Digging for News Nuggets / Focus Where Art Thou? / Shorts at TFF #45

Good Monday everyone...hope you had a great weekend.

DIGGING FOR NEWS NUGGETS

As last week ended a number of film-centric sites assessed the week's news from both Toronto and Venice's announcements.  Some of the included detective work regarding Telluride.  I took a look at a couple of of those stories to confirm or dispute my conclusions as well as theirs.

Here's what I discovered.

Deadline's Pete Hammond agrees with my reading of the leaves in as far as Telluride as a destination for: 

First Man

Dogman

White Boy Rick

The Front Runner

The Old Man and the Gun

Roma 

Shoplifters

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Hammond is unsure about The Favourite.  I feel fairly strongly that it makes TFF's lineup.

The Hammond story is linked here.

Meanwhile, Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter also took aim at last week's festival reveals.  His analysis says that these films are headed to Telluride that I agree are probable:

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The Old Man and the Gun

The Front Runner

White Boy Rick

Non Fiction

First Man

Roma

Cold War

Dogman

Shoplifters

Feinberg also includes Galveston, which I suspect will not play Telluride as it screened earlier this year at South by Southwest.  Peterloo (form Mike Leigh) which I can't deduce from the TIFF or Venice announcements but still believe will play TFF #45 and the documentary Reversing Roe...which I now nothing about so I will defer to Scott.

The Feinberg piece is linked here.

This Anne Thompson piece for Indiewire suggests The Favourite is likely for Telluride.  Anne also says T-ride is probable to include:

Roma

The Other Side of the Wind

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

The Old Man and the Gun

First Man

The Front Runner

White Boy Rick

In a separate story Thompson suggests Peterloo will be added to Telluride's list.

FOCUS WHERE ART THOU?

Both Indiewire's Anne Thompson (in the second story cited above and The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood (via Twitter) mentioned that Focus Features is M.I.A. thus far from Fall Fest announcements.  Ellwood going so far as to say that he had been told that Focus wasn't going to Toronto, Venice or Telluride.

Ellwood did, however suggest that Focus Film would be playing a prime slot in Toronto during its first four days:

We also know from TIFF's announcement that Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows (from Focus) will play there.

I just find it hard to believe that Mary Queen of Scots, Boy Erased and On the Basis of Sex won't be playing ANY of the triumvirate of early fall fests.  Stay tuned...

SHORTS AT TFF #45

Since the discovery last week that Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk would World Premiere at Toronto, I have wondered if Jenkins would still curate this year's shorts program for TFF #45 and additionally, if he would attend Telluride with TIFF following so closely on the heels of TFF (TIFF opens Sept. 6th).

Over the weekend we got at least part of the answer to those questions from Jenkins himself via his Twitter account:

So we now now that the master has, in fact, programmed the aforementioned shorts program.  Now the only question that remains is if Barry will be in town on Labor Day weekend.

That's your MTFB for this last Monday in July.  More tomorrow!

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

FACEBOOK Message me on FB MTFB's Facebook Page

COMMENT TO THE BLOG