IT ALWAYS HAPPENS...
Last week, seemingly minutes after I pushed the button, news started spilling out all over the place. New York announced its Spotlight film section and we also got news from Fantastic Fest, the Hampton's Film Fest and an interview with Venice Film fest director Alberto Barbera. All of which confirmed, denied or added film titles to the "probably playing Telluride" pile of films. Here's what each circumstance told us:
New York Spotlight:
Lack of a premiere status in the announcement likely confirms The Friend, Emilia Perez and Maria (more on that below) for TFF #51.
That non-premiere status for Apocalypse in the Tropics also suggests that the documentary about politics in Brazil will make it to Telluride. That is underscored by the fact that it is playing at Venice and is scheduled for its premiere screening on Aug. 29th giving it enough time to make the jump to T-ride.
Fantastic Fest:
For Fantastic Fest you look for a "Texas" or "Austin" premiere status and then work back to see if any of those films screened at Sundance or Tribeca. Eliminate those titles and then examine what's left and you can find out possible titles headed to The SHOW.
So, their announced set of films looks to confirm Anora and add Memoir of a Snail and Chain Reactions. Like Apocalypse in the Tropics, Chain Reactions is set to play Venice on Aug. 29th so the same "they've got enough time to make it to T-ride" logic applies.
The Hampton Fest:
They revealed their selection of Michael Premo's Homegrown. It's a documentary about the right wing in the USA. HIFF lists it as a "New York" premiere which suggests that it will play somewhere in the U.S./North America after Venice. Toronto hasn't announced it which leaves only Telluride. Homegrown is scheduled for an early afternoon screening in Venice on Aug. 30th (1:30 pm Venice time) which cuts it close but means it could make a flight to TFF.
And finally, Alberto Barbera:
For the third or fourth year in a row Barbera announces a film that will play Venice and then go to Telluride. It's like he does it on purpose.
In an interview with Rebecca Ford for Vanity Fair Barbera is quoted:
"Angelina (Jolie) will be on the first day, on Thursday the 29, and she will leave right after with [Maria director] Pablo Larraín to go to Telluride."
And not to put too fine a point on it but seems like Angelina Jolie will be in town again. She was in t-ride in 2017 with First They Killed My Father.
That all came down on Thursday!
And by the way, as I was doing all the cross-checking between various fests for this I started to kind of warm to the idea that Tim Fehlbaum's September 5 might sneak into Telluride as well. Mostly because it's situated in the Venice schedule at the right time (Aug. 29th) and it sounds intriguing. From IMDb:
"During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes."
The film stars Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin and Benjamin Walker.
Here are the links:
WHO TO TRIBUTE?
We get to this point every year where, down to just a few days before the fest kicks off and assuming that we're pretty close to getting a lot of the titles right, it's fun to speculate who will be receiving a tribute.
Going through the latest offering of "Ten (Plus) Bets" from last Thursday, here are who seem like the most probable candidates listed by film:
Conclave: Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini
Emilia Perez: Jacques Audiard
The End: Michael Shannon
The Piano Lesson: Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington
Nickel Boys: Aunjunue Ellis-Taylor
Saturday Night: Jason Reitman
The Friend: Naomi Watts
Maria: Angelina Jolie
Bird: Andrea Arnold
The Outrun: Saoirse Ronan
If I had to pin down who I feel like is the most likely from this list my top 5 would be:
1) Samuel L. Jackson
2) Ralph Fiennes
3) Angelina Jolie
4) Jacques Audiard
5) Isabella Rosselini
Any thoughts? Let me know.
We'll know on Thursday, August 29th.
GUEST DIRECTOR?
While we're asking questions...where's the announcement about who is guest directing TFF this year?
I did a little digging about when the fest has announced Guest Directors the past decade or so. The answer for most of the last ten years has been the third week of June. The only exceptions I could find in that time span was for 2015 when Rachel Kushner was announced on March 31st and the anniversary years of 2013 and 2023 when the fest used multiple guest directors and, as best as I can tell, only announced them when the full lineup was announced.
So, we're way past the third week of June and it seems very likely now that we aren't going to find out this year's Guest Director(s) until the lineup announcement on Thursday, Aug. 29th.
Same as above, any thoughts? Let me know.
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