My apologoes as MTFB is 24 hours late for its regular Thursday posting. Here it is!
CHECKING THE DISTRIBUTORS: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Last Monday I started the annual MTFB tradition of running down the distribution companies that are usually significantly present at Telluride each year. We began with Netflix which, since its first appearance at T-ride in 2015, has screened more features than any other distributor.
The next biggest over that same time period has been Sony Pictures Classics with 20 films over the seven years I'm counting (leaving out the Covid-displaced fest of 2020). That works our to just shy of three films per year from SPC. But SPC has a much longer history with The SHOW dating back many, many years. It's entirely likely that in the entire 50 year history of The SHOW, SPC has likely placed more features and/or documentaries in the lineup than anyone else.
With that in mind, here's my assessment of what SPC has that could play and the chances that they will play.
Currently, as far as I can tell, SPC has ten films that haven't set U.S. release dates but seem finished. None of them seem to be slam dunks. The best SPC bets appear to be:
Ilker Catak's The Teachers' Lounge which played Berlin and won a couple of awards and scored really well among critics. Chances: 50%.
Freund's Last Session from director Matt Brown starring Anthony Hopkins in the title role. It has a Dec. 7th released date listed at IMDb for Russia. 40%.
After those two films, everything I can find for SPC doesn't seem very likely.
A few weeks back I floated the notion that SPC might be able to get A Little Prayer starring David Stratharin into the TFF lineup despite having played Sundance much like they would have done with Anthony Hopkins and The Father in 2020 (if it had happened) and what they did do with Bill Nighy and Living last year. However, since then the film has also screened at Santa Barbara and Nantucket thus killing my scenario.
There's the animated They Shot the Piano Player which comes from the creative team that had Carlos and Rita at Telluride in 2010. However, the film played the 2022 Annecy Animation Fest which begs the question "why didn't TFF schedule it last year?" 25%.
Also floating around is Pedro Almodovar's short film (31 min.) Strange Way of Life starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Almodovar means we have to pay attention. Luke warm critical reaction to the film from Cannes takes some of the shine from it. 25%.
Then there's the John Prine: Hello In There documentary that's listed as being in post since Feb. of 2019... Does it even exist?
In addition to A Little Prayer having played Sundance, other SPC films that did that include: The Persian Version, Shadya and Shortcomings. Tribeca has The Miracle Club (another SPC film I thought might see the light of day at TFF #50), Carlos and Downtown Owl.
SPC does have a couple of animated films that IMDb lists as "filming" in 2022. maybe they will be in play. Sylvain Chomet's The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol. Chomet has had a presence at TFF in the past with The Illusionist and The Triplets of Belleville. The other is A Winter's Journey from Alex Helfrecht.
JOURNALISTIC CLARITY
Well, I rolled the dice this year on my application for press credentials at TFF #50. I did all the required steps. Included the required documentation. I also included a fairly passionate "letter" arguing the merits of MTFB being accredited. As a part of that I concluded with:
"I would argue that the blog benefits the fest much more than any
issues that may annoy festival organizers. MTFB is nothing if not a
love letter to TFF.
Ultimately, if MTFB is never to be accredited again, I’d prefer that
you just tell me that now so that I can quit wasting your time with my
application each year."
Well, I got my response on Monday...and mind you, the deadline to apply doesn't land until June 30th. Here is the reply:
"Hi Michael,
Thank you for applying for media accreditation. Festival organizers have concluded that accreditation is unnecessary for the type of festival coverage produced on your blog. This applies to this year and future festivals. Your Festival-level pass will provide you with all the access you need to cover the event. We have many journalists and bloggers who attend and successfully cover Telluride without accreditation. We look forward to seeing you at the 50th Telluride Film Festival."
So, there you have it. Never going to happen again. Worthy of accreditation from 2012-2019. Forever not from 2020 on.
NEW TRAILER FOR POOR THINGS
Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things is a very likely Venice Fest selection. The film has also been on my radar for some time as a possible TFF #50 selection. Lanthimos last film, The Favourite, played very well at The SHOW back in 2018. The Favourite was distributed by Searchlight and so is Poor Things which also bodes well for a possible TFF screening. Finally, the film is set for release in the U.S. on Sept. 8th. That allows for the possibility of screenings at both Venice and Telluride. It's also just inside the window for Toronto which opens on Sept. 7th though that seems very unlikely.
I posted the first teaser for the film back on May 15th. Now, we have a new full trailer that was released by Searchlight yesterday. Here it is:
The more I see of this the more intrigued I am. Hope it makes it to TFF #50.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
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