Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “There Is No Evil” have won the top feature awards at the ninth annual Montclair Film Festival.
The awards were announced Monday following the festival’s 10-day run, which launched with Nomadland.” The film is set after the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, with Frances McDormand’s character Fern exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 11 and won the Golden Lion.
“Nomadland” won the audience award for fiction feature. Frank Oz’s “Derek DelGaudio’s In & of Itself” won the Audience Award for non-fiction feature. “Two of Us,” directed by Filippo Meneghetti, won the audience for world cinema. Mackenzie Robertson’s “Life Without Parole: The Sammy Gladden Story,” won the short film category.
“There Is No Evil” won the jury award for nonfiction feature. The Iranian drama won the Golden Bear for best film at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. It focuses on the death penalty in Iraq through four stories.
“Us Kids,” directed by Kim A. Snyder, won the Bruce Sinofsky award for documentary feature. “Freeland,” directed by Mario Furloni and Kate McLean, won the the Mark Urman award for fiction Filmmaking; and “The Antidote,” directed by Kahane Cooperman and John Hoffman, won New Jersey film competition.
Jurors also awarded a special jury prize for cinematography to Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection.” Paula Beer receiving a special jury prize for acting for her performance in Christian Petzold’s “Undine.”