It Always Happens... / Who to Tribute? / Guest Director? / 1.1 Miilion

 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:

New York Fest Spotlight announcement.

Fantastic Fest lineup. 

Hampton Fest lineup.

Venice Fest schedule.

Alberto Barbera interview in Vanity Fair.

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.

1.1 MILLION

Michael's Telluride Film Blog went past 1.1 million lifetime views over the weekend.

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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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Cry Macho Trailer and Pics / French Dispatch Poster / Fantastic Fest Announcement Reveals...

CRY MACHO TRAILER AND PICS

There are some folks that think that Clint Eastwood's Cry Macho might be a TFF #48 selection and there is a case to made.  Eastwood has been the TFF before.  Most recently he attended in 2016 for the screening of Sully.  Eastwood was in attendance as were stars Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart.  Additionally, the project is from Warner Bros which, we believe from Pete Hammond's earlier reporting, will likely be screening at least one film in Telluride.  

My hope all along has been that WB title would be Denis Villenueve's Dune but my expectation for that happening has really cooled over the last two weeks.  So, if not Dune, then Cry Macho makes some sense as the next best guess for a WB title.

Cry Macho is set for a Sept. 17th release which hews closely to the model taken by Sully which was released Sept. 9, 2016.

Warners dropped both a trailer and a poster for the film since last Thursday's post.  Here's the poster:

And here, from YouTube, is the trailer:

BTW...I'm still not 100% convinced Cry Macho plays.  The other WB title in the mix is The Soprano's sequel The Many Saints of Newark.

FRENCH DISPATCH

I know a number of folks who are relatively adamant that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch will play TFF #48.  I'm more circumspect as there have been reports that the film's New York Film Festival screening will be it U.S. Premiere and if that's true it will mean that the film is NOT a Telluride player.

Nevertheless, enough people I respect think that it will play that I'm not inclined to completely remove it from my "Other Possibilities" list.

Personally, I hope we see it in T-ride.

At any rate, we got a new poster for the film from Searchlight this week (it looks Sergeant Peppery):

FANTASTIC FEST ANNOUNCEMENT REVEALS...

Fantastic Fest admittedly only rarely reveals information that unmasks a possible TFF title, but it's not impossible.  It has happened an occasion.  The FF folks revealed the first half of their lineup on Thursday and to the best of my ability, it doesn't look like any of the titles are going to be an overlap with TFF #48.  When you look at the Fantastic Fest designations the term that you want to look for is "Texas Premiere".  The films with that designation and their release status are:

Agnes (Tribeca)

The Beta Test (Tribeca)

Knocking (Sundance)

Last of the Wolves (NYAFF)

Limbo (NYAFF)

Midnight (NYAFF)

Mother Schmuckers (Sundance)

Premen (IMDb says released April 9th)

Sooo...no Fantastic Fest/Telluride double dip like there was in 2019 when the two fests shared Parasite.

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Joint Statement Revealed / Another Fest Goes Down / Venice Outlines Plans / SPC Teases French Exit

JOINT STATEMENT REVEALED

Film journalists yesterday received notices of a joint statement of cooperation between the Telluride, Toronto, Venice and New York Film Fests.  Here it is:

It's an interesting and perhaps a not entirely unexpected statement from all four fests.  It is, also light on any kind of detail in terms of what that cooperation means in a practical sense.

Kris Tapley tweeted about the announcement this way:

"Not entirely sure what this is actually saying beyond vaguely recognizing that there won’t be a crop of films big enough to sustain the usual jockeying for exclusivity."

 Writing for Deadline, Tom Grater:

"Traditionally the first port of call for films intending to launch into awards season, the fests are facing major changes to their 2020 editions due to ongoing virus disruption. In a joint statement today the event’s top brass say they are looking beyond the typical competitiveness that exists. It’s not clear exactly how that will manifest, but it may mean less of the typical scrapping to secure the top premieres in the best slots – the events are already planning to scale back their programs this year, and the Oscars being postponed to April 21 for 2021 also puts less pressure on landing those big contenders."

Yesterday afternoon Indiewire's Eric Kohn posted an informative piece about the cooperation announcement that included some clear statements about TFF #47

Kohn says:

1) Francis Lee's Ammonite will play TFF:

"Kate Winslet-starring lesbian drama “Ammonite,” a Cannes 2020 selection set to open this year from Neon, is slated at both Telluride and TIFF"

2) Documentary Notturno from Fire at Sea director Gianfranco Rosi will also play Telluride:

“Notturno,” a documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi set in the Middle East, will also hit the quartet of fall festivals with eye towards making its way into the documentary Oscar race."

3) Kohn says Telluride will be smaller and have considerable overlap (see below regarding average overlap):

"Both TIFF and Venice have already announced significant curtailing to their usual vast lineups, with 50 movies playing in each. (TIFF usually programs over 300.) Telluride and New York also will have smaller lineups and don’t utilize specific premiere policies, but they have been looking at many of the same titles in the programming process. Even without a specific mandate to combine forces, considerable overlap would be inevitable."

4) Telluride's Town Council is set to vote on the Film Fest proceeding on July 15th:

"And Telluride faces a vote from the Colorado mountain town’s city council on July 15 to determine whether it can hold the event at all"

5) Venice and Telluride may co-premiere some films:

"The festival heads jointly declined to comment for this story. However, sources said that Venice was ambivalent about whether official “collaboration” between the festivals would impact a change to its premiere policy, since it comes first in the calendar. However, the festival was exploring the possibility of hosting joint premieres timed to take place simultaneously in Telluride."

6) Kohn suggests that virtual Telluride screenings are a possibility:

"The programming heads debated the merits of holding virtual editions if physical gatherings become impossible; for the moment, all four festivals are exploring ways of combining physical and virtual aspects of their programs. That led to conversations about the ideal online screening platforms, safety standards, and protocols for handling filmmaker and industry guests, should choose to travel."

Kohn's complete analysis is linked here.

So... perhaps more overlap between fests?  For Telluride and Toronto that overlap has averaged 17.8 films per year over the past five years.  For New York it's 7.6 films per year and for Venice it's been 7.0 films per year.

As a parenthetical note I'll remind everyone that Indiewire suggested a few weeks back that Telluride would make some details known about its approach to their festival in "mid-July".  The above assessment from Kohn suggests that we'll find out some details after the town council votes on the 15th.

ANOTHER FEST GOES DOWN

Austin, TX. based Fantastic Fest has announced that it will not have a 2020 event due to Covid-19 .  The fest was originally scheduled for Sept. 24-Oct. 1.

The Cancellation of the fest is notable for Telluride observers as its announcement of titles each year would often provide information that allowed confirmation of a film for Telluride inclusion or exclusion.

Though the fest's press release says that the organizers have decided that a virtual event will not occur with new films, there will be a "Celebration of Fantastic Fest" online that will provide events online to highlight the festival's past.

Fest organizers have pledged that Fantastic Fest will return in 2021.

Here's the link to the release.

VENICE OUTLINES PLANS

The Venice Film Fest will be scaled down this year.  Variety reporting on Tuesday that the venerable film fest will screen 50-55 feature films with their announcement of what films will be playing revealed on July 28th.

Other items...they'll have two outdoor venues and will scrap some normal sections of their fest.

It will be interesting over the next few weeks as we hear from both Venice and Toronto what they will be screening and how the status for each film is characterized.

Variety's complete story is linked here.

As a side note, in a separately published interview with Variety Venice head Alberto Barbera reveals that David Fincher's Mank isn't ready which Barbera implies is a reason that it won't be at Venice, may blow a big hole in my "Netflix surprisingly plays films at Telluride" theory.

That interview is here.

SPC TEASES FRENCH EXIT 

Sony Pictures Classics tweeted a first look at the Michelle Pfeiffer starring French Exit this week.  Here's the photo:

Their tweet's text was simply: 

French Exit. 

Coming Soon.

Made me wonder if I should move it up into the next iteration of the Ten Bets (which I'll post next Thursday).

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Many Announcements-Still Questions / Wonder Has a New Trailer / Film Stars Uncertainty Continues / Our Souls at Venice and Then...

Good Thursday Friends.

MANY ANNOUNCEMENTS-STILL QUESTIONS

In the last 48 hours we have had information forthcoming from The New York Film Festival, Fantastic Fest and Toronto's Canadian Film lineup.  They all have things to tell us.

New York's main slate announcement on Tuesday added or confirmed (probably) six films for TFF #44.  Those added:  Agnes Varda's Visages/Villages, Aki Kaurismaki's The Other Side of Hope and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Before We Vanish.  Confirmed: Wonderstruck, Lady Bird and The Rider.

Films that I have thought might be Telluride choices that WILL NOT: The Florida Project (and that really saddens me-both because I am very interested in seeing the film and also because I was strongly thinking that it would play The SHOW), Spoor, Ismael's Ghosts and The Meyerowitz Stories.

The New York lineup info is here.

From Fantastic Fest's first wave announcement we discovered that Yorgos Thanimos' The Killing of a Scared Deer would have its U.S. Premiere there.  That took it off the list of possible Telluride Films.  Also, though their inclusion doesn't affect anything we already knew for TFF, both Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and The Square will also be making their U.S. Premiere in Austin.  It doesn't appear that any of the announced films for Fantastic Fest will double up with T-ride though further added titles are expected.

The Fantastic Fest announcement is here.

The Toronto International Film Festival announced their Canadian films for 2017 that are slotted in across their various programs.  Only a couple of things to be gleaned from that.

First, some thought, including me, that we might see Xavier Dolan's The Death and Life of John F. Donovan named by TIFF yesterday and it is was not.  That doesn't mean that it won't show up somewhere in TIFF's remaining two announcements but it seems odd that they wouldn't tout it as a big Canadian entry.

Otherwise, the second thing is that none of the announced Canadian titles are Telluride bound.  All are World Premieres.  I should also mention that that didn't remove any film off my list of films still floating out there that could make the Telluride list.

Here's Indiewire's coverage of yesterday's TIFF Canadian film announcement.


As of this morning here are the films that I am still tracking as possible TFF #44 titles that haven't been eliminated (in no particular order):

Happy End
Marshall
Wonder
Mary Magdalene
Loveless
Final Portrait
The Silent Man
Molly's Game
The Snowman
Lean on Pete
Redoubtable
L'amant Double
You Were Never Really Here
Our Souls at Night
Chappaquiddick
The Death and Life of John F. Donovan


WONDER HAS A NEW TRAILER

So many "wonder" films this year: Wonderstruck, Wonder Wheel, Wonder Woman, Professor Marston and The Wonder Women.  One big name "wonder" film still hasn't landed in a film fest lineup and that's Steven Chbosky's Wonder starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.  The film is coming from Lionsgate which had a great run last year (which included a stop at TFF #43) with La La Land.

The film could end up at Telluride.  It's listed at IMDb as being complete.

Lionsgate released a second trailer for the film yesterday.  Here that is from YouTube:

The film opens Nov. 17th.


FILM STARS UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES

It's been two weeks since Toronto's first wave of announced films that included Paul McGuigan's Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool starring Annette Bening.  TIFF labeled it as a Canadian Premiere from the get go.  That has meant that I have been including it as a Telluride film this past few days despite the fact that some reporting has claimed it would be "premiering" at Toronto.

Additionally, I have been careful to remind readers that the film's star, Annette Bening, is presiding over the Venice Film Fest's Golden Lion competition jury which surely means that she cannot attend T-ride in person.

Then late Tuesday, I ran across this story in the Hollywood Reporter's International edition that flat says the film is World Premiering at TIFF:

So, again, I checked the TIFF website and it still shows the film as a Canadian Premiere:

So, though I have been maintaining that FSDDIL would be in Telluride, I have to report that the THR Int'l blurb makes me nervous and less certain.  Film Stars will likely be somewhere on tomorrow's extended Ten Bets list but it will certainly move further down.

OUR SOULS AT VENICE AND THEN...

Ritesh Baktra's Our Souls at Night starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford was announced a few days back as a Venice selection in a non-competition slot.  Both of those actors will be honored by the fest.

I have thought that it might be possible that if Venice scheduled the film's screening in the right time frame that it might still be a Telluride possibility.  Now we may have a clue about that.

Film distrib Netflix dropped a teaser yesterday:

Among the coverage of the teaser's appearance was one article from Entertainment Weekly that says the film will bow in Italy on Sept. 1.

If true, does that time line work?  Probably.  Seeing as Venice is eight hours ahead of Telluride, a Sunday-Monday set of screenings seems like it could happen.

As I have mentioned before, there are factors that suggest that it could happen.  Batra has been to Telluride before.  Redford was a 2014 tribute recipient.  Netflix has had a solid relationship with the fest over the past couple of years.

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere has suggested the possibility in a post yesterday:

The complete HE post is here.


That's your Thursday post.  More to come tomorrow including Ten (but it'll be more) Bets #7.

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Categorical Weirdness / A Candidate for the Unusual Tribute / Coming Soon: Things to Come

Good Wednesday everybody...


CATEGORICAL WEIRDNESS

It seems to happen every year especially since Toronto and the rest of the film fest world moved to the "honest" premiere status requirement.  That is that between the various announcements of what's eiplaying where and when, there occur some weird anamolies.

Case in point...yesterday, I was alerted by friend of the blog Kenny Miles to the announcement of the film lineup for Fantastic Fest.  It's a film fest based in Austin, TX and will run Sept. 22-29 this year. Mr. Miles called my attention to FF's claim that Andrea Arnold's American Honey would play as a "Texas" premiere.  That's curious as we know that the film has played Cannes (World preem) and was announced last week for Toronto as a North American premiere.  That unto itself is partially beguiling.  What makes it all the more curious is that Fantastic Fest has listed other films with the designation of a "U.S. Premiere" (Aloys and The Crew for example).  What that seems to mean is that Fantastic Fest believes that American Honey will have played somewhere else in the U.S. prior to Sept. 22.

Unless I'm missing something, that means one of the designations from either TIFF or FF have to be inaccurate unless there's a film fest in the United States that's going to get it between Toronto (Sept. 8-18) and Fantastic Fest.   Off the top of my head, nothing springs to mind.  The Aspen Film Fest opens on Sept. 21, so I suppose that's a possibility.

Mr. Miles was curious about whether the "Texas" premiere designation might mean that a Telluride play was possible.  While I doubt it and I suspect that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation that I haven't tumbled onto yet...I can't completely rule it out.

Over the past three years there have been films which have been accidentally categorized in gthe wrong premiere category and there have also been a film or two that have flaunted the designation requirement and kept their Telluride presence under wraps.  Sooo...

Here's the Fantastic Fest announcement:

http://fantasticfest.com/news/entry/fantastic-fest-2016-announces-the-first-wave-of-progamming



A CANDIDATE FOR AN UNUSUAL TRIBUTE

In 2014 the Telluride Film Festival took the unusual step of tributing a film rather than a person.  Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now was feted with screenings as well as screenings of the documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse".  FFC was there along with DP Vittorio Sortaro, editor Water Murch and producer Fred Roos.  It was, I believe, the first time that a tribute honored something rather than someone or someones.

Which has got me wondering this week as I have been seeing the promo for the re-issue of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver for its 40th anniversary.  My understanding is that the film will be screened in theaters again.  Both Screen Daily and The Playlist are reporting spruced up version of a 2011 digital restoration.  At this point there are plans foe overseas screenings but no announced plan for the United States.

The film played last April at the Tribeca Film Fest (DeNiro's home festival) so we know that it's festival ready.

So, in the spirit of a tribute to Apocalypse Now, I humbly submit that Taxi Driver be afforded the same status in four weeks.  While you're at it, get Scorsese, DeNiro and Paul Schrader on board to be part of the presentation.

Here's the recently released teaser trailer for the 40th anniversary screenings from YouTube:

And the previously mentioned stories from Screen Daily and The Playlist:

http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/taxi-driver-gets-40th-anniversary-trailer/5107152.article

http://theplaylist.net/hit-streets-trailer-40th-anniversary-re-release-martin-scorseses-taxi-driver-20160801/

COMING SOON: THINGS TO COME

Overnight the folks at The Playlist dropped a new trailer for Mia Hansen-Love's Things to Come which played extremely well at this year's Berlin Film Fest winning the Silver Bear and is expected to make the Telluride lineup owing to its announced status as a Canadian premiere for the Toronto Film Fest.

Things to Come stars Isabelle Huppert.  Here is the new trailer from YouTube:

And the post from The Playlist:

http://theplaylist.net/isabelle-huppert-finds-freedom-new-trailer-mia-hansen-loves-things-come-20160803/


That's it for today.  Come back tomorrow when we may have new information from TIFF.

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