(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Film Institute at Montclair State has partnered with the New York Film Critic Series to present the second annual Reel Montclair: Academy Award Edition where four esteemed film critics will discuss the films and performances nominated for Academy Awards this year. The event will take place on Monday, February 26, 2018 at 7:30pm in the Presentation Hall in the School of Communication and Media on the Montclair State campus.

Director of Programming for the Film Institute, Susan Skoog will moderate the panel of film critics to include longtime Star-Ledger film critic Stephen Whitty, Alison Bailes (Sirius,) Thelma Adams (Us Weekly, New York Post,) and Dwight Brown (NNPA, Essence, Hollywood Reporter.) Hollywood has encountered seismic shifts in the last year, and the Oscar nominations reflect a new, broader sense of inclusiveness. Of the unique nominations this year, Whitty said “It's a year which saw some of Oscar's youngest nominees, in Timothee Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan -- and some of its oldest in Christopher Plummer and Agnes Varda. A year which includes a rare nomination for a female director, Greta Gerwig and a first ever for a female cinematographer, Rachel Morrison -- yet is also overshadowed by the the ugliness of sexual scandals and pervasive abuse. A year in which "Get Out" woke up audiences -- and yet some films still struggle to really represent people of color. I'm looking forward to digging into all of that, along with who I hope will win (and who I think really will.)

Skoog said, “Reel Montclair is a fun and exciting opportunity for our community of students and film lovers to have an informative and lively conversation about the best films from this very eventful year in Hollywood.” Producer of the New York Film Critics Series, Mark Ehrenkranz said, “We love collaborating with MSU. Our team relishes the opportunity to share resources and talk about great movies and the industry.”

A two-time former chair of the New York Film Critics Circle, Stephen Whitty has written for the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger, nj.com and many other sites, newspapers and national magazines. He has his BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the arts and has taught and lectured at NYU, Rutgers, Baruch, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of the Moving Image and the New York Public Library. He appears regularly as a guest on television and radio, and as a juror at film festivals; his most recent book is “The Alfred Hitchcock Encyclopedia.”

Alison Bailes reviews movies for WOR710 AM radio, Sirius XM Insight, and www.Bestmoviesbyfarr.com. She also co-hosts the New York Film Critics Series andmaintains her own film website www.alisonbailes.com. She has written for More magazine, Parade.com and Fiftyisthenewfifty.com and worked as a correspondent on Roger Ebert presents “At the Movies”. She produced and hosted the BBC.com film series “Flashback”. From 2005-2009 Alison co-hosted the NBC Universal weekly movie review show “Lyons & Bailes Reel Talk”. She and Jeffrey Lyons shared their different perspectives on the latest film and DVD releases, gave viewers the latest news from the box office and reported on industry trends.

Thelma Adams is the author of the best-selling historical novel, The Last Woman Standing and Playdate, which Oprah magazine described as “a witty debut novel.” In addition to her fiction work, Adams is a prominent American film critic and an outspoken voice in the Hollywood community. She has been the in-house film critic for Us Weekly and The New York Post, and has written essays, celebrity profiles and reviews for Yahoo! Movies, The New York Times, O: The Oprah Magazine, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Parade, Marie Claire and The Huffington Post. Adams studied history at the University of California, Berkeley, where she was valedictorian, and received her MFA from Columbia University. She lives in upstate New York with her family.

Dwight Brown is the film critic for the NNPA News Wire, which syndicates his film reviews to over 100 newspapers. His film reviews have also appeared in the Hollywood Reporter, HuffPost and Essence. He’s a past chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle and championed its Best First Film Category, which spotlights new directors. He has been a juror or speaker at film festivals in Toronto, Tribeca and Miami. He has appeared as a guest film critic on The Tavis Smiley Show, Channel 4 London, the Town Hall Feature Film Seminar Series NYC and Greenwich Classic Films Series. Brown was the Director of the Film and Talent Evaluation Department at HBO, which scouted films and talent for HBO and Cinemax. He earned his B.A. and M.A. from San Francisco State University and a NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program certificate from the John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management at U.C.L.A.

About the Film Institute at Montclair State: Founded in the fall of 2014, the Film Institute at Montclair State is dedicated to the preservation, growth and enrichment of the art of film through research, education, professional development and community programming. Based within the College of the Arts at Montclair State University and supported by the School of Communication and Media, the Film Institute leverages the University’s rich resources in filmmaking and film scholarship together with the impressive array of film industry assets and opportunities in New York City, New Jersey and Los Angeles.

About The New York Film Critics Series®: NYFCS® takes place exclusively in theaters and is never available on TV or the Internet. The events, including interviews and interactive audience involvement, are HD Simulcast to 55 select major markets so that people throughout the country can enjoy up close and personal moments featuring major movie stars, producers, writers and directors in the comfort of their own neighborhood theater. On a monthly basis, audiences experience all of the excitement of live Q&A sessions hosted by Peter Travers. Each screening brings the energy and VIP nature of prestigious, NYC screenings to nationwide audiences. This is a comprehensive, industry-wide, turn-key marketing tool complete with robust media and in-theater assets to 400+ screens. 

NYFCS® is dedicated to producing inspiring events in a collaborative environment and to nurturing the long-term success of movies. Featuring an energetic, creative, and experienced team, the NYFCS® exhibits socially and culturally relevant films with live, world-class talent in the best independent theaters throughout the U.S. NYFCS® will entertain, educate, surprise and invigorate film-loving audiences across the nation.