The Montclair Film Festival
Presented by Volvo Car USA
Announces 2026 Honors
Festival Awards include Filmmaker Tribute to Tony Gilroy,
Performer Award to Jack O’Connell,
Documentary Filmmaker Award to Ava DuVernay, Screenwriter Award to Stephen Beresford, and
Breakthrough Director Award to Beth de Araújo
September 17, 2026, Montclair, NJ– Montclair Film has announced the Montclair Film Festival’s 2026 Honors, the festival’s annual awards, to be presented at the 14th Annual Montclair Film Festival, taking place October 16-25, 2026 in Montclair, NJ.
On Sunday, October 18, at 7:00 PM at The Bellevue Theatre, the festival honors director Beth de Araújo with the 2026 Breakthrough Director following a screening of her new film JOSEPHINE. For her compassionate and deeply felt exploration of trauma, humanity, and the responsibilities that bind us to one another, The Montclair Film Festival presents Beth de Araújo with the festival’s 2026 Breakthrough Director Award.
On Sunday, October 18, at 7:30 PM at The Montclair Kimberly Academy Upper School, the festival will honor screenwriter Stephen Beresford with our 2026 Screenwriter Award for ELSINORE, a joyous and moving portrait of the power of friendship, community, and theater at the height of the 1980s AIDS epidemic. The Montclair Film Festival is honored to present Stephen Beresford with our 2026 Screenwriter Award.
On Monday, October 19, at 7:30 PM at The Montclair Kimberly Academy Upper School, the festival will honor Jack O’Connell with our 2026 Performer Award. For his powerhouse performance as newspaper editor Larry Lamb in Danny Boyle’s incendiary INK, Montclair Film awards Jack O’Connell our 2026 Performer Award.
On Friday October 23, at 7:30 PM at MKA Upper School, the festival will honor director Ava DuVernay with our 2026 Documentary Filmmaker Award for her film 14th, the Festival’s Documentary Centerpiece. Following our screening of 14th, Ms. DuVernay will be in conversation with moderator Stephen Colbert. For her career as a storyteller whose truths transcend narrative forms, The Montclair Film Festival is proud to honor Ava DuVernay with the festival’s Documentary Filmmaker Award.
On Sunday, October 25, at 5:00 PM at MKA Upper School, following a screening of our Closing Night Film BEHEMOTH!, the festival will present Director and Writer Tony Gilroy with our 2026 Filmmaker Tribute. The award presentation will take place following a Q&A with Mr. Gilroy and moderator Stephen Colbert. For an unclassifiably brilliant career as one of the cinema’s finest storytellers, The Montclair Film Festival honors Tony Gilroy with our 2026 Filmmaker Tribute.
“This year’s Montclair Film Festival Honors feature artists whose work has given shape to contemporary cinema,” said Montclair Film Artistic Director and Co-Head Tom Hall. “We are proud to award these artists for their commitment to the art of film, and we look forward to sharing these wonderful films at this year’s festival.”
The full 2026 Montclair Film Festival program, including the 2026 Competition Films, will be announced on Friday, September 25, 2026.
Tickets for Montclair Film Festival events go on sale on Monday, September 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM for Montclair Film Members and Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM for the public. Tickets for all events will be available at montclairfilm.org.
ABOUT TONY GILROY
TONY GILROY is a critically acclaimed, award-winning director, writer and producer.
Most recently, Gilroy served as the creator of Lucasfilm’s critically acclaimed series “Andor,” which premiered its second season on Disney+ in April 2025 and garnered five Emmy Award wins and nine nominations, including Gilroy’s two nominations in Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. The Peabody Award-winning first season premiered in 2022 and was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series.
Gilroy made his feature film directorial debut with Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney, which earned seven Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, as well as Directors Guild® and Writers Guild® award nominations. He then followed with his second directorial effort based on his own screenplay: the thriller Duplicity, starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen.
A veteran screenwriter, Gilroy worked on the first three Bourne films: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. He then co-wrote and directed the fourth installment of the series, The Bourne Legacy. Gilroy also co-wrote the screenplay for 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box-office. He brought a clear creative vision to the film and from that, “Andor” was born.
Gilroy’s additional writing credits include Beirut starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike; State of Play, starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams and Ben Affleck; Michael Bay’s blockbuster Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and Billy Bob Thornton; Michael Apted’s Extreme Measures, starring Gene Hackman, Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker; Dolores Claiborne, The Devil’s Advocate, and Proof of Life for director Taylor Hackford; and The Cutting Edge, starring D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly.
Raised in upstate New York, Gilroy is the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and filmmaker Frank D. Gilroy. His brother Dan Gilroy is a screenwriter who co-wrote The Bourne Legacy, and his brother John Gilroy is a film editor who also worked on Michael Clayton, Duplicity and The Bourne Legacy. The brothers reunited to work together on “Andor,” with Dan serving as writer of three episodes and John as editor and executive producer.
ABOUT STEPHEN BERESFORD
Stephen Beresford wrote the BAFTA winning feature film PRIDE starring Andrew Scott, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton. His first play LAST OF THE HAUSSMANSwas performed by National Theatre starring Taron Edgerton, Helen McCrory, Julie Walters, Rory Kinnear. He also wrote a stage adaptation of the Ingmar Bergman film FANNY & ALEXANDER for the Old Vic in 2018 starring Penelope Wilton. In lockdown he wrote THREE KINGS for Old Vic performed by Andrew Scott. Nic Hytner has directed his most recent play THE SOUTHBURY CHILD for The Bridge starring Alex Jennings which Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph called “the play of the year”.
ABOUT MONTCLAIR FILM
Montclair Film, a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization connects filmmakers from around the region and world with audiences by presenting films and year-round programs that engage, educate, and entertain through the power of visual storytelling. The fifteenth annual Montclair Film Festival presented by Volvo Car USA will take place from October 16-25, 2026. Additional Film Festival support is provided by major community and industry partners including Audible, Ketel One Vodka, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, and the Montclair Center BID. Montclair Film’s programs are made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by a grant from New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, among many others. Montclair Film provides unique and meaningful ways to engage with diverse, creative, and sophisticated audiences and seeks sponsors for its signature film festival and other year-round programs that attract more than 83,000 annual attendees and generate more than 800 million media impressions yearly. For information about Montclair Film, visit www.montclairfilm.org
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