On Saturday, May 7, at the Wellmont Theater, the Montclair Film Festival had screening of "Miss Sharon Jones!", the closing night film. The screening was followed by a panel discussion with Oscar winner Barbara Koppola and Miss Jones herself. The beautiful documentary film journals the story of Miss Jones battle with cancer, but also talk about her career, her success and her struggles. The inspiring film is a moving portrayal of a music icon.

Before the screening, they announced jury prizes and special jury prizes. Here it goes:

* In the Narrative Feature category, "Under the Shadow," by Babak Anvari, won the Jury prize. Montclair's Sophia Takal received a Special Jury Prize for Direction.

* In the Documentary Feature category, "Cameraperson," directed by Kirsten Johnson, received the Bruce Sinofsky Prize. "Tower," by Keith Maitland, won a Special Jury Prize for Narrative Innovation.

* In the Future/Now category, which honors emerging, low-budget American independent filmmaking, Anna Rose Holmer was awarded with the Future/Now prize for "The Fits." Kris Avedisian received a Special Jury prize for his performance in "Donald Cried."

* For the New Jersey Films category, which honors a selected group of films made by New Jersey artists, Josie Swantek Heitz and Dave Adams won the award for "The Wrong Light." Jason Cohen's "Silicon Cowboys" was awarded a Special Jury Prize for Archival Storytelling. [Note: arts editor Gwen Orel was on this three-person jury.]

* Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg's "Weiner" took home the David Carr Award for Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking, which honors a film, selected by the festival, that utilizes journalistic techniques to explore important contemporary subjects.

* The MFF's Junior Jury prize, given by a 13-member jury comprised of area high school students, went to Clay Tweel's "Gleason." A Special Jury Prize for Social Justice was awarded to "Sonita," directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami.

The screening and the panel discussion was followed by a wonderful filmmakers party at Cinema 505. It's a wonderful location with 2 levels of beautiful space. It was an opportunity for filmmakers and storytellers to mingle and connect. The party was attended by Evelyn Colbert herself, the president of the festival, along with several renowned and established filmmakers. The great music and delicious food, made out a perfect way to celebrate the last night of this wonderful event.

On Sunday, May 8, MFF announced the winners of the 2016 audience awards.

* Audience Award Winner Narrative Feature: "Hunt for the Wilderpeople," directed by Taika Waititi.

* Audience Award Winner Documentary Feature: "Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You," directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.

* Audience Award Winner World Cinema: "Sonita," directed by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami

* Audience Award Winner Short Film: "Joe's Violin," directed by Kahane Cooperman.