  Will is also the former Editor in Chief of The Onion.

In features, he co-wrote and executive produced THE MENU for Searchlight Pictures and was a producer on HBO Films’ MOUNTAINHEAD.  More recently, Will wrote BUGONIA for Focus & CJ Entertainment which stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons with Yorgos Lanthimos directing.

ABOUT HONORARY CHAIRS GOVERNOR PHIL MURPHY & FIRST LADY TAMMY MURPHY

Philip D. Murphy took the oath of office as New Jersey’s 56th Governor on January 16, 2018.

Since taking office in 2018, Governor Murphy has focused on building a stronger and fairer New Jersey for every family. A major hallmark of the Murphy Administration has been revitalizing New Jersey’s reputation as a global leader in innovation, including a focus on making New Jersey a leading location for film, television, and digital production, enacting a new incentive program that has attracted billions of dollars in investments to New Jersey since 2021.

Born in 1965, Tammy Snyder Murphy is a native of Virginia and a graduate of the University of Virginia. As First Lady, Tammy has been energized and inspired traveling the state and meeting New Jerseyans to hear their concerns, utilizing her experience in the private and nonprofit sectors to work through policy ideas and solutions. First Lady Murphy’s leadership and commitment to film and the arts provided critical support for arts institutions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

ABOUT MONTCLAIR FILM
Montclair Film, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, seeks to transform lives and communities through the power of film and filmmaking. Montclair Film is home to the Montclair Film Festival, multi-screen cinemas The Clairidge and The Bellevue, and numerous community events and educational programs throughout the year.  The 14th Annual Montclair Film Festival will take place from October 17-26, 2025. All programs are made possible with funds from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, as well as the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Montclair Film provides unique and meaningful ways to engage with diverse, creative, and sophisticated audiences and seeks sponsors for its signature film festival and year-round film, education, and community programs that attract more than 100,000 annual attendees and generate more than 900 million media impressions yearly. For more information about Montclair Film, visit www.MontclairFilm.org