Back and Forth / A New Possibility?/ WWBP? / Trailer for The Hand of God

 BACK AND FORTH

Three films keep giving me fits regarding whether they will or won't be on the TFF #48 lineup when it's announced in nine days:

The French Dispatch

Bergman Island

Dune

In the cases of The French Dispatch and Bergman Island it's a matter of conflicting claims about the accuracy of their premiere status that has been reported.

For Dune it's a conflict between what premiere status has been telling us and definitive claims that it will not play from sources who have better access than I do.  

At the moment, we await the second wave of films for Fantastic Fest.  Should Dube popup there, that would all but confirm the "No Dune at Telluride" narrative.  Could Dune play at FF?  Well, I think that's it's possible.  The genre based film fest proudly proclaims on its webpage that it has screened Parasite, There Will Be Blood and Jojo Rabbit among others so a Dune screening would not shock me.

I'm currently slightly leaning to the notion that The French Dispatch will play at Telluride.  Bergman Island, I think may still be a Telluride no-show.

There are also a couple of things that I'm pretty close to saying they'll be at Telluride.  I'll likely get to those in Thursday's post of the 10th Ten Bets list.

A NEW POSSIBILITY?

Friend of MTFB Chris Schneider caught a Tweet the other day that points to the possibility of the inclusion of a film that hasn't been on my radar at all.  

The film: Peter Hedges' The Same Storm. Hedges has an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of About a Boy.  Hedges has also directed and written Ben Is Back, What's Eating Gilbert Grape for which Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and Pieces of April for which Patricia Clarkson was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  He's also Lucas Hedges' father.

The best evidence that this is a real TFF possibility?  The tweet has since been deleted.

Here is the IMDb entry for The Same Storm.

WWBP?

He's a Telluride favorite and an Oscar winner and he's back this year as The SHOW's Guest Director.  He is Barry Jenkins.  Frankly, I think he's the perfect choice for the gig.

So I began to wonder...could a guy predict what would Barry program (WWBP) ?

There's a wealth of material from the last five years about the films that Mr. Jenkins has said have influenced him.  Do they point to some film choices that the 2021 TFF Guest Director might program?  He's already said that the selections are locked via Twitter:

Maybe.  For fun, let's say that they do and make some guesses based on publicly available interviews and such.  As I recall, the TFF Guest Director normally programs around six selections.  So here are some thoughts (with something of a bibliography following):

1) Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher.  I think this popped up more than any other individual film that Jenkins has named as a a film of influence and quality. Also, there's a new restoration that's also scheduled to screen at the New York fest.

2) Something from John Cassavetes.  Jenkins appears to reference Cassavetes as a director and his a number of his films more than any other single director at least from the various lists and interviews that I have come across.  He mentions a number of Cassavetes' films that it's a substantial list to choose from.  I'm assuming that he will only program a single Cassavetes' film (but maybe it could be more than one).  So...what Cassavetes?  I'm going to go with A Woman Under the Influence.  I'm almost certainly wrong, but if it's not this, I still kind of expect a John Cassavetes' selection: Shadows?, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie?, Faces? Opening Night?

3) Something from Jacques Tati...Let's go with The Big Day.

4) Something from Jacques Demys...Lola?

5) David Gordon Green's George Washington

6) Claire Denis' Beau Travail

Some other possibilities (or maybe I'm just projecting): Blood Simple, Pather Panchali, Stalker, Solaris The Dekalog.

Of course, it's likely that Mr. Jenkins programs films that are not on the above list at all.  Still, fun to think about.

Here's the bibliography:

https://mubi.com/lists/barry-jenkins-favorite-films

https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/barry-jenkins-favorite-films/

https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/barry-jenkins-film-style-wong-kar-wai-claire-denis-lynne-ramsay-1201834261/

https://t.co/em5qdtMde1?amp=1

TRAILER FOR THE HAND OF GOD

We're pretty sure that Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God will be playing Telluride.  We got a new trailer for the film this past week.  Here it is from You Tube:

That's it for today.  Will have a new Ten Bets on Thursday...

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Venice Lineup Revealed / Official Teaser for Almodovars's Madres Paralelas / Charlatan Trailer Released

Late to the starting line today...

VENICE LINEUP REVEALED

The Venice Film Festival announced its 2021 lineup this morning.  Here's the list via Indiewire:

Opening Night

“Parallel Mothers,” Pedro Almodóvar (in competition)

Competition/Venezia 78

“Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” Ana Lily Amirpour

“Un Autre Monde,” Stephanie Brize

“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion

“America Latina,” Damiano D’Innocenzo and Fabio D’Innocenzo

“L’Evenement,” Audrey Diwan

“Official Competition,” Gaston Duprat and Mariana Cohn

“Il Buco,” Michelangelo Frammartino

“Sundown,” Michel Franco

“Illusions Perdues,” Xavier Giannoli

“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal

“Spencer,” Pablo Larrain

“Freaks Out,” Gabrielle Mainetti

“Qui Rido Io,” Mario Martone

“On the Job: The Missing 8,” Erik Matti

“Leave No Traces,” Jan P. Matuszynski

“Captain Volkonogov Escaped,” Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov

“The Card Counter,” Paul Schrader

“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino

“Reflection,” Valentyn Vasyanovych

“La Caja,” Lorenzo Vigas

Out of Competition (Fiction)

“Il Bambino Nascosto,” Roberto Ando (closing film of the festival)

“Les Choses Humaines,” Yvan Attal

“Ariaferma,” Leonardo di Costanzo

“Halloween Kills,” David Gordon Green

“La Scoula Cattolica,” Stefano Mordini

“Old Hnery,” Potsy Ponciroli

“The Last Duel,” Ridley Scott

“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve

“Last Night in Soho,” Edgar Wright

“Scenes From a Marriage” (Episodes 1-5), Hagai Levi

Out of Competition (Non Fiction)

“Life of Crime 1984-2020,” Jon Alpert

“Tranchees,” Loup Bureau

“Viaggio Nel Crepuscolo,” Augusto Contento

“Republic of Silence,” Diana el Jeiroudi

“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song,” Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine

“Deandre#Deandre Storia Di Un Impiegato,” Roberta Lena

“Django and Django,” Luca Rea

“Ezio Bosso. Le Cose Che Restano,” Giorgio Verdelli

Out of Competition (Special Screenings)

“Le 7 Giornate di Bergamo,” Simona Ventura

“Il Cinema Al Tempo del Covid,” Andrea Segre

Out of Competition (Short Films)

“Plastic Semiotic,” Radu Jude

“The Night,” Tsai Ming-Liang

“Sad Film,” Vasili (Pseudonym)

Horizons/Orizzonti

“Les Promesses,” Thomas Kruithof

“Atlantide,” Yuri Ancarani

“Miracle,” Bogdan George Apetri

“Pilgrims,” Laurynas Bareisa

“Il Paradiso Del Pavone,” Laura Bispuri

“The Falls,” Chung Mong-Hong

“El Hoyo en la Cerca,” Joaquin Del Paso

“Amira,” Mohamed Diab

“A Plein Temps,” Eric Gravel

“107 Mothers,” Peter Kerekes

“Vera Dreams of the Sea,” Kaltrina Krasniqi

“White Building,” Kavich Neang

“Anatomy of Time,” Jakrawal Nilthamrong

“El Otro Tom,” Rodrigo Pla and Laura Santullo

“El Gran Movimiento,” Kiro Russo

“Once Upon a Time in Calcutta,” Aditya Vikram Sengupta

“Rhino,” Oleg Sentsov

“True Things,” Harry Wootliff

“Inu-Oh,” Yuasa Masaaki

Horizons/Orizzonti Extra

“Land of Dreams,” Sherin Neshat and Shoja Azari

“Costa Brava,” Mounia Akl

“Mama, I’m Home,” Vladimir Bitokov

“Ma Nuit,” Antoinette Boulat

“La Ragazza Ha Volato,” Wilma Labate

“7 Prisoners,” Alexandre Moratto

“The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,” Teemu Nikki

“La Macchina Delle Immagini di Alfredo C.,” Roland Sejko

Your best possible Telluride players from this include:

Madres Paralelas/Almodovar

The Power of the Dog/Campion

The Card Counter/Schrader

Spencer/Larrain

The Hand of God/Sorrentino

Dune/Villeneuve

The Last Duel/Scott

The next nugget of info from Venice that will aid us will be when they release the screening schedule.  We already know that Almodovar's Madres Paralelas opens the fest on Sept. 1 and believe that Dune will screen Sept. 3rd.  For a film to make the trans-Atlantic jump from Venice to T-ride, realistically the last date it could play Venice and make it to Telluride is that Sept. 3rd date.  Maybe Sept. 4th. but that'd be a real stretch.

Here's the link to the complete Indiewire post re: Venice.

OFFICAL TRAILER FOR ALMODOVAR'S MADRES PARALELAS 

With the announcement this morning of the lineup for the Venice Fest also came the release of a teaser trailer for that Fest's opening night film: Pedro Almodovar's Madres Paraleas.  I think it snads a good chance to play at TFF #48.

Here's the teaser from YouTube:

CHARLATAN TRIALER RELEASED

Agnieszka Holland's Charlatan was a choice for last year's cancelled TFF #47.  The film officially released in the U.S, over this past weekend.

Here's the trailer for it from YouTube:

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Incoming from Toronto / Cannes Awards Winners / The Last Duel for TFF #48? / Late Breaking: Pedro Opens Venice

 INCOMING FROM TORONTO

It's all been speculation, slips of the tongue and cryptic references about Telluride up to this point.  That changes tomorrow with the Toronto International Film Festival's announcement of Galas and Special Presentations.  It TIFF follows what has become the custom, each film announced will include a mention of that film's premiere status and if you know what each of those designations mean you can get a very good idea of some of the films that will or will not play at Telluride.

For TIFF's announcement tomorrow the designations you need to know are:

World Premiere which means the first public screening anywhere on the planet (test screenings don't count).

International Premiere which means the first screening of a film outside the film's nation of origin.  This designation signals that the World Premiere has occurred in that nation of origin.  This designation is bit "squishy" for a number of reasons.  For example, films with multiple producers/financers from different nations make this designation difficult to nail down sometimes.

North American Premiere which means the first public screening on the continent.  You' likely see it tomorrow on films that have already screened at Cannes.  That means no U.S. play will have occurred.

Canadian Premiere which means the first public screening in Canada. 

An International Premiere or Canadian Premiere status points to a possible Telluride play but isn't a lock.  For example, if TIFF programs a Sundance Film that would be classified as an International Premiere.  If that Sundance film also played Cannes, then TIFF would label it a Canadian Premiere.  So these two designations don't automatically mean a Telluride play.

If a film is designated a World or North American Premiere...that means no Telluride.

We've already had an example of how this works this season with the New York Film Fest's announcement that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will have its U.S. Premiere there.  Since TFF precedes NYFF we can conclude two things: the film won't play Telluride because if it had, New York couldn't designate it as a U.S. Premiere.  We also know that it will have played Toronto because if it hadn't, New York would bill it as a North American Premiere.

Couple of other notes: there will be errors.  Sometimes that's on the part of TIFF inaccurately designating a film's status.  Sometimes it's because of the "squishy" nature of the International Premiere status and sometimes I just miss something I should have caught.

The other note is that there will be joy and disappointment.  Joy at the inclusion of films that I'll be thrilled to be chosen for Telluride and disappointment that films I am hoping for will likely not be making it to the San Juans.

There will also be that first moment that affirms or denies the efficacy of this summer's Ten Bets.

Here's the latest Ten Bets that I posted last Thursday...we'll start to see if any of this lands tomorrow:

1) Something from Mark Cousins***

2) Muhammad Ali/Burns. Burns and McMahon

3) The Card Counter/Schrader

4) The Power of the Dog/Campion

5) Madres Paralelas (Parallel Mothers)/Almodovar

6) The Velvet Underground/Haynes

7) Nightmare Alley/Del Toro

8) A Hero/Farhadi

9) Julia/Cohen and West

10) Spencer/Larrain

Other Possibles: Dune, Where Is Anne Frank?, Paris 13th District and The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Blonde, Cow, House of Gucci, The Last Duel, Mothering Sunday and Bergman Island.

***Mark Cousins projects that could play:

The Story of Looking

The Storms of Jeremy Thomas

The Story of Film: The Next Generation

My biggest hopes for Telluride at this point are: Nightmare Alley, Dune and Blonde.

I'll likely have a SPECIAL EDITION tomorrow with a rundown of what the TIFF announcement tells us.

CANNES AWARDS WINNERS

Julia Ducournau's Titane won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or from a Spike Lee led jury on Saturday.  The film's IMDB description:

"Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years. Titane : A metal highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with high tensile strength alloys."

The film's Palme win likely increases its chance to play at Telluride but it's not a lock.  In the years since I've been doing this the Palme to Telluride connection only happens about half the time.  Titane's distributor is NEON which probably tips the scales a bit toward TFF #48 inclusion.

Other notable awards included a the Grand Prix to Asghar Farhadi's A Hero (tied with Compartment #6).  Leos Carax was named Best Director for Annette.

The complete list of Cannes' winners is here from Variety.

THE LAST DUEL FOR TFF #48?

Chris Evangelista posted an article about what is known about Ridley Scott's The Last Duel for SlashFilm last Wednesday.  It included casting info (Adam Driver, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer), release dates (Oct. 15th) descriptions of the film and the book upon which it's based.  Damon, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener co-wrote the screenplay.

Of note was these two sentences early on in the post:

"For now, though, you can bank on this one being a strict theatrical release. You can also probably expect it to play some fall festivals, like TIFF or Telluride (that’s just a guess on my part, but I think it’s a good guess)."

An extra note here to remind readers that Affleck's Argo debuted at Telluride in 2012 and that worked out well for him.  Holofcener was in Telluride in 2018 with Can You Ever Forgive Me? (3 Oscar nominations).

Could The Last Duel make an appearance at TFF #48?  Evangelista thinks it's a possibility.

Here's the entire SlashFilm article.

LATE BREAKING: PEDRO OPENS VENICE

Just in as I go to post this morning is news that Pedro Alomodovar's Madres Paralelas will open the Venice Film Festival.  That keeps it in good position as a possible inclusion for Telluride.  Details here from The Playlist.

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Still a Little Wonky / Pete Hammond at the TFF Party / ICYMI: Barry Jenkins Will Guest Direct TFF #48

STILL A LITTLE WONKY

Fair Warning...the next three weeks will be weird and MTFB may not post quite as it normally does.  The Chief Executive is art showing over the next couple of weeks with The Festival of the Arts in Oklahoma City this week (and it does run almost the entire week) followed by a crazy three day drive to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts to do the Independence Day weekend Berkshires Art Festival.

I'll attempt to keep to my normal Monday/Thursday posting sked and I am planning for the first "Ten Bets" for TFF #48 to hit on Thursday, June 24th.  But no promises...if the art tent collapses... 

PETE HAMMOND AT THE TFF PARTY

Every year, except, of course, last year, the Telluride Film Festival hosts a big wing-ding in L.A.  That wing-wing happened last Thursday.  Deadline's Pate Hammond was on hand and filed a report on Friday filled with hints and guesses at films that could be Telluride bound.  Amoing the juicier of the items was this line about Netflix films:

"I have reliably heard that Netflix — of course, still not going to Cannes next month — will have at least four films at T-Ride if things work out."

If you look back at my review of Netflix possibilities that I posted on May 17th you'll see that I pegged the following as Netflix's most Likely T-ride players:

The Power of the Dog

Blonde

The Hand of God

tick, tick...BOOM

Don't Look Back

If any of this make up that group of four, that's a powerhouse of a lineup!  I'm personally pulling for Dominik's Blonde, Miranda's tick, tick, BOOM, McKay's Don't Look Back and Campion's The Power of the Dog being the four.  

But note Hammond's qualifier "if things work out".

Here's the link back to my May 17th post.

Hammond also mentions Warner Bros. and Denis Villenueve's Dune:

"I am told Warner Bros, which just confirmed Denis Villeneuve’s Dune for Venice, is possibly going to have a film hit Telluride as well, likely one of its awaited fall titles like David Chase’s Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho or even November title King Richard with Will Smith."

Personally, I still think Dune is the most likely TFF #48 player from Warners and the one about which I would be most excited.

Then it's to Searchlight.  Here's what Hammond writes:

"There was a strong Searchlight contingent spotted, and they usually are good for one or two movies. Whether Cannes entry Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch is one of them is unknown (it has also been announced for NYFF), but September release The Eyes of Tammy Faye with Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield makes sense."

And while I don't discount the possibility that "Tammy Faye" could play (I actually am leaning toward it being at Toronto and skipping T-ride right now), my guess is that Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley (also from Searchlight) is probably more likely and don't totally discount Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins.  Check my Searchlight analysis from my May 24th post.

Hammond also says that Amazon Studios was out in force at the Thursday evening soiree. 

The complete Hammond account of he party is linked here.

ICYMI: BARRY JENKINS TO GUEST DIRECT TFF #48

From the TFF press release:

Los Angeles, CA – Telluride Film Festival, presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins as its 2021 Guest Director. The celebrated filmmaker is set to select a series of films to present at the 48h Telluride Film Festival running September 2 - 6, 2021. 

 Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Jenkins’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until Opening Day.

“Each year as we think about who a good Guest Director would be, Tom and I weigh different factors,” said executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Many are based in the intellectual realm: film knowledge, appreciation and, of course, serious talent. But our recipe always includes something more ephemeral – something that has to do with the quality of the human heart. Rare is the person who exceeds on each of these criteria. Barry Jenkins checks every box and more. We feel lucky and a little incredulous that our long-time friend and very talented colleague has agreed to join us as Guest Director this year. The whole world knows of Barry’s gifts, and we’re thrilled that he is taking the time to share the films he loves in a place with the people who love him dearly.”

Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins’ feature film debut, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, was hailed as one of the best films of 2009 by The New York Times and received several Independent Spirit and Gotham Award nominations. In 2019, along with playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, Jenkins received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his second feature the Academy Award and Golden Globe winning Best Picture MOONLIGHT. As well as earning eight Academy Award nominations, ten Broadcast Critics Choice Awards nominations, six Golden Globe nominations and four BAFTA nominations, MOONLIGHT won Best Picture and Director at the Gotham Awards and Best International Film by the British Independent Film Awards. In addition to NYFCC and NBR awarding Jenkins Best Director and LAFCA naming him Best Director and the film Best Picture, Jenkins received a DGA Best Director nomination and won the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay. His third feature, the adaptation of James Baldwin’s IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK went on to receive three Academy Award nominations and won Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards. Jenkins also received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director. Jenkins’ next feature film projects include a follow up to THE LION KING for Walt Disney Studios as well as a biopic of famed choreographer, Alvin Ailey, for Searchlight Pictures.

For television, Jenkins directed an episode in the first season of the Netflix Original Series DEAR WHITE PEOPLE. His most recent project for television is the critically acclaimed adaptation of Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Colson Whitehead’s THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD for Amazon. Jenkins has directed all episodes and written a number of the screenplays. Upcoming work includes a script based on the life of the first American Female Olympic boxing champ Clarissa “T-Rex” Shields as well as an adaptation of Netflix’s original documentary, VIRUNGA, about the battle to save the Congo’s mountain gorilla population.

My first Telluride was the 29th festival, in 2002. In the time since, I've done many things at the festival both high -- opening the Werner Herzog Cinema as Ringmaster and, of course, the world premiere of Moonlight -- and low (rolling up the floor of the Max at festival's end was a rite of passage). When I was approached about curating the Filmmakers of Tomorrow program many years ago, I was honored to be invited deeper into the inner workings of the festival I loved so dearly; being invited to curate a program as Guest Director is an honor my 2002 self would never imagine. We've all been tucked away in our silos longing for the day when we can safely venture out into communal spaces to once again partake in the rituals of cinema we love so dearly. I never doubted that the show would once again go on. But having a role in what is shown? Yes, that is quite the honor indeed. My thanks to Tom and Julie for bestowing this wonderful gift upon me. I'll see everyone at the SHOW. 

Past Guest Directors include Pico Iyer, Jonathan Lethem, Joshua Oppenheimer, Volker Schlöndorff, Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Žižek.

 The Guest Director program is sponsored by Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Considered throughout the industry as one of the leading authorities on classic film, the network presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, highlighting the entire spectrum of film history. 

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LATE BREAKING: TFF CHOSES BARRY JENKINS AS 2021 GUEST DIRECTOR / Little Late and a Little Short / This and That

LATE BREAKING: TFF CHOSES BARRY JENKINS AS 2021 GUEST DIRECTOR

From the TFF press release:

Los Angeles, CA – Telluride Film Festival, presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins as its 2021 Guest Director. The celebrated filmmaker is set to select a series of films to present at the 48h Telluride Film Festival running September 2 - 6, 2021. 

Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas and overlooked films to Telluride. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Jenkins’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until Opening Day.

“Each year as we think about who a good Guest Director would be, Tom and I weigh different factors,” said executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Many are based in the intellectual realm: film knowledge, appreciation and, of course, serious talent. But our recipe always includes something more ephemeral – something that has to do with the quality of the human heart. Rare is the person who exceeds on each of these criteria. Barry Jenkins checks every box and more. We feel lucky and a little incredulous that our long-time friend and very talented colleague has agreed to join us as Guest Director this year. The whole world knows of Barry’s gifts, and we’re thrilled that he is taking the time to share the films he loves in a place with the people who love him dearly.”

Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins’ feature film debut, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, was hailed as one of the best films of 2009 by The New York Times and received several Independent Spirit and Gotham Award nominations. In 2019, along with playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, Jenkins received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his second feature the Academy Award and Golden Globe winning Best Picture MOONLIGHT. As well as earning eight Academy Award nominations, ten Broadcast Critics Choice Awards nominations, six Golden Globe nominations and four BAFTA nominations, MOONLIGHT won Best Picture and Director at the Gotham Awards and Best International Film by the British Independent Film Awards. In addition to NYFCC and NBR awarding Jenkins Best Director and LAFCA naming him Best Director and the film Best Picture, Jenkins received a DGA Best Director nomination and won the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay. His third feature, the adaptation of James Baldwin’s IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK went on to receive three Academy Award nominations and won Best Picture at the Independent Spirit Awards. Jenkins also received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director. Jenkins’ next feature film projects include a follow up to THE LION KING for Walt Disney Studios as well as a biopic of famed choreographer, Alvin Ailey, for Searchlight Pictures.

For television, Jenkins directed an episode in the first season of the Netflix Original Series DEAR WHITE PEOPLE. His most recent project for television is the critically acclaimed adaptation of Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Colson Whitehead’s THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD for Amazon. Jenkins has directed all episodes and written a number of the screenplays. Upcoming work includes a script based on the life of the first American Female Olympic boxing champ Clarissa “T-Rex” Shields as well as an adaptation of Netflix’s original documentary, VIRUNGA, about the battle to save the Congo’s mountain gorilla population.

My first Telluride was the 29th festival, in 2002. In the time since, I've done many things at the festival both high -- opening the Werner Herzog Cinema as Ringmaster and, of course, the world premiere of Moonlight -- and low (rolling up the floor of the Max at festival's end was a rite of passage). When I was approached about curating the Filmmakers of Tomorrow program many years ago, I was honored to be invited deeper into the inner workings of the festival I loved so dearly; being invited to curate a program as Guest Director is an honor my 2002 self would never imagine. We've all been tucked away in our silos longing for the day when we can safely venture out into communal spaces to once again partake in the rituals of cinema we love so dearly. I never doubted that the show would once again go on. But having a role in what is shown? Yes, that is quite the honor indeed. My thanks to Tom and Julie for bestowing this wonderful gift upon me. I'll see everyone at the SHOW. 

Past Guest Directors include Pico Iyer, Jonathan Lethem, Joshua Oppenheimer, Volker Schlöndorff, Rachel Kushner, Guy Maddin, Caetano Veloso, Michael Ondaatje, Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, B. Ruby Rich, Phillip Lopate, Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier, John Boorman, John Simon, Buck Henry, Laurie Anderson, Stephen Sondheim, G. Cabrera Infante, Peter Sellars, Don DeLillo, J.P. Gorin, Edith Kramer and Slavoj Žižek.

 The Guest Director program is sponsored by Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Considered throughout the industry as one of the leading authorities on classic film, the network presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, highlighting the entire spectrum of film history. 

 For more information about Telluride Film Festival, visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

 LITTLE LATE AND A LITTLE SHORT

Pardon the later than normal posting time for todays' MTFB.  Also pardon it's brevity.  I'm working this week as a part of the staff for the National Speech and Debate Association's National Tournament.  High School students from across the nation and even from around the world are competing remotely to be national champions in a number of events.  We'll wrap up on Saturday.

THIS AND THAT

Here's a summary of a couple of items of interest regarding the 48th Telluride Film Festival:

1) Chances that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch screening at Telluride  seem to have dimmed this week as an alert MTFB fan sent along an article from The Playlist that labels its already announced New York Film Fest screening as its "American Premiere" which would likely indicate a slot at Toronto but not Telluride.  NYFF also claimed that the film will host the U.S. Premiere as a part of a link to their announcement back in late May.  The link to that statement is: https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2021/announcements/

2) Dune will play Venice...which could mean that it then makes the trip across the Atlantic to bow at Telluride.  Dune's screening date, however, is claimed to set for Sept. 3rd which doesn't preclude a Venice/Telluride double play but makes it a little trickier.  Indiewire is reporting the Sept. 3rd date.

3) Check out some conversations about Muhammad Ali that are a precursor to the Ken Burns' documentary about the late boxing champion that I suspect will part of the TFF #48 lineup.  You can find that link here.

4) Sean Penn's Flag Day won't rise at Telluride.  The film now has an announced release date of August 13th.

5) Here's a conversation featuring Guillermo Del Toro and Bradley Cooper about Nightmare Alley...which is still on  my list of possible TFF #48 titles.  

That's all for today...

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Assessing A24 / Indiewire's Oscar List / French Dispatch News Leaves the Door Open

 ASSESSING A24

Continuing my look at film distributors who have had a significant presence at TFF over the last half decade my attention today is on A24.

Here's their footprint at TFF over the past few years:

2012: Ginger and Rosa

2013: Under the Skin

2015: Room

2016: Moonlight

2017: First Reformed, Lady Bird, Lean on Pete

2019: Uncut Gems, Waves, First Cow

And A24's stockpile is large for the end of 2020.  The most likely films to play Telluride are probably:

C'mon C'mon

The Humans

The Tragedy of Macbeth

But there are others that could be in the TFF convo:

The Eternal Daughter

When You Finish Saving the World

Red Rocket

And actually, A24 still has others in the pipeline that could be selected.

INDIEWIRE'S OSCAR LIST

Indiewire's Zack Sharf has taken a stab at an early look at this next year's potential Oscar Best Picture contenders with a list of 30 films.  Indiewire posted the list last Thursday.  Looking it over it crosses my mind that I could make some sort of case for a Telluride bow for about half of them.  Let's give it a whirl in the order that the Indiewire article lists them and with a note or two about why they might be a T-ride player.

Spencer: Because it's directed by Pablo Larrain who doesn't have every project at Telluride but he's no stranger either.  Also, it's from NEON...which doesn't hurt.

C'mon C'mon: Because it's from A24 (see above).

Last Night in Soho: Because it's from Focus Features.  Also, I have a hunch it will be announced as a Cannes selection later this week which could be a sign of a Cannes-Telluride double play.  Also, the Oct. 22nd release date gives the film space to play T-ride, TIFF and/or New York.

The Humans: Also from A24 (see above).

The Card Counter: Because it's directed by Paul Schrader who has a lengthy relationship with TFF. It's also from Focus and its release date, Sept. 10th, suggests it could play Cannes/Telluride or Venice/Telluirde or Telluride as a stand alone festival appearance.

Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project (Soggy Bottom):  It's been since 2007 since PTA was in Telluride to aid in feting tribute recipient Daniel Day-Lewis and screen the first few minutes of There Will Be Blood.  Since then PTA has directed: The Master (2012-Venice, TIFF),  Inherent Vice (2014-NYFF, AFI) and Phantom Thread (2017-Palm Springs).  Persistent rumors that it will be announced for Cannes on Thursday and a November release date leave the door open for a number of fall fest scenarios if MGM decides to pursuer them.  Also, does the Amazon acquisition of MGM change any of the festival calculus?  

Nightmare Alley: Because it's directed/produced by Guillermo Del Toro and co-written by Kim Morgan (who co-guest directed the fest in 2014).  The distributor is Searchlight which has a long and fruitful relationship with Telluride.  The Dec. 3rd release date works too.

Dune:  Because it's directed by Denis Villenueve who has a substantial Telluride record.  Being from Warner Brothers doesn't necessarily hurt.  Oct. 1 is the release date which works too.  I won't be surprised if Dune has some spot in Cannes' or Venice's lineup.

The Power of the Dog: Because it's directed by Jane Campion whose last feature, Bright Star, played at TFF back in 2009 and who's best known triumph, The Piano, played T-ride in 1993.  It's from Netflix which likely bolsters its TFF chances.

The French Dispatch:  Because...well...it is from Serachlight.  Also, see below...

The Tragedy of Macbeth:  Director Joel Coen was in Telluride in 2013 with Inside Llewyn Davis and the film is being distributed by A24.  

Don't Look Up: Because it's from Netflix.  Normally, Adam McKay's lack of a Telluride trail over the past decade would keep me from posting the film as a TFF #48 possibility but...Netflix.

Tick, Tick...Boom: Also a Netflix joint and yes, I know that Netflix won't land everything in their larder in Telluride.  And, yes, there's their whole "no festival" approach to last year-though I did hear rumors that had Telluride gone on in 2020 that Mank would have screened there.

The Hand of God: Netflix

The Eyes of Tammy Faye: From Searchlight which is the biggest reason to think it could be in Telluride.  It also has a Telluride friendly release date of Sept. 17th.

The complete Indiewire list is linked here.

FRENCH DISPATCH NEWS LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN

I believe Variety broke the news late this week that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will be a part of the Cannes lineup.  Also among the items of interest about the film are its selection for the New York Film Fest and an official theatrical release date for Oct. 22nd.

What's interesting to me is that the Cannes screening is given as the "world premiere" but I couldn't find any premiere designation for the New York Fest in any of the stories that appeared after the initial announcement.  To me that suggests at least the chance that it could also screen at Telluride and/or Toronto.

Here's the story from:

Variety

Indiewire

The Playlist

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Searching Searchlight / Cannes and Venice This and That

 SEARCHING SEARCHLIGHT

My ongoing look at distributors who have been frequently represented at Telluride over the last five years continues today with Searchlight (Fox Searchlight prior to its acquisition by Disney).  Searchlight is one of four distributors that have had seven films at Telluride in the last half decade and their has been particularly noticeable:

2020: Nomadland (Oscar wins for Best Picture, Director and Actress)

2019: A Hidden Life 

2018: Can You Ever Forgive Me? (3 Oscar nominations), The Favourite (10 Oscar nominations  and 1 win for Best Actress) and The Old Man and the Gun.

2017: The Shape of Water ( 13 Oscar nominations with 4 wins including Best Picture and Director), Battle of the Sexes

Other notable appearances by (Fox) Searchlight at Telluride:  

2008: Slumdog Millionaire (won eight Oscars including Best Picture and Director)

2010: 127 Hours (six Oscar nominations), Black Swan (six Oscar nominations including a win for Best Actress)

2011: The Descendants (five Oscar nominations and a win for Best Adapted Screenplay)

2013: 12 Years a Slave (nine Oscar nominations with wins for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actress)

2014: Birdman (nine Oscar nominations with  four wins including Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay) and Wild (nominated for two Oscars).

That's five Best Picture winners from Searchlight through Telluride in the past 13 years.

So with all that in mind, here's what Searchlight currently has in its larder:

Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley

Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch

Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Scott Cooper's Antlers

There are another one or two outside shots but these five represent the most likely choices for TFF #48.  Del Toro and Cooper have the actual connections to Telluride with Del Toro's The Shape of Water and The Devil's Backbone having played TFF.  For Cooper it's been Black Mass and Hostiles.

The other three would all be good gets for Telluride based on buzz surrounding them.  Past history suggests one or two Searchlight films will make the lineup.  Three tops.

CANNES AND VENICE THIS AND THAT

I've seen some scuttlebutt over the past few days about films that are be eagerly sought for Cannes and/or Venice.

Buzz has been substantial about both Paul Thomas Anderson's Soggy Bottom (or whatever it is ultimately called) as well as Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog in terms of both Cannes and Venice.

Meanwhile, rumors persist that Denis Villenueve's Dune will be at Venice and have been fairly consistent for some time.  However a bit of rhetoric from Cannes director Thierry Fremaux about the possibility of a "planetary blockbuster" at the French fest has created speculation that Dune might bow in France in July rather than in Italy in September.

None of these scenarios would preclude any or all three of the films from making an appearance at Telluride and wouldn't that blow your mind?

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The Netflix List / News on Dune and The Card Counter / Cannes News A Week Later

THE NETFLIX LIST

As promised in the last edition of MTFB, today I'm beginning to look distributors who have the most presence at the festival over the past five years.  I'm starting with Netflix.  They have had 17 films at the last five TTFs. 

Netflix has two films as part of the announced TFF #47 lineup and those came as acquisitions after the fact as Netflix did not have rights for Concrete Cowboy or Pray Away when the film was named to the TFF 2020 list.

If Netflix continues to be a substantial player at Telluride, what films might that mean for TFF #48?  Navigating the vast number of titles Netflix perpetually is developing or acquiring makes parsing its possibilities a challenge, but let's give it a go.

At the moment, I have landed on five films that, should they be ready, might be part of a Telluride conversation.  In order of what I believe the likelihood of them making the actual TFF #48 lineup:

Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog

Andrew Dominik's Blonde

Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God

Lin Manuel Miranda's tick, tick...BOOM

Adam McKay's Don't Look Up

Untitled Nora Fingscheidt Project (with Sandra Bullock)

And who knows what else Netflix might pick up along the way.

NEWS ON DUNE AND THE CARD COUNTER

Denis Villenueve's Dune is reportedly a very likely choice for the Venice Film Festival according to Variety last Friday.  Villeneuve has had an extensive relationship with TFF over the years:

1998-August 32nd on Earth

2010-Incendies

2013-Prisoners

2016-Arrival

The news that his take on the Frank Herbert Sci-Fi classic is likely to play Venice normally would not necessarily be an immediate death knell for a Telluride North American premiere as the Venice to Telluride Two Step has become a fairly common place occurrence over the past several years.  Complicating matters this year include the ongoing pandemic.

Nevertheless, keep Dune in mind as a TFF #48 possibility.

Other films that Variety suggests are being rumored for Venice include Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God (see the Netflix list above), Gabriele Mainetti's Freaks Out, Bruno Dumont's On a Half Clear Morning and Xavier Giannoli's Lost Illusions.

Meanwhile Deadline reported over the weekend that Paul Schrader's The Card Counter starring Oscar Isaac has been dated by Focus Features for a Sept. 10th domestic release.  That allows for the chance of bows at Telluride and/or Cannes, Venice.  It essentially rules out a Toronto screening as TIFF opens Sept. 9th.

Schrader has a noticeable Telluride list:

1985-Misima: A Life in Four Chapters

1988-Patty Hearst

1990-The Comfort of Strangers

1997-Affliction

2000-Forever Mine

2002-Auto Focus

2008-Adam Resurrected

2017-First Reformed

CANNES NEWS A WEEK LATER

We found out Friday that we'll have to a week longer to find out what films have been selected to screen at the belated 2021 Cannes Film Festival.  Originally, the announcement had been planned for May 27th.  However, Variety's Elsa Keslassy reported on May 14th that the French film institution has moved the announcement to June 3rd.  

According to Variety:

"The reason for the date change is an abundance of movies that have been submitted to the festival, according to an industry source. The Official Selection, in particular the competition, is expected to be larger than usual."

The article goes on to repeat some things we already know, namely the Annette is opening the fest and Benedetta will play in competition.  Other films speculated as possible within the article include Flag Day, The Power of the Dog and Bergman Island.

The complete article is linked here.

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Indiewire Looks Ahead to Oscar Contenders for 2022 / Kohn Talks Cannes / New Mainstream Teaser

 INDIEWIRE LOOKS AHEAD TO OSCAR CONTENDERS FOR 2022

The industry turn of the page from the end of Oscar #93's season continued this past week with Indiewire's look forward to potential Oscar players for what we think will be an Oscar ceremony that happens roughly 10 months from now.

As is the custom here at MTFB, I look at their list of possible films to try to sniff out some Telluride possibilities.  This soon after The Academy Awards is always iffy in terms of projecting what might be in play by the time Labor Day comes around.  Compounding the parsing, of course, is the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and what transpires because of it.  

Nevertheless, here's a list of films from the Indiewire piece that could be Telluride choices (in the order they're presented in the story):

Paul Schrader's The Card Counter

Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley

Denis Villenueve's Dune

Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch

Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth

Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye

The complete Indiewire article is linked here.

KOHN TALKS CANNES

Thierry Fremaux, the Cannes Film Festival director, has been very vocal and adamant about that French fest's intent to be a live event from early to mid July.  Eric Kohn, writing at Indiewire raises some concerns about what films and film distribution outlets would be willing to be on the Croisette in nine weeks.

With announcement date now less than a month away, plans will have to come together very quickly for all involved.  Some titkles are known-Leos Carax's Annette, which is set to open the fest, wes Anderson's The French Dispatch and Paul Verhoeven's Benedatta.  Several other films have serious speculation swirling about them.

That said, Kohn raises some salient points that will surely have to be dealt with by all parties prior to the May 27th announcement.

Check out Kohn's story linked here.

NEW MAINSTREAM TEASER

On Friday The Playlist tweeted a new 17 second teaser for Gia Coppola's Mainstream.  The film stars Andrew Garfield and Maya Hawke.  It's set for release on May 7th.

You can take a peek at the peek by accessing the original tweet from IFC Films linked here.

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Gone, Gone, Gone / Gold Derby Looks at Oscar 2021...

GONE, GONE, GONE

Indiewire's Ryan Lattanzio wrote a piece that went up on Sunday afternoon...after passes went on sale for TFF #47.  Of most import to MTFB readers was the inclusion of some title speculation for this year's iteration of TFF.  Some of those titles you've seen consistently in this space.  Some are new...

Among the films mentioned in the article:

Mank
Nomadland
Hillbilly Elegy
Dune
Minari
Passing

I was able to purchase mine after a tense few minutes and a couple of hiccups.  That means that my wife and I will be attending our 15th consecutive fest.

The entire Lattanzio post is linked here.


You may notice that friend of MTFB Chris Schiller's tweet about the pass sale made the article.


GOLD DERBY LOOKS AT OSCAR 2021...

I've been dipping into the early Oscar speculation for the coming year as a way of gathering clues fro films that could also be on the lineup announcement for TFF #47 six months from now.  Gold Derby's look is among the most thorough around and provides us with a multiplicity of candidates to consider.

Their 2021 preview provides release date info, director and distributor.  All of those items can help as we try to sniff out some Telluride potentials.

So, what can we find that seems like it's worth contemplating for TFF from the Gold Derby list.  Among their "Leading Contenders:

The Father/Zeller/Sony Pictures Classics/Fall
Hillbilly Elegy/Howard/Netflix/Fall
MacBeth/Coen/A24/Fall
Mank/Fincher/Netflix/Fall
News of the World/Greengrass/Universal/Dec. 25
Next Goal Wins/Waititi/Searchlight/Fall
Nightmare Alley/Del Toro/Searchlight/Fall
Trial of the Chicago 7/Sorkin/Paramount/Sept. 25

Among their "Strong Contenders":

Ammonite/Lee/Neon/Fall
Dune/Villeneuve/Warner Bros./Dec. 18
Good Morning, Midnight/Clooney/Netflix/Fall
Ironbark/Cooke/Lionsgate/Fall
On the Rocks/S. Coppola/A24/Fall
Prisoner 760/Macdonald/BBC/Fall
Stillwater/McCarthy/Focus/Nov. 6


And from their "Possible Contenders":

Annette/Carax/Amazon/Fall
Blonde/Dominik/Netflix/Fall
The Eyes of Tammy Faye/Showalter/Searchlight/Fall
French Exit/Jacobs/Sony Picture Classics/Fall
Nomadland/Zhao/Searchlight/Fall
Red, White and Water/Neugebauer/A24/Fall

The complete Gold Derby post is linked here.


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