The 50th Telluride Film Festival Lineup

THE 50TH TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP

After months of anticipation and intense analysis and speculation, here is your official lineup for the 50th iteration of the Telluride Film Festival.  Note here: I expect that the weekend will have 2-3 "surprises/sneaks".

The official press release:

Telluride Film Festival, presented by the National Film Preserve, today announces its official program selections for its 50th anniversary edition. TFF’s celebration of artistic excellence brings together cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers, and artists to discover the best in world cinema in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. TFF is screening over eighty feature films, short films, and revival programs representing twenty-nine countries, along with filmmaker Tributes, Conversations, Seminars, Student Programs, and Festivities. Telluride Film Festival’s 50th anniversary edition takes place Thursday, August 31 through Monday, September 4, 2023.

 

The 50th Telluride Film Festival proudly presents the following new feature films playing in its Main Program, the SHOW: 

 

•      ALL OF US STRANGERS (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K., 2023)

•      AMERICAN SYMPHONY (d. Matthew Heineman, U.S., 2023)

•      ANATOMY OF A FALL (d. Justine Triet, France, 2023)

•      ANSELM (d. Wim Wenders, Germany, 2023)

•      BALTIMORE (d. Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy Ireland-U.K., 2023) 

•      BEYOND UTOPIA (d. Madeleine Gavin, U.S., 2023)

•      THE BIKERIDERS (d. Jeff Nichols, U.S., 2023)

•      CASSANDRO (d. Roger Ross Williams, U.S., 2023)

•      DADDIO (d. Christy Hall, U.S., 2023)

•      EL CONDE (d. Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2023)

•      FALLEN LEAVES (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2023)

•      THE FALLING STAR (d. Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, France-Belgium, 2023)

•      FINALLY DAWN (d. Saverio Costanzo, Italy, 2023)

•      FINGERNAILS (d. Christos Nikou, U.S., 2023)

•      FOOD, INC. 2 (d. Robert Kenner, Melissa Robledo, U.S., 2023)

•      HIGH & LOW-JOHN GALLIANO (d. Kevin Macdonald, U.K., 2023)

•      THE HOLDOVERS (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2023) 

•      HOLLYWOODGATE (d. Ibrahim Nash’at, U.S.-Germany, 2023)

•      JANET PLANET (d. Annie Baker, U.S., 2023)

•      LA CHIMERA (d. Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-France-Switzerland, 2023)

•      THE MISSION (d. Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss, U.S., 2023)

•      THE MONK AND THE GUN (d. Pawo Choyning Dorji, Bhutan, 2023)

•      NYAD (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S., 2023)

•      OCCUPIED CITY (d. Steve McQueen, Netherlands-U.K.-U.S., 2023)

•      ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY (d. Paul B. Preciado, France, 2023)

•      PERFECT DAYS (d. Wim Wenders, Japan, 2023)

•      THE PIGEON TUNNEL (d. Errol Morris, U.K., 2023)

•      POOR THINGS (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.S.-Ireland-U.K., 2023)

•      THE PROMISED LAND (d. Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark-Germany-Sweden, 2023)

•      THE ROYAL HOTEL (d. Kitty Green, Australia, 2023)

•      RUSTIN (d. George C. Wolfe, U.S., 2023)

•      SALTBURN (d. Emerald Fennell, U.S., 2023)

•      THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE (d. Ilker Çatak, Germany, 2023)

•      TEHACHAPI (d. JR, France, 2023)

•      THANK YOU VERY MUCH (d. Alex Braverman, U.S., 2023)

•      TUESDAY (d. Daina O. Pusić, U.S.-U.K., 2023)

•      WILDCAT (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2023)

•      THE ZONE OF INTEREST (d. Jonathan Glazer, U.S.-U.K.-Poland, 2023)

 

The 2023 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, will go to Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (with POOR THINGS), Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher (with LA CHIMERA), and German filmmaker Wim Wenders (with ANSELM and PERFECT DAYS). Tribute programs include a selection of clips, the presentation of the Silver Medallion, and the film screening. 

 

TFF selects four documentary shorts for its Main Program:

 

•      IF DREAMS WERE LIGHTNING (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2023)

•      INCIDENT (d. Bill Morrison, U.S., 2023)

•      THE LAST REPAIR SHOP (d. Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers, U.S., 2023)

•      THE LAST SONG FROM KABUL (d. Kevin Macdonald, Afghanistan-Qatar-Portugal-Germany, 2023)

“Fifty years is a long time to do anything. And while we might be a little biased, we feel the work that TFF does is pretty important,” comments Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “We take the charge of preserving the theatrical experience and promoting film seriously, but with necessary winks here and there. We’re ecstatic to share a program we feel reflects so much of the past fifty years, naturally and organically, films old and new, which stand as a testament to our beloved co-founders Tom Luddy and Bill Pence who are no longer with us.”

 

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, TFF is honoring its long and diverse history by selecting some of its most celebrated past guests to curate its Guest Director program. Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Curtis, Ethan Hawke, Rachel Kushner, Steve McQueen, and Mira Nair’s selections include:

 

•      JUVENILE COURT (d. Frederick Wiseman, U.S., 1973) Selected and presented by 

Rachel Kushner

•      ALL THAT JAZZ (d. Bob Fosse, U.S., 1979) Selected and presented by Ethan Hawke

•      JONAH WHO WILL BE 25 IN THE YEAR 2000 (d. Alain Tanner, France-Switzerland, 

1976) Selected and presented by Alfonso Cuarón

•      THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (d. John Mackenzie, U.K., 1980) Selected and presented 

by Adam Curtis

•      ZÉRO DE CONDUITE (d. Jean Vigo, France, 1933) Selected and presented by Steve 

McQueen

•      THE MUSIC ROOM (d. Satyajit Ray, India, 1958) Selected and presented by Mira Nair

 

The Special Medallion celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents essential, meaningful films. This year’s award goes to Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation. Film restorations by The Film Foundation to screen along with the program are Idrissa Ouédraogo’s YAM DAABO (Burkina Faso, 1986), Bahram Beyzaie’s DOWNPOUR (Iran, 1972), and two shorts by Agnès Varda: BLACK PANTHERS (France-U.S., 1970) and UNCLE YANCO (France-U.S., 1968) which will be shown alongside THE GLEANERS AND I (France, 2000) as part of a celebration of the late filmmaker.

 

Additional film restorations playing throughout the Festival include THE UNKNOWN (d. Tod Browning, U.S., 1927); MY GRANDMOTHER (d. Kote Mikaberidze, Soviet Union, 1929) with Finnish music ensemble Cleaning Women performing a live score; Abel Gance’s LA ROUE (France, 1923) shown in four chapters; and two films remembering TFF 21 Special Medallion recipient Ninón Sevilla: VÍCTIMAS DEL PECADO (d. Emilio Fernández, Mexico, 1951) and LLÉVAME EN TUS BRAZOS (d. Julio Bracho, Mexico, 1954).

 

Special Screenings and Festivities include Pedro Almodóvar’s short film STRANGE WAY OF LIFE (Spain, 2023); Ross White and Tom Berkeley’s short THE GOLDEN WEST (Ireland-U.K., 2023); a live performance by Jon Batiste following Thursday’s screening of AMERICAN SYMPHONY, Tina Satter’s REALITY (U.S., 2023); Agnès Varda’s art installation, Patatutopia; and Festival poster signing by Luke Dorman.

 

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room features behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians, and filmmakers is showing the following programs:

 

•      AKA MR. CHOW (d. Nick Hooker, U.S., 2023)

•      ALL THAT IS SACRED (d. Scott Ballew, U.S., 2023) with TARPON (d. Guy de la 

Valdene, Christian Odasso, U.S., 1973)

•      ANGEL APPLICANT (d. Ken Meyer, U.S., 2023)

•      CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR (d. Marlo McKenzie, Jonathan Parker, 

U.S., 2023)

•      CINEMA HAS BEEN MY TRUE LOVE: THE WORK AND TIMES OF LYNDA MYLES 

(d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2023)

•      KIM’S VIDEO (d. David Redmon, Ashley Sabin, U.S.-U.K.-Italy, 2023)

•      LITTLE GIRL BLUE (d. Mona Achache, France, 2023)

•      MUSICA! (d. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, U.S., 2023)

•      NOTES FROM SHEEPLAND (d. Cara Holmes, Ireland, 2023)

•      ROOM 999 (d. Lubna Playoust, France, 2023)

•      ZINZINDURRUNKARRATZ (d. Oskar Alegría, Spain, 2023)

 

Telluride Film Festival’s shorts section, Filmmakers of Tomorrow, includes three programs: Student Prints, now in its 30th year, screening films from the best in student-produced work from around the globe; Calling Cards, exceptional new works by promising filmmakers; and Great Expectations, featuring works from innovative and diverse filmmakers. 

 

Telluride Film Festival’s Student Programs present students with the opportunity to experience film as an art and expand participants’ worldviews through film screenings and filmmaker discussions. The Student Symposium provides graduate and undergraduate students with a weekend-long immersion in cinema. The City Lights Project brings together high school students and their teachers from various schools to participate in a concentrated program of films and discussions. FilmLAB, in partnership with the American Film Institute, brings exceptional AFI Fellows to learn from world-class filmmakers in a masterclass setting. The FilmSCHOLAR program, created in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin, gives young film scholars and aspiring critics the opportunity to immerse themselves in a weekend of cinema and learn from some of the best voices in the field. 

 

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. Conversations about cinema and culture and outdoor Noon Seminars feature a panel of Festival guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public. 

 

As we look to the next 50 years of the Telluride Film Festival, our corporate, institutional, and philanthropic supporters light the path ahead. We have incredible momentum in our $25M capital campaign to achieve a decades-long dream of a forever home at Telluride's historic Nugget Building. In addition to rescuing a beloved small-town movie theater, this investment at the Nugget site will create a year-round hub for filmmaker residency programs and TFF's nationally recognized education programs. “We are filled with gratitude for our exceptional long-term relationships,” says Huntsinger. “It is the magic of film in our transformational setting that uniquely provides opportunities to align in support of a shared experience.” TFF is honored to feature some of the world’s most renowned consumer and entertainment brands and to engage a vibrant philanthropic community of passionate and committed donors. Together, they play a dynamic role in the life of the Festival and underscore TFF's commitment to quality, adventure, and distinction in the art of cinema. TFF welcomes Festival Luxury Vehicle Lucid Motors and remains proud to enjoy Meyer Sound's extraordinary audio experience at the Galaxy, Werner Herzog, and Nugget Theaters.

For more information about Telluride Film Festival, or to download the 2023 program guide, please visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

FINAL TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #50 / A Look at Lists / Some Stars Could Be in Town / My Top Ten / Late Breaking / The People's Telluride for TFF #50

FINAL TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #50

Here are my final "bets" for the TFF #50 lineup.  Over the past few years this final list has normally been off by one or two titles.

1) The Holdovers

2) Poor Things

3) Saltburn

4) The Zone of Interest

5) Anatomy of a Fall

6) Nyad

7) Rustin

8) The Royal Hotel

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers 

12) Fallen Leaves

13) Perfect Days

14) El Conde

15) Janet Planet

16) The Promised Land

17) Orlando, My Political Biography

18) The Pigeon Tunnel

19) The Bikeriders

20) Daddio

21) Occupied City

22) They Shot the Piano Player

23) The Taste of Things

24) La Chimera

25) The Settlers

Other possibilities: Without Blood, The American Buffalo, About Dry Grasses, The Storms of Jeremy Thomas, The End, Freud's Last Session, Tuesday and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

A LOOK AT LISTS

Lots of sources have begun laying out their "Must See" lists for fall films.  Included among them are lists from The Film Stage, Indiewire, The Playlist and World of Reel.  I compiled likely Telluride films from each of those lists to get a sense of what films might be hot tickets this weekend.

A total of eight probable TFF films made all four of the lists:

All of Us Strangers

The Bikeriders

El Conde

Fingernails

The Holdovers

Poor Things

Saltburn

The Zone Interest

Anatomy of a Fall made three of the lists missing only the World of Reel.

Films with two mentions:

Nyad

Rustin

Films with a single mention include:

Fallen Leaves

Janet Planet

Occupied City

Orlando, My Political Biography

The Pigeon Tunnel

The Royal Hotel

Wildcat

SOME STARS COULD BE IN TOWN?

Dakota Johnson at Telluride in 2021.

Over the weekend SAG/Aftra released a statement encouraging films that have an interim agreement with the organization to allow their talent to attend upcoming film festivals.

I scoured the updating list from Deadline.com for films that we think are playing Telluride as well as for films at Venice.

I spied two TFF #50 possibilities that have an interim agreement in place.  One is Christy Hall's Daddio which stars Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn-both of whom have attended Telluride previously and the other was Ethan Hawke's Daddio.  Hawke has been to Telluride on a number of occasions.

Venice films that have an interim agreement are Sofia Coppola's Priscilla and Michael Mann's Ferrari..

MY TOP TEN

Going into the week, my top ten films at the moment to try to catch are (in alphabetical order):

All of Us Strangers

Anatomy of a Fall

El Conde

Fallen Leaves

The Holdovers

Nyad

Poor Things

Rustin

Saltburn

The Zone of Interest

Honorable Mention: Fingernails, The Bikeriders, The Settlers and Janet Planet.

We'll drive part way tomorrow and roll into Telluride Wednesday afternoon.

SEE YOU IN THE 'RIDE!

LATE BREAKING

 A number of readers reached out to me yesterday with the news of the free screening in Elks Park on Wednesday of Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz.

In the past you could reliably infer some things about TFF tributes from the selection of films scheduled to run in Elks Park prior to the start of the fest but that has proven to be not necessarily the case in the past couple of years.  Last year's screenings were the documentary Navalny and Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show.  Neither of them pointed  to the tributes to Cate Blanchett, Sarah Polley and Mark Cousins.

So for those of us who have gotten used to discerning Guest Directors and who would read this as Martin Scorsese getting a tribute (and a likely screening of Killers of the Flower Moon)...hold on.

Additionally, some buzzing in my ear has me sold that the three tributes will go to three different foreign directors.  Marty's not foreign.

Sooo, I still am subscribing to the notion that KOTFM doesn't screen in Telluride.

That said, we still don't know who the Guest Director(s) might be.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE FOR TFF #50

For the 11th non-consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Ten (Plus) Bets #10 for TFF #50 / Looks at Nyad / No KOTFM at T-Ride / Awards Watch Talks Telluride/ The People's Telluride Is Back

TEN (PLUS) BETS #10 AT TFF #50

Time for your penultimate look at the best bets for films that will be announced by the Telluride Film Festival on Wednesday, August 30th.  I'll have a final set of bets on Monday and then, of course, I'll post the announced lineup on Wednesday next week.

Here's a review of last week's Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) Saltburn

6) Poor Things

7) The Royal Hotel

8) Rustin

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers 

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) El Conde

16) Janet Planet

17) The Promised Land

18) Orlando, My Political Biography

19) The Pigeon Tunnel

20) Without Blood

Other possibilities: Daddio, They Shot the Piano Player, The Settlers, The End, The American Buffalo, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session, About Dry Grasses, La Chimera, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Tuesday and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

And here's the new Ten (Plus) Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Poor Things

3) Nyad

4) The Zone of Interest

5) Anatomy of a Fall

6) Saltburn

7) Rustin

8) The Royal Hotel

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers 

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) El Conde

16) Janet Planet

17) The Promised Land

18) Orlando, My Political Biography

19) The Pigeon Tunnel

20) Daddio

21) Occupied City

22) They Shot the Piano Player

23) The Taste of Things

24) The Settlers

25) La Chimera

Other possibilities: Without Blood, The American Buffalo, About Dry Grasses, The End, Freud's Last Session, Tuesday and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

LOOKS AT NYAD

Vanity Fair had access to a slew of stills from Chin and Vasarhelyi's biopic about long distance swimmer Diana Nyad starring Annette Bening as Nyad and also starring Jodie Foster.

I have included a couple here but there are a bunch more at the link above.

NO KOTFM AT T-RIDE

World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy has lowered the boom on hopes that Martin Scorsese would be at Telluride next week with Killers of the Flower Moon.  Writing on his website on Tuesday:

"I posted my Telluride predictions and, in the process, also acknowledged the possibility that Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” might show up. Well, scratch that off, it’s not going. It’s been confirmed by a knowledgeable source." 

There had been significant chatter that the Martin Scorsese film would be a part of Telluride's 50th edition but alas, that appears not to be the case.

Here's the link to Ruimy's complete post.

AWARDS WATCH TALKS TELLURIDE

Erik Anderson's Awards Watch has been very focused on The SHOW this week with it being the focus of a major post on Tuesday as well as the central topic on this week's Awards Watch podcast.

The post includes a lengthy list  of possible players for TFF #50 as well as some analysis (and a kind link to MTFB).

In the article Erik incudes a lot of what you'll see above in today's Ten (Plus) Bets.  He does include a few films worth noting/commenting on .

From his "World Premieres" list he includes:

*The Creator-see below

*Freud's Last Session-which I have dogged kept on as a "possibility" since the very first Ten Bets but about which we have heard almost nothing.

*A Difficult Year-Toronto lists it as an International Premiere and France is listed by TIFF as its nation of origin.  IMDb says it premiered in Nice, France back in May.

*Food Inc. 2- this makes a lot of sense as the original Food Inc. played Telluride in 2008.

Meanwhile, Ryan McQuade was joined  Anderson, Sophia Ciminello and Christina Juerling Birro on the Awards Watch podcast and the entire podcast is Telluride-centric.

Among the tidbits there:

The group agrees with my assessment that All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt might be that case of a Sundance film that plays The SHOW but the they also include Flora and Son and Fair Play as possibilities as well.

Also suggested as possible choices for TFF #50 are Food Inc. 2.  Also mentioned is Gareth Edwards' The Creator.  The Awards Watch crew does include on the basis of its "Texas Premiere" designation from Fantastic Fest but we learned just a couple of days ago that the film or portions of it will be screening at 10 IMAX theaters nationwide next week.  That might explain its "Texas Premiere" designation.

There's also some fun speculation about who will get a tribute.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE IS BACK

For the 11th non-consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Anatomy of a Fall Poster and Trailer / Lenny Kravitz Sings for Rustin / Overlooked Possibility / Calling All People

ANATOMY OF A FALL POSTER AND TRAILER

Ahead of its expected appearance at Telluride next week, distributor Neon has released a poster (above) and a trailer. 

The film won this year's Palme d'Or at Cannes and stars Sandra Huller (Toni Erdmann).  IMDb describes it as follows:

"A woman is suspected of her husband's murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness."

Here's the official trailer from YouTube:

LENNY KRAVITZ SINGS FOR RUSTIN

Variety reports that singer/songwriter Lenny Kravitz has recorded an original song for the biopic Rustin.  I expect the film to be playing in Telluride over Labor Day weekend.  

Rustin stars Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin, the true life civil and human rights activist that helped to create the 1963 March on Washington.  Domingo is already getting some Oscar buzz as Clayton Davis at Variety is currently predicting that he will be one of the five nominees.

Rustin is directed by George C. Wolfe and was written by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black and Julian Breece.

Rustin is due in theaters on Nov. 17th.

OVERLOOKED POSSIBILTY

Still from Occupied City

I neglected to mention a week and a half ago that Steve McQueen's huge documentary (listed at IMDb at 246 min.) about the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam during World War II was announced for the New York fest without any premiere designation.  As it has not screened anywhere else since its debut at Cannes last May, we can probably expect to see it at Telluride.

The NYFF announcement says that the film will be screened there with an intermission.

McQueen has a solid history with TFF having screened Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave at the fest.

CALLING ALL PEOPLE

For the 11th non-consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Ten (Plus) Bets #9 / Cryptic Message from Kris Tapley / Fantastic Fest Announces / There Goes Maestro / The People's Telluride Returns

 TEN (PLUS) BETS #9

We're in the home stretch now with mere days left before TFF #50 takes off.  I'll have the 10th installment of 2023's Ten Bets a week from today and the FINAL BETS for this year will be published on Monday, August 28th.  And, of course, I'll post the announced list of films and other information on Wednesday August 30th.

Here's reminder of where we were with last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) Saltburn

6) Poor Things

7) The Royal Hotel

8) Rustin

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers (previously titled Strangers)

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) The Settlers

Other possibilities: El Conde, The Pigeon Tunnel, Without Blood, The Promised Land, The End, The American Buffalo, The Teachers' Lounge, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session, About Dry Grasses, Janet Planet, Orlando, My Political Biography, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

And here is the latest Ten (Plus) Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) Saltburn

6) Poor Things

7) The Royal Hotel

8) Rustin

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers 

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) El Conde

16) Janet Planet

17) The Promised Land

18) Orlando, My Political Biography

19) The Pigeon Tunnel

20) Without Blood

Other possibilities: Daddio, They Shot the Piano Player, The Settlers, The End, The American Buffalo, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session, About Dry Grasses, La Chimera, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Tuesday and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

CRYPTIC MESSAGE FROM KRIS TAPLEY

Yesterday Kris Tapley posted on X (used to Twitter? Still is Twitter?):

Now, what does that mean?

Could it portend Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon landing at Telluride?

Will Rustin's World Premiere at Telluride draw out the founders of the production company behind the film?  That's Higher Ground Productions which was founded by a couple named Obama.

Or is it something else entirely?

Tapley has been around the biz for awhile and a Telluride attendee for a good long time as well.  He clearly knows something is in the wind.  That doesn't necessarily mean that Telluride would be included in whatever he's teasing but there's a chance.

FANTASTIC FEST ANNOUNCES

Fantastic Fest, the primarily genre film festival based in Austin Texas announced its lineup on Tuesday.  The news from FF each year usually doesn't provide a ton of Telluride intelligence but almost always provides a little and this year's announcement met that tradition.

First, Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things was not announced and, unless there is some late surprise addition, that all but assures that the film will play at TFF #50.

Additionally, Michel Gondry's The Book of Solutions which I had semi-considered as a possible choice for Telluride will not be.  FF announced it as a North American premiere taking it off the table for TFF.

To look for films from Fantastic Fest's list you want to pay attention to films that are listed as "Texas" premieres.  I found 16 of those on Tuesday and ran them down.  It appears that Gareth Edwards the Creator might be a T-ride possibility as it is listed as a Texas premiere and has not screened anywhere up to this point.

The film from 20th Century Studios/New Regency/Disney is described at IMDb as:

"...a post-apocalyptic thriller involving a future impacted by a war between humans and AI."

Meanwhile, another film that meets the Texas premiere and hasn't played anywhere else in the U.S. is Wonsuk Lee's Killing romance.  It's FF profile describes it:

"A fallen actress falls in love with a man, but when he turns out to be a monster, her next-door überfan helps her escape the only way they know how — by trying to kill him".

Honestly, I have a little difficulty believing that either of these films are necessarily Telluride bound but the premiere status and available data suggest otherwise.

Here's the link to the Fantastic Fest lineup.

THERE GOES MAESTRO

The New York Film Festival announced yesterday that Bradley Cooper's Maestro will be a North American premiere as its Spotlight Gala.  That removes it, at last, off the Telluride possibles list.  I was still holding out a slight hope that it might show up at Telluride since it was scheduled to bow in Venice on Saturday, Sept. 2nd.  I know that would cut it close but also thought since Cooper has said that he will not go to Venice for that premiere that perhaps it might still be at TFF #50.

But noop.

THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE RETURNS

For the 11th non-consecutive year MTFB is soliciting your input for The People's Telluride.  All you have to do is watch films during the fest and then, when it's all over, report to me your assessment of each film on a 1-5 scale with 1 being "UGH!" and 5 being "GREAT".

Report your ratings to: mpgort@gmail.com 

The deadline for this year to turn in your ratings will be Sept. 15th.

I'll compile all of your responses and post those a few days after the festival.

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Latest Toronto Announcements / El Conde Looks Crazy / Waiting on the Fantastic

 LATEST TORONTO ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Toronto International Film Festival dropped two huge lists of films at the end of last week with Centerpiece Films announced Thursday,  Wavelengths, Shorts and Classics and "In Conversation With" participants and films added Friday.  As always, I'm parsing premiere statuses to see what they reveal about films that may be playing Telluride before TIFF.  Here's what I think we found out:

1) A couple of new films look T-ride bound.  Christy Hall's Daddio and from the animated film directing team of Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba They Shot the Piano Player.  I have mentioned They Shot the Piano Player in my June 9th analysis of which films Sony Pictures Classics might have to TFF #50 and rated it with a 25% chance to do so.  Mariscal and Trueba previously had screened Chico and Rita at TFF in 2010.

As for Hall's Daddio...caught me totally by surprise.  The film stars Sean Penn (at TFF in 2007 with Into the Wild) and Dakota Johnson (at TFF in 2021 with The Lost Daughter.

The IMDb summary of the film:

"A woman taking a cab ride from JFK engages in a conversation with the taxi driver about the important relationships in their lives."

As best I can tell Daddio does not yet have U.S. distribution.

2) The Centerpiece announcement also seemed to have confirmed that Fallen Leaves, Perfect Days and The Promised Land will be at Telluride.

3) The Centerpiece announcement sows some confusion about two films that we had thought were certain for Telluride after their inclusion in the New York announcement with no premiere status designation.  About Dry Grasses and The Settlers are both listed as North American premieres by TIFF and if that's accurate it would mean no Telluride for them.

Announced earlier, Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera is in that same boat.

This happens every year.  Sometimes it's miscommunication.  Sometimes it's mislabeling the status.  Where that leaves us is that all three of these films could still be a Telluride play (I particularly think that The Settlers probably IS going to Telluride.  No intell, just a gut feeling).

4) Finally from the Centerpiece announcement, Ilker Catak's The Teacher's Lounge which won a couple of awards at the Berlin Fest and a slew at the German Film Awards is listed as a North American Premiere which, if correct, means no screening at Telluride.  I have been listing it as a TFF  "possibility" through all 8 of this year's "Ten Bets" lists.

5) The Wavelengths announcement appears to confirm a TFF slot for Orlando, My Political Biography.  It also suggests three shorts to Telluride: NYC RGB, Quiet As It's Kept and Bouquets 31-40.

6) The "In Conversation With" section announced that Pedro Almodovar will be participating and screening his short Strange Way of Life as a North American Premiere.  That knocks it off of the Telluride track.  I had thought there was a real possibility that it could screen in T-ride but that appears destined not to be.

EL CONDE LOOKS CRAZY

Pablo Larrain's El Conde (The Count) will likely be playing at some theater in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.  The film will World premiere at Venice and it has a screening slot early enough in that fest to make the hop to Telluride.

Well, the film looks bonkers.  Here is the newly released trailer from Netflix via YouTube:

 

And here's the IMDb summary: 

"Centers on Augusto Pinochet (infamous Chilean dictator) who is not dead but an aged vampire. After living 250 years in this world, he has decided to die once and for all."

And finally, a story about the film from Indiewire's Eric Kohn.

WAITING ON THE FANTASTIC

We're kind of expecting that Fantastic Fest, the Austin, Texas based festival that runs at the end of September/Early October will probably announce a big chunk of its lineup sometime this week.  Last year they announced on August 16th.  The year before the initial announcement came August 6th.

FF's lineup can prove instructive each year as a confirmation or elimination for a film's possible inclusion for Telluride.

Last year Fantastic Fest included:

The Banshees of Inisherin

Bones and All

Decision to Leave

Holy Spider

The Menu

Triangle of Sadness

Bones and All and Holy Spider played at TFF #49 and that was confirmed with the FF announcement listing both of those films as Texas Premieres.  Meanwhile with a U.S. Premiere designation Banshees, Decision to Leave, The Menu and Triangle of Sadness were all confirmed as not playing at TFF #49.

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Ten (Plus) Bets #8 / New York Announces / Venice Schedule

 TEN (PLUS) BETS #8

We're closing in on what is shaping up to be a great fest for TFF's 50th go-round.  As is the custom on Thursday's this time of year here at MTFB, here is my latest update of films that I think will be announced for the lineup on (I beleive) Wednesday August 29th for The SHOW.

First, a re-visit of last week's Ten Bets and possibilities:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) The Royal Hotel

6) Saltburn

7) Rustin

8) Wildcat

9) Fingernails

10) El Conde

Other possibilities: The Pigeon Tunnel, Poor Things, Without Blood, The End, The Bikeriders, The American Buffalo,  Fallen Leaves,  The Teachers' Lounge, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session.

 And for this week's edition here are Ten+ Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) Saltburn

6) Poor Things

7) The Royal Hotel

8) Rustin

9) Wildcat

10) Fingernails

11) All of Us Strangers (previously titled Strangers)

12) The Bikeriders

13) Fallen Leaves

14) Perfect Days

15) The Settlers

Other possibilities: El Conde, The Pigeon Tunnel, Without Blood, The Promised Land, The End, The American Buffalo, The Teachers' Lounge, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session, About Dry Grasses, Janet Planet, Orlando, My Political Biography, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.

NEW YORK ANNOUNCES

The New York Film Festival announced its Main Slate selections on Tuesday and it contains hints for possible/probable films that will have screened previously at Telluride.

The way NYFF has formatted their announcement means that we want to look at films with no premiere designation.  Films that NYFF has designated as either a North American Premiere or a U.S. Premiere will not have played Telluride.  With that explanation the non-designated films from their list are:

About Dry Grasses/Ceylan

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt/Jackson*

All of Us Strangers/Haigh

Anatomy of a Fall/Triet***

La Chimera/Rohrwacher+++

Fallen Leaves/Kaurismaki

Janet Planet/Baker

Orlando, My Political Biography/Preciado

Perfect Days/Wenders

Poor Things/Lanthimos**

The Settlers/Galvez

The Zone of Interest/Glazer***

*All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt premiered at Sundance and so is historically unlikely to also screen at Telluride.  That said, I think there's a reasonable chance that it still makes an appearance over Labor Day weekend.

**Poor Things conceivably could play at Fantastic Fest rather than T-ride and earn the "no designation" from NYFF but I'm feeling fairly confident that its at TFF.

***I've been pretty sure about both Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest since they were both announced as Canadian Premieres for Toronto.  Their "no designation" here seems to confirm their presence at Telluride.

+++ Despite a lack of premiere designation, Toronto has listed La Chimera as a North American Premiere so there's a disconnect somewhere.

Here's the link to the official Main Slate for NYFF.

VENICE SCHEDULE???

Jordan Ruimy/World of Reel reported on Tuesday that at least some of the schedule for the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion competition films had leaked largely from Venice director Alberto Barbera via Twitter or X or Elon's LunchboX...or whatever...

If its accurate it gives us insight about which films might be in play for a Venice/Telluride Two Step.  Meaning that if a film plays early enough in Italy, then there is the possibility that they fly across the Atlantic and screen the film before Telluride is over.

That "Two Step" happens quite a bit each year.  Last year, for example, 11 films made that journey: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Bardo, Bobi Wine, Bones and All, A Compassionate Spy, Desperate Souls, Fragments of Paradise, Living, March on Rome, Salvatore:Shoemaker and TAR.  Over the past seven years the average "share rate" between TFF and Venice has been 7-8 films.

So here's what Ruimy is reporting:

08/30 Comandante

08/31 Ferrari, The Promised Land, Dogman

09/01 Poor Things, El Conde, Finalmente L’Alba, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

09/02 The Palace, Maestro

09/03 The Beast, The Killer, Theory of Everything

09/04 Priscilla, Evil Doesn’t Exist, Coup de Chance

09/05 The Green Border

09/06 Origin

09/07 Holly, Lubo, Io Capitano

09/08 Memory

Now, Telluride, as we know, will open on Thursday, Aug. 31st and runs through Monday, Sept. 4th.  Anything that screens in Venice from Aug. 30th to Sept. 2nd is worth looking at.

Of particular note is The Promised Land, Poor Things, El Conde, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Maestro.

I'm feeling good about Poor Things, El Conde and The Promised Land.  I'm less bullish on Henry Sugar and Maestro.

Additionally, David Fincher's much anticipated The Killer is slated for a Sept. 3rd screening in Venice making a Telluride turn-around very unlikely.

The actual Venice schedule is set to be released tomorrow.

UPDATING: The actual Venice schedule is now live at this link.  

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Bikeriders Riding into The 'Ride / And Maybe... / The Buzzing / Late Breaking from London

BIKERIDERS RIDING INTO THE 'RIDE

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reported on Friday that he has confirmed the buzz we'd been hearing the last couple of weeks that Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders will debut at Telluride.  The film stars Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Boyd Holbrook, Michael Shannon and Jodie Comer.

IMDb's synopsis goes like this:

"It follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members."

Nichols previous films include Loving, Midnight Special, Take Shelter and Mud.

For me, its another really great entry into the TFF #50 lineup...which, if what we think is going to Telluride shows at The SHOW, is rocking.

AND MAYBE...

In recent posts I've been mentioning the possibility of Angelina Jolie bringing her latest film-Without Blood-to TFF #50.  I'm still not quite all the way to the point where I'm predicting if for the lineup yet but I am getting closer.  There's a good deal of buzz that the Jolie follow-up to her 2017 First They Killed My Father which also played Telluride.  That previous appearance is one of the reasons that I think might make Without Blood a real possibility for TFF #50.  

THE BUZZING

We're getting to the time of the year where MTFB starts to pop up in other places.  This past week MTFB was referenced by Sasha Stone at Awards Daily in her Aug. 4th post about Oscar and the potential effects of the dual writers' and actors' strike.

Speaking of buzz, on the Awards Radar podcast this week Joey Magidson and his guests Mark Johnson and Ryan McQuade talked a good deal about Telluride and probably the most exciting speculation is about Killers of the Flower Moon and a possible tribute to Martin Scorsese.  They feel that's more not less likely.  I had been hearing a little of that speculation within the last week to ten days.  If you listen to the podcast that discussion occurs at 1:13:58.

If you've read this space before, you know that Flowers is my big hope for the year whether it plays T-ride or not and I have been very clear that I have not believed that it would.  Many of you know that I did a day of background on the film which makes me even more keen to actually see it as soon as possible.

I hate to get all worked up but...there is a little smoke...

On the other hand, another film that's high on my list to see is David Fincher's The Killer starring Michael Fassbender as a professional assassin who comes to a question what his choices have been.  

Like Flower Moon, I have thought The Killer to be an unlikely film for TFF #50 inclusion and now World of Reel suggests that outcome is probable.  WOR chief Jordan Ruimy writing this weekend:

"...not much else is known about Fincher’s upcoming 118-minute film. That’ll change when it premieres in September at the Venice Film Festival. So far, no other festivals have announced it, and I’m hearing it’s not going to Telluride or Toronto. Maybe NYFF is an option."

LATE BREAKING FROM LONDON

First image of Emerald Fennell's Saltburn via Screen Daily

Overnight the BFI London Film Festival announced that its opening night film will be Emerald Fennell's Saltburn.  The announcement added further evidence that the film will be bowing initially at Telluride.  Saltburn is listed by LFF as its International Premiere which adds to the comments from Venice Film Fest head Alberto Barbera from last week that Saltburn will play Telluride.  Additionally we can deduce from its International Premiere status that it will skip Toronto.

Here's a report of the announcement with further details from Screen Daily.

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Ten Bets # 7 / New View of The Zone of Interest / Monday-Thursday / A Reminder and Other Thoughts

TEN BETS #7

Well, we're kind of in a bit of a lull as far as useful intelligence regarding Telluride's lineup,  After the flurry of information last week concerning titles announced by both Toronto and Venice things have gone quiet.  TIFF did announce ten films for their "Platform" section all of which were World Premiere designees meaning no Telluride implications.

Here's a review of last week's Ten Bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) Anatomy of a Fall

4) The Zone of Interest

5) The Royal Hotel

6) Rustin

7) Wildcat

8) Fingernails

9) Saltburn 

10) The Pigeon Tunnel 

And here's the shuffling of titles for this week's bets:

1) The Holdovers

2) Nyad

3) The Zone of Interest

4) Anatomy of a Fall

5) The Royal Hotel

6) Saltburn

7) Rustin

8) Wildcat

9) Fingernails

10) El Conde

Other possibilities: The Pigeon Tunnel, Poor Things, Without Blood, The End, The Bikeriders, The American Buffalo,  Fallen Leaves,  The Teachers' Lounge, The Pot-au-Feu, Freud's Last Session.

 NEW VIEW OF THE ZONE OF INTEREST

A24 has announced that Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest will be released on Dec. 8th (more about A24's other plans in the story below).  Along with that news the distribution company released a new still from the film which I have included here via World of Reel:

The Zone of Interest premiered to great acclaim at Cannes winning the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize. Zone was announced as a Canadian Premiere by Toronto which indicates a play at Telluride.

Currently Metacritic has the film rated at 98 and Rotten Tomato Critics have it at 96%. 

Glazer's last film, Under the Skin, played as a part of the TFF #40 program.

MONDAY-THURSDAY

Last Monday I wrote about the emergence of a couple of films that were generating Telluride buzz: Jeff Nichols" The Bikeriders and Angelina Jolie's Without Blood.  I am here to tell you that in the intervening three days that buzz has not dissipated. If anything, for both films, the hype for a TFF #50 bow has increased.  Should either or both land at T-ride in a few weeks they would almost certainly be World Premiering there.

The Bikeriders is being distributed in the U.S. by 20th Century and is set for a Dec. 1st release.  Jolie's Without Blood is distributed by Freemantle.  It has not yet been dated for release.

A REMINDER AND OTHER THOUGHTS

Saw on X or Twitter or, you know, Elon's Sandbox, a reminder about Pedro Almodovar's short film, Strange Way of Life, that played at Cannes will debut on MUBI on Oct. 20th.  That reminded me that I still think that it might make an appearance in the San Juans over Labor Day weekend.

Here's the poster:

I also saw a story from Indiewire concerning A24's slate of films which reminded me of a title that I wouldn't normally consider as a Telluride contender.  

I wrote back in February that I thought Angus MacLachlan's A Little Prayer starring David Strathairn might continue the recent trend of a big Sundance title playing at TFF.  That scenario disappeared when it played several other domestic festivals.

But...I'm thinking maybe a different Sundance '23 title might be in the mix.  Raven Jackson's All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (which is an excellent title) debuted at Sundance on Jan. 22nd.  Since then it has not played any other fests.  Additionally, to my knowledge "Salt" has not been named as a TIFF film.  

With Barry Jenkins and his PASTEL production company credited as producers on the film, would A24 make the play to get the film into TFF #50?

It's a real possibility.

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