Dates Tell a Story / Cannes Posters for 2025

DATES TELL A STORY

Paul Mescal and Jesse Buckley in Chloe Zhao's Hamnet (via World of Reel)

A couple of films that I have been attention to had their release dates announced the past few days and each announcement tells us a least a little bit about possible Telluride ramifications.

Focus Features announced that Chloe Zhao's Hamnet (starring Paul Mescal and Jesse Buckley) will have a limited release on Nov. 27th followed by a nationwide expansion on Dec. 12th. That report is per Indiewire and is linked here.  Those dates keep open the chance that Zhao returns to Telluride.  It also allows the possibility of Venice, Toronto, New York and/or London.

Zhao's The Rider played T-ride in 2017.  Her Oscar winning Nomadland would have played the 47th TFF but that went away with Covid.  However, the fest was instrumental in arranging a Drive-In screening in Los Angeles.  So I can totally see Hamnet making an appearance at TFF #52.

Nomadland won three Oscars including Best Picture, Actress and Direction.

Meanwhile, Focus also announced that Ethan Coen's Honey Don't, which will world premiere at Cannes next month, will be released in the U.S. on August 22nd, thus taking it off the table for a spot at TFF#52.  I mentioned Honey Don't last week and indicated that it was an unlikely candidate for T-ride and this reporting from The Playlist validates that thinking.

CANNES POSTERS FOR 2025

I posted one of them in last Thursday's edition of MTFB.  The two posters celebrate Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Women.

Here they are:

The 78th Cannes Film Festival opens on May 13th.

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And... More Titles Added to Cannes #78...Finally / New Images from Die, My Love and Chronology of Water

AND...MORE TITLES ADDED TO CANNES #78...FINALLY

Well, after a 24 hour delay the 78th Cannes Film Festival announced more than a dozen new titles to the fest yesterday scattered across various platforms. 

Three films that I had suggested on Monday that could be announced were, in fact, announced.  Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love was added to competition, Kristen Stewart’s The Chronology of Water went to Un Certain Regard and Hylnur Palmason’s The Love That Remains was added to the Cannes Premieres section.  I feel (and have felt) that those three films could potentially also screen at Telluride.

One other film of interest, at least to me, and isn’t really on my T-ride radar, is Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t which was added to the Midnight section. The IMDb description is literally “Two women ( Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza) take a road trip.”

The complete list of 16 films added to Cannes #78 is here from The Film Stage.

NEW IMAGES FROM DIE MY LOVE AND CHRONOLOGY OF WATER

DIE MY LOVE

CHRONOLOGY OF WATER

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More Cannes Titles Tomorrow

MORE CANNES TITLES TOMORROW

Reportedly the 78th Cannes Film Festival will add some other films to their lineup in addition to those already announced.  Speculation centers on which films/directors will be added and to what sections.  The buzz suggests up to three more films might be added to the Palme d'Or competition.  A number of reports suggest that Lynne Ramsay's Die, My Love is locked for a competition slot.  After that, it's up in the air.

I've had the Ramsay film on the "Potential Cannes to Telluride" list for a good long while.  Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reported late last week that the film had been screened for the fest and as Ruimy writes:

"Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love” just screened for Cannes, and word on the Croisette is—they loved it. Two separate sources tell me the film, starring none other than Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence, is now officially locked for competition. Buckle up."

Here's the minimal description for the film from IMDb:

"In a remote forgotten rural area, a mother struggles to maintain her sanity as she battles with psychosis."

A couple of other titles that might pop up tomorrow that feel like a post-Cannes Telluride play is possible are Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water and Hylnur Palmason's The Love That Remains.

Stay tuned.

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Cannes' Director's Fortnight and Crtitics' Week / Is This Thing On? a Telluride Possibility? / MegaDoc at T-ride? / Posters for One Battle

CANNES DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT AND CRITICS' WEEK

The Cannes Film Festival announced further titles this week for its 78th edition.  Both the films for the Director's Fortnight Section as well Cannes' Critics' Week  were named.  However in both instances no films immediately jump out as Telluride possibilities.  See what you think.

Here are the films announced for the Director's Fortnight section:

“Enzo” (Robin Campillo) 

­”Amour Apocalypse” (Anne Émond)

­”Brand New Landscape” (Yuiga Danzuka) 

­”Classe Moyenne” (Anthony Cordier)

­”Dangerous Animals” (dir. Sean Byrne)

­”La Danse Renards” (Valéry Carnoy) 

­”L’Engloutie” (Louise Hémon) 

­”Les Filles Désir” (Prïncia Car) 

­”Girl on Edge” (Jinghao Zhou) 

­”Indomptables” (Thomas Ngijol)

­”Kokhuo” (Lee Sang-il)

­”Lucky Lu” (Lloyd Lee Choi) 

­”Militantropos” (Smith/Gorlova/Mozgovyi)

­”Miroirs No. 3″ (Christian Petzold)

­”La Mort N’Existe Pas” (Félix Dufour-Laperrière)

­”The President’s Cake” (Hasan Hadi)

“Que Ma Volonté Soit Faite” (Julia Kowalski)

“Sorry Baby” (Eva Victor)

And for Critics' Week:

COMPETITION

Imago – Dir. Déni Oumar Pitsaev

Kika – Dir. Alexe Poukine

Left-Handed Girl – Dir. Shih-Ching Tsou

Nino – Dir. Pauline Loquès

Reedland – Dir. Sven Bresser

Sleepless City – Dir. Guillermo Galoe

A Useful Ghost – Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Adam’s Interest – Dir. Laura Wandel (OPENING)

Baise en ville – Dir. Martin Jauvat

Love Letters – Dir. Alice Douard

Dandelion’s Odyssey – Dir. Momoko Seto (CLOSING)

IS THIS THING ON? A TELLURIDE POSSIBILITY

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reports that Bradley Cooper's next directorial effort, Is This Thing On? has wrapped production and:

"Searchlight is reportedly “really liking what they’ve seen so far,” and they’re planning a fall 2025 release. The movie is expected to make the rounds at fall festivals, including TIFF and Telluride."

Theis is the IMDb description for the film:

"A couple's marriage crumbles as they pursue separate paths - he explores stand-up comedy in NYC while she rediscovers herself. Together, they learn to redefine their relationship and family dynamics amid major life changes."

The film stars Cooper as well as Will Arnett (who co-wrote) and Laura Dern.  No release date has been offiically announced.

Here's the story from World of Reel.

MEGADOC AT T-RIDE?

World of Reel also reports that Mike Figgis' documentary about the making of Francis Ford Copplola's Megalopolis, MegaDoc may also be in play for TFF#52.  In his story from yesterday he quotes Figgis as saying:

"Last month, “MegaDoc” was privately screened in London for “friends” and “family,” and the event included a post-screening Q&A with Figgis, conducted by filmmaker Gareth Evans (“The Raid”). In case you’re wondering, Figgis says that he aims to officially premiere the film at “Venice or Telluride.” 

The entire story from World of reel can be found here.

POSTERS FOR ONE BATTLE AFTER THE OTHER

This week saw the release of posters for Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After the Other.  Up until last week this news wouldn't have likely made it into the Blog but with the release date being moved to Sept. 26th, well, a guy can dream, can't he?

Here's a couple:

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Late Look at Early Oscar Predix and TFF Possibilities / Kiss of the Spider Woman?

 LATE LOOK AT EARLY OSCAR PREDICTIONS AND TFF POSSIBILITIES

Joey Magidson who runs Awards Radar has posted his early Oscar predictions at his site.  I thought we'd mine the 25 titles he has listed as possible Best Picture nominees for guesses about TFF #52.

These are in the order that Magidson has them listed by likelihood of being nominated:

1) Deliver Me From Nowhere/S. Cooper

4) Jay Kelly/Baumbach

5) Marty Supreme/Safdie

6) Bugonia/Lanthimos

7) Hamnet/Zhao

9) Eleanor the Great/Johansson

11) The Ballad of a Small Player/Berger

16) Is This Thing On?/B. Cooper

17) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

19) Die, My Love/Ramsay

22) Frankenstein/Del Toro

23) Anemone/Day-Lewis

Magidson's complete list and predictions in other categories can be found here.

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN?

Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions/LD Entertainment have announced and October 10th, 2025 release date for Bill Condon's Kiss of the Spider Woman.  This rendition is based on the Broadway musical adaptation.  The Oct. 10th date signals the intent that the distributors are serious about making a play for Awards season.

That intention makes you think that they will be aiming for some fall fest love such as TIFF and New York.  But maybe also Telluride.  Normally, its screening at Sundance in January would write it off as a TFF #52 selection, however, Telluride has made exceptions in recent years: The Outrun, Living andThe Report come to mind.

So perhaps I won't immediately reject the notion.

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Cannes Lineup Revealed / Could These Three Films Play TFF #52?

 CANNES LINEUP REVEALED

Early this morning Thierry Fremaux announced the lineup for this year's Cannes Film Festival.  Here are the films announced for the various sections:

In Competition:

The History of Sound/Hermanus

A Simple Accident/Panahi

The Mastermind/Reichardt

Young Mothers/Dardenne Brothers

Un Certain Regard:

Eleanor the Great/Johansson

Special Screenings:

The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol/Chomet

Cannes Premiere:

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/Serebrennikov

Orwell/Peck

Splitsville/Covino

The Wave/Lelio

As always, we look to Cannes for clues about films that could have their North American Premiere at Telluride on Labor day weekend.  From the above it feels like, sight unseen, that these films have a chance to be at TFF #52:

Meanwhile, some films that had been speculated were not announced this morning including:

After the Hunt/Guadagnino

The Chronology of Water/Stewart

Die, My Love/Ramsay

Hamnet/Zhao

The Love That Remains/Palmason

Orphan/Nemes

The Way of the Wind/Malick

Remember, though, Cannes is notorious for adding films to their schedule after their opening announcement.

Of course what happens at Cannes does affect what may or may not be selected.  I pay close attention to how critics react to films at Cannes, and to some extent the awards results at the end of the fest to calibrate what may come down the pike.

The complete lineup announced this morning is here from Indiwire.

*****Late Breaking...Despite having not been officially announced by Cannes this morning, Spike Lee revealed via social media that his Highest 2 Lowest will premiere there Out of Competition.

COULD THESE THREE FILMS PLAY TFF #52?

(Rooney Mara and Kate Mara filming Bucking Fastard for Werner Herzog)

Could Werner Herzog finish his new film quickly enough for a TFF #52 debut?  World of Reel reports that filming is currently underway in Dublin, Ireland.  Herzog has been known to be able to move quickly in the past.  So, maybe?

World of Reel also reports that Kathryn Bigelow's first feature in eight years is aiming for a fall fest debut.  The article mentions Telluride as a possible landing place.

And finally, I have been hesitant to consider Bennie Safdie's The Smashing Machine as a TFF #52 possibility but The Film Stage reports that the film has an Oct. 3rd release date which would fit in nicely after a TFF screening.  

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Last Shot at Cannes / A Look at the E-Mailbag

LAST SHOT AT CANNES

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel has been keeping a steady eye on the speculation about what may be screening at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.  His extensive list has been developing for months.  Now, on the brink of the titles being revealed (on Thursday, April 10th) we take a last look at his predictions and assess possible Telluride selections.  From Ruimy's list, the most likely TFF #52 players are:

After the Hunt/Amazon-MGM/Luca Guadagnino

Couture/No Distrib/Alice Winocour

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay

Orphan/No Distrib/Laszlo Nemes

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov

The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus

The Love That Remains/No Distrib/Hylnur Palmason

The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt

The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol/Sony Pictures Classics/Sylvain Chomet

The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick

The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

Untitled Jafar Panahi Film

Here's the link to Ruimy's entire article.

A LOOK AT THE E-MAILBAG

I have a file in one of my email accounts labeled "Future Telluride".  That's where I file away posts/articles about future films that, for some reason...and not always the same reason, strike me as having some Telluride Film Fest potential.  There are some dating all the way back to 2014 that I've held onto.

So, anyway, I was cleaning the folder up a bit over the weekend and kind of went down a rabbit hole of films that I had tagged and that had ultimately screened at TFF over the last couple of fests.  The folder contains links for TFF #50 films such as: The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, Nyad, All of Strangers and The Bikeriders.  For TFF #51: The Outrun, Emilia Perez, Maria, Bird and A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things.

So, I thought, what the heck...what films possible for TFF #52 are tucked away in the folder?  Here they are:

After the Hunt/Luca Guadagnino/Amazon-MGM

Ballad of a Small Player, The/Edward Berger/Netflix

Bride, The/Maggie Gyllenhaal/Warners

Bugonia/Yorgos Lanthimos/Focus

Deliver Me From Nowhere/Scott Cooper/Searchlight

Die, My Love/Lynne Ramsay/No Distribution

Frankenstein/Guillermo Del Toro/Netflix

Hamnet/Chloe Zhao/Focus

History of Sound, The/Oliver Hermanus/Focus

Jay Kelly/Noah Baumbach/Netflix

Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol, The/Sylvain Chomet/SPC

Marty Supreme/Josh Safdie/A24

Mastermind, The/Kelly Reichardt/Mubi

Pressure/Anthony Maras/Focus

Roofman/Derek Cianfrance/Miramax

Untitled Alejandro Inarritu Project/Alejandro Inarritu/Warners

Not saying these will all make the TFF #52 lineup...but I bet some of them do.

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Next Best Pictures Cannes Guesses / Interviews and Profiles: Naomi Watts on The Friend

NEXT BEST PICTURE'S CANNES GUESSES

We're almost there.  The Cannes lineup announcement is a week from today.  In today's post I dissect the Cannes lineup that Next Best Picture advocated the week before last with the intent of trying to guess which films will play in France in May then Telluride over Labor Day weekend.

From NBP's list, my best guesses would be:

Die, My Love/No Distribution/Lynne Ramsay

Eleanor the Great/Sony Pictures Classics/Scarlett Johansson

Orphan/No Distribution/Laszlo Nemes

The Chronology of Water/No Distribution/Kristen Stewart

The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/No Distribution/Kirill Serebrennikov

The History of Sound/Mubi/Oliver Hermanus

The Mastermind/Mubi/Kelly Reichardt

The Wave/No Distribution/Sebastian Lelio 

The Way of the Wind/No Distribution/Terrence Malick

The Young Mother's Home/No Distribution/The Dardennes Brothers

NBP is also predicting films from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster, Jim Jarmusch and Spike Lee.  For various reasons I doubt any of those will be Telluride bound.

The complete list of Next Best Picture's Cannes' guesses can be found here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Naomi Watts for The Friend from Indiewire (and MTFB acquaintance Tomris Laffly)

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