Martin Scorsese, the father of classic mafia films and director of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” music video, will be honored on stage at the Montclair Film Festival at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in downtown Newark, New Jersey on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. in a tribute to his riveting career. Scorsese is well known for his classic films like “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “Raging Bull” and the ever enticing “Taxi Driver.” Scorsese’s specialty? Three hour long movies that keep even the least interested audience captivated for the entirety of the film.
Scorese’s career is one any filmmaker dreams to come close to. Scorsese has received 14 Oscar nominations, including ten Best Director nominations, two Best Adapted Screenplay nominations and two Best Picture nominations. It is a mystery to all how he has only managed to secure the win for one Oscar, winning Best Director for “The Departed” in 2006.
In addition to his accolades from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Scorsese has won four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA), three Golden Globe awards, three Emmy awards, two Director’s Guild Awards and even a Grammy. Five of Scorsese’s films are also in the Library of Congress as part of the National Film Registry, a collection of films being preserved for their cultural, historical and aesthetic significance.
Scorsese is approaching the 56th year of his career, with his first full-length feature film “Who’s That Knocking at My Door” being released in 1967. Scorsese may be 80 years old, but his career is far from over. His newest arrival “Killers Of The Flower Moon” will be hitting the screens on Oct. 20, 2023. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in late May 2023 to raving reviews, causing countless young film nerds to eagerly await its wide North American release. While he is typically known for his more classic mafia films, Scorsese’s 42-film career spans from documentaries like “The Last Waltz,” religious dramas like “Silence,” comedies like “After Hours,” and even a 3D children’s adventure film in the form of “Hugo.”
Scorsese’s contribution to cinema can not just be measured by his own films, however. Scorsese is one of the greatest champions of film preservation, founding the World Cinema Project, the Film Foundation and the African Heritage Film Project, all of which specialize in restoring films from around the world, some over a century old, so that they may be viewed and studied by future generations.
Scorsese’s influence on several generations of filmmakers is completely unmatched. At the 92nd Academy Awards, when “Parasite” helmer Bong Joon-ho won Best Director over Scorsese, who was nominated for “The Irishman,” Bong still made a point of quoting Scorsese in his acceptance speech and leading the audience in a standing ovation for Scorsese.
The opportunity to hear such an unmatched figure speak about his career would be almost foolish to pass up. The event, hosted by acclaimed late-night host and film nerd Stephen Colbert, will begin ticket sales for the general public on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Anyone interested in film, art or any sort of storytelling should jump at the chance.
