Guess the Guest/Fox Searchlight and Malala/Steve McQueen's Next Gig:Not So Fast/"Suffragette" Has a Date/Wenders on "Salt of the Earth"

GUESS THE GUEST

The 42nd Telluride Film Festival has named its Guest Director.  It's author Rachel Kushner.  Kushner continues a long line of literary choices that have been asked to Guest Direct the festival.  Past literary lions that have acted as Guest Directors are Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo and Michael Ondaatje among others.  I have included the links to Telluride's official announcement as well as coverage from Variety, Thompson on Hollywood and The Wrap:

http://telluridefilmfestival.org/news/2015-03

http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/rachel-kushner-set-as-telluride-film-fest-guest-director-1201463439/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/telluride-film-festival-taps-rachel-kushner-as-guest-director-20150331

http://www.thewrap.com/telluride-film-festival-flamethrowers-author-rachel-kushner-named-2015-guest-director/



FOX SEARCHLIGHT AND MALALA

We found out this week that distributor Fox Searchlight has acquired the rights to the documentary about Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager that was nearly shot to death because she wanted an education.  The doc is called "He Named Me Malala".  The deal means that FS could have the film available for Telluride in September.  That's an interesting thought.  Coverage is here:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/malala-yousafzai-documentary-bought-by-fox-searchlight-1201462451/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-searchlight-acquires-malala-yousafzai-785269

http://www.indiewire.com/article/fox-searchlight-acquires-davis-guggenheim-doc-he-named-me-malala-20150330

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/fox-searclight-acquires-davis-guggenheims-malala-yousafzai-doc-20150330

http://www.thewrap.com/fox-searchlight-acquires-davis-guggenheims-malala-yousafzai-documentary-he-named-me-malala/



STEVE MC QUEEN'S NEXT GIG: NOT SO FAST

I reported in the last post that British director Steve McQueen had a project ready to go with "Gone Girl" scribe Gillian Flynn set to write the script.  Since Monday, The Playlist is reporting that McQueen will, instead, work on a television project for the BBC.  That story is here:


http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/after-hbos-codes-of-conduct-steve-mcqueen-to-direct-epic-series-for-bbc-20150330

Of course, that doesn't mean that we won't see a McQueen selection this year or next.  It just may mean that TFF goes with a presentation of either this or his ongoing HBO project rather than a feature film.


"SUFFRAGETTE" HAS A DATE

We've been expecting that, after its non-appearance last year, that Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" would likely be held for release until the fall awards season and that seems to be true as it was announced this week with an October 23rd release date.  The Screen Daily report, linked below, even speculates Telluride as a possibility.  I've also linked the report from Variety.

http://www.screendaily.com/news/distribution/suffragette-lands-awards-slot/5085827.article

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/meryl-streeps-suffragette-set-for-awards-season-release-on-oct-23-1201461666/

WENDERS ON SALT OF THE EARTH

Vulture.com has a lengthy interview with director Wim Wenders about his Oscar nominated and TFF #41 presentation "The Salt of the Earth".  That's here:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/03/wim-wenders-on-salt-of-the-earth.html


That's all for now.  More on Monday.