Obsessing about the Telluride Film Festival and the film awards season since 2008!
"The best blog out there for predicting what will be going to Telluride."-Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture
"The Nostradamus of Telluride"
-Tim Appelo, Movies for Grownups
"But it's our job." - Anne Thompson, Indiewire
MTFB'S INITIAL SET OF OSCAR PREDICTIONS: SUPPORTING ACTING
MTFB starts out its Oscar nomnation predicitions for the 2027 awards with our initial predix for Best Supporting Actress and Actor. TFF #53 artists are in Bold.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1) Anne Hathaway/The Odyssey
2) Penelope Cruz/The Invite
3) Samntha Morton/The Odyssey
4) Sandra Huller/Project Hail Mary
5) Penelope Cruz/La Bola Negra
Others: TBA/You Can See Everything, Kate O'Flynn/Tender Loving Care, Olivia Colman/Elsinore.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1) Andrew Garfield/Artificial
2) Paul Giammati/The Debut
3) Sam Rockwell/Wild Horse Nine
4) John Leguizamo/The Odyssey
5) Guitarricadelafuente/La Bola Negra
Others: Edward Norton/The Invite, Robert Pattinson.The Odyssey, Colman Domingo/Michael
GOTHAM AWARDS TO HONOR TFF #53 FILMS
Late ast week the Gotham Film and Media Institute announced that a number of TFF 353 films would be honored this year. The list:
Elsinore: Gotham Legacy Tribute in honor of Ian Charleson.
La Bola Negra: Gotham Vanguard Tribute
Danny Boyle will receive the Gotham Directors tribute for Ink.
We've made the run of post-festival ratings with the reportage of results from my annual poll of the People, the Professionals and then the Composite of both together. It looks like several films that screened at TFF #53 have the potential for Oscar success. So, as has become the custom here at MTFB, we turn the page to what happens now in awards season to the films that made up the TFF #53 lineup.
For quick reference here the ten movies that GD experts place as getting a Best Picture nomination (TFF #53 films are in Bold):
1) The Odyssey
2) Wild Horse Nine
3) Project Hail Mary
4) La Bola Negra
5) The Debut
6) The Invite
7) Dune: Part Three
8) Fjord
9) Digger
10) I Play Rocky
Three other TFF #53 films are in the Gold Derby Top 20 for Best Picture:
12) Elsinore
15) Club Kid
19) Fatherland
OSCAR EXPERTS EARLY PICKS: VARIETY
I'm going to run through about half-a-dozen or so Oscar experts and their early predictions focusing on what they're saying vis-a-vis TFF #53 films. We start with Clayton Davis of Variety. Here's every TFF #53 film he predicts as nominees for the 21 feature categories:
Leading the way from the Davis predictions is La Bola Negra with 11 predicted nominations:
La Bola Negra (11): Best Picture, International Feature, Direction, Supporting Actress (Cruz), Adapted Screenplay, Production Design. Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Sound, Score.
Wild Horse Nine (6): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Malkovich), Supporting Actor (Rockwell), Original Screenplay, Editing.
The Debut (5): Best Picture, Actress (Moore), Supporting Actor (Giamatti), Original Screenplay, Song.
Tender Loving Care (3): Best Actress (Bailey), Supporting Actress (O'Flynn), Original Screenplay.
Elsinore (2): Best Actor (Scott), Casting
You Can See Everything (1): Best Picture.
The Only Living Pickpocker in New York (1): Best Actor (Tutturro).
Fatherland (1): Best Actress (Huller),
Club Kid (1): Best Original Screenplay.
Everest: The Other Side (1): Best Documentary.
Fjord (1): Best International Feature.
Minotaur (1) Best International Feature.
A total of 12 TFF #53 films would earn 34 Oscar nominations per the predictions from Davis.
Well, here we are on the cusp of another Telluride Film Festival and as promised hare is a look at my final "bets" to play TFF #53. As a reminder of where we've been here:
The original Ten Bets from back in June (with what I think is playing designated with***):
***The Black Ball
***Bucking Fastard
Coward-NOPE
***The Debut
***Fatherland
***A Long Winter
***Minotaur
Paper Tiger-NOPE
The Story of Documentary Film-MAYBE
Yellow Letters-MAYBE
AND HERE'S THE FINAL PREDICITION
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) Bucking Fastard
6) Wild Horse Nine
7) Fatherland
8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
9) A Long Winter
10) Everest: The Other Side
11) Minotaur
12) Fjord
13) Tender Loving Care
14) Gentle Monster
15) Rose
16) The Man I Love
17)The Alpha Gang
18) My Undesirable Friends Part II
19) Rehearsal for a Revolution
20) The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
21) Tenzing
22) The Idiots
23) The Liberation
24) Making Marie Antoinette
25) One More Time
Other possibilities:
Ancient History
The Basics of Philosophy
Burgundy
Diamond
Primetime
Sense and Sensibility
The Story of Documentary Film
The Unknown
Yellow Letters
I'll post the announced schedule tomorrow morning when it's released.
THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-14TH EDITION
For the 14th 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.
Time to Rock 'n Roll...see you in The Ride!
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
As I write today's post, we are a week away from the lineup announcement. The easy work is done with Toronto, New York and Venice all revealing information from which we can infer probable films playing in Telluride. We're now in a phase where the sleuthing comes down to scraps of information online or from behind the scenes. In some ways it's the most fun.
Anyway, we're a week away and this is the next to last update before The SHOW kicks off next week. Reviewing last week's 20+ Bets:
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) Bucking Fastard
6) Wild Horse Nine
7) Fatherland
8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
9) A Long Winter
10) The Alpha Gang
11) Fjord
12) Minotaur
13) Everest: The Other Side
14) Tender Loving Care
15) Gentle Monster
16) Rose
17) The Man I Love
18) My Undesirable Friends Part II
19) Rehearsal for a Revolution
20) The Unknown
21) Tenzing
22) The Idiots
23) The Liberation
24) Making Marie Antoinette
25) One More Time
Other possibilities:
Ancient History
The Basics of Philosophy
Burgundy
Diamond
Primetime
The Story of Documentary Film
Yellow Letters
And here is this week's updated Bets:
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) Bucking Fastard
6) Wild Horse Nine
7) Fatherland
8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
9) A Long Winter
10) Everest: The Other Side
11) Minotaur
12) Fjord
13) Tender Loving Care
14) Gentle Monster
15) Rose
16) The Man I Love
17)The Alpha Gang
18) My Undesirable Friends Part II
19) Rehearsal for a Revolution
20) The Unknown
21) Tenzing
22) The Idiots
23) The Liberation
24) Making Marie Antoinette
25) One More Time
Other possibilities:
Ancient History
The Basics of Philosophy
Burgundy
Diamond
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Primetime
Sense and Sensibility
The Story of Documentary Film
Yellow Letters
I'll have one FINAL BETS post a week from today.
TRIBUTE CLUES FROM TELLURIDE
One of the ways that often give clues about what direction Tributes might be going has traditionally been to look at films scheduled for free in Elks Park prior to the start of the fest. Earlier this morning the flyer for the free screening s is up:
It's difficult to see here, but Wednesday night is a screening of Project Hail Mary and Thursday is Being John Malkovich. Draw your own conclusions,,,
OTHER OUTLETS TALK TELLURIDE
A number of film-centric websites are opining re: TFF #53's films. Links to some of those are here:
As I post this on Monday morning ( August 24th) the reality of TFF #53 is now down to 10 days. As with most years, the anticipation is what dominates now. Most of the detective work is complete. Oh, sure, they'll be some continued scuttlebutt to pass a long but in the last two weeks before the fest, additional information is hard to come by. So now, it's about the wait.
The Patterson's will be pulling on Wednesday morning next week. Some years ago we began to give ourselves a two day window to drive. Breaking the journey into a two day affair gives us a bit of time to acclimate before the fest cranks up on Friday.
It's a special year in 2026 as my grandson will be joining us. He says he's very excited.
So...the wait...
THE PEOPLE'S TELLURIDE-14TH EDITION
For the 14th 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.
INDIEWIRE TALKS POSSIBLE DOUBLE OSCAR NOMINEES FOR THIS YEAR
Anne Thompson at Indiewire had a piece up on which actors might have a shot at getting more than one acting Oscar nomination for this year. The article includes some folks who might be in Telluride next week.
Here's the rundown from her list of possibilities who probably have films at TFF #53 (listed in the order that Thompson addresses them in the post):
Sandra Huller: MTFB thinks Huller will have two films at Telluride: Fatherland and Rose. She also has her roles in Project Hail Mary and Digger that could merit some Oscar conversation.
Penelope Cruz: We think Cruz's La Bola Negra will be at TFF #53. Cruz also has roles in The Invite and Bunker.
Willem Dafoe: His Tenzing is probable for Telluride. He also is in Werewolf and Late Fame.
Other outside shots mentioned by Thompson include Anne Hathaway who could still potentially be at Telluride with Verity and Robert Pattinson if Primetime makes a late run from Venice to T-ride.
And here's your update with just two weeks left to The SHOW:
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) Bucking Fastard
6) Wild Horse Nine
7) Fatherland
8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
9) A Long Winter
10) The Alpha Gang
11) Fjord
12) Minotaur
13) Everest: The Other Side
14) Tender Loving Care
15) Gentle Monster
16) Rose
17) The Man I Love
18) My Undesirable Friends Part II
19) Rehearsal for a Revolution
20) The Unknown
21) Tenzing
22) The Idiots
23) The Liberation
24) Making Marie Antoinette
25) One More Time
Other possibilities:
Ancient History
The Basics of Philosophy
Burgundy
Diamond
Primetime
The Story of Documentary Film
Yellow Letters
TALKING TRIBUTES
We're so close to TFF #53 so it seems like a good time to speculate about TFF Tributes. The fest traditionally choses 3 individuals for this special honor each year. That can and has varied from time to time but three is the most common.
Past tribute recipients that could possibly be in Telluride include:
Cate Blanchett
Danny Boyle
Kem Burns
Mark Cousins
Penelope Cruz
Catherine Denueve
Werner Herzog
Mike Leigh
Rooney Mara
Paul Schrader
The list of potential recipients this year is lengthy:
Jimmy Chin/Everest: The Other Side
Olivia Colman/Elsinore
Willem Dafoe/Tenzing
Jesse Eisenberg/The Debut
Paul Giamatti/The Debut
Andrew Haigh/A Long Winter
Sandra Huller/Fatherland and Rose
Vicky Kreips/The Idiot(s)
John Malkovich/Wild Horse Nine
Martin McDonagh/Wild Horse Nine
Julianne Moore /The Debut
Cristian Mungiu/Fjord
Gut Pearce/Ink
Renate Reinsve/Fjord
Sam Rockwell/Wild Horse Nine
Ira Sachs/The Man I Love
Andrew Scott/Elsinore
Lea Seydoux/The Unknown, Alpha Gang and Gentle Monster
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi/Everest:The Other Side
Andrey Zvyagnistaev/Minotaur
And. of course, all of these could be wrong.
CLUB KID TRAILER AND POSTER REVEALED
Sitting this week at #4 on the list of MTFB's Bets is Club Kid. The film was a sensation at Cannes in May and I'll try to catch it at TFF. Here are a trailer (warning...language) and poster for the film:
From YouTube and A24:
And the new poster:
DIGGER TO BOW IN LONDON
For those that have been thinking that Alejandro Inarritu's Digger starring Tom Cruise might still be a viable choice as a "Sneak Preview" for Telluride despite repeated reports that the film was bypassing the fall film circuit...here's another blow to that hypothesis. Warners announce Tuesday that the film will World Premiere in London as a Royal Film Performance.
The announcement is big on making sure everyone knows it's a World Premiere.
That feels pretty definitive to me.
Could it still "sneak" at Telluride? Sure, it's possible but I'd put those chances right now at about 5%.
The New York Film Fest announced its Main Slate of films for 2026 and its use pf Premiere designations leads MTFB to the following conclusions:
New films to add to your TFF #53 list are:
Fatherland
Rose
My Undesirable Friends Part II
The Man I Love
Also, we think confirmed for Telluride, films we already decided would play from earlier announcements:
Minotaur
A Long Winter
The Unknown
Additional announcements from Toronto suggest T-ride will screen Rehearsals for a Revolution but will not have Alex Gibney's Musk.
I'm pretty sure we have more news coming from both Toronto and New York. Perhaps even today. Watch MTFB Social Media accounts (see below) for any updates that may occur during the day.
so, with new info, here's the latest "Ten (Plus) Bets...
TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 8
Got some changes now...
Last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
6) A Long Winter
7) Fjord
8) Minotaur
9) Everest: The Other Side
10) Tender Loving Care
11) Gentle Monster
12) Tenzig
13) Bucking Fastard
14) Fatherland
15) The Story of Documentary Film
Other possibilities: Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang, The Unknown, Sense and Sensibility.
And your shiny brand new Bets:
Andrew Scott in Elsinore
1) Elsinore
2) The Debut
3) Ink
4) Club Kid
5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
6) A Long Winter
7) Fjord
8) Minotaur
9) Everest: The Other Side
10) Tender Loving Care
11) Gentle Monster
12) Tenzig
13) Fatherland
14) Rose
15) The Man I Love
16) My Undesirable Friends Part II
17) Rehearsal for a Revolution
18) The Unknown
19) Bucking Fastard
20) The Story of Documentary Film
Other possibilities:
Ancient History
Alpha Gang
The Basics of Philosophy
Burgundy
Company
Diamond
Primetime
Saturn Return
Sense and Sensibility
Wild Horse Nine
Yellow Letters
TIDBITS
***Netflix has moved the release date for La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) up from its original date of Nov. 6th to Oct 16th. The streamer is giving the Cannes hit a 47 day theatrical window in what is seen as a bid to enhance its Oscar prospects.
***Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut has been announced as the closing night film for the BFI/London Film Festival.
Both films are widely expected to screen over Labor Day weekend in Telluride.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
Here's a quick snapshot of films that I believe could still make the Telluride lineup:
Ancient History
The Basics of Philosophy
Bucking Fastard
Company
Diamond
The Dreamed Adventure
Everytime
Fatherland
Musk
Primetime
Rose
Saturn Return
Sense and Sensibility
Wild Horse Nine
Yellow Letters
and if there is a Sundance crossover:
Josephine
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
The Weight
TWO AND ONE HALF MILLION VIEWS
MTFB swept past 2.5 million views in is 18 year history over the weekend. those views are from 2477 posts that have posted since august of 2008. Average per post 1009.2 views.
Thanks to all the readers!
LA BOLA NEGRA (THE BLACK BALL) HAS A POSTER
TIDBITS
***Gentle Monster to open in the U.S. on Oct. 30th
***Fatherland to open in the U.S. on Oct. 23rd.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
The countdown to TFF #53 grows shorter and shorter.
Here's the fifth installment of MTFB's Ten Bets, the weekly guess at what films make the Telluride lineup. We start with a reminder of last week's bets:
Artificial
Bucking Fastard
Club Kid
Coward
The Debut
Elsinore
Fatherland
La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
Minotaur
Paper Tiger
Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.
If you read last Monday's post you'll recall that Neon has reversed course on Luca Guadagnino's Artificial and, at least for now, are avowing that the film "isn't likely to go down the standard festival route" which Deadline points out does not preclude some festival appearance. Heck, Deadline even says they think it will likely will be at some festival. As a matter of fact, Deadline's language doesn't shut the door on Artificial at TFF but rather, sounds like Telluride might be the most likely landing spot:
"That doesn’t mean it won’t pop up at a festival in some form (we bet it will), but it won’t have the traditional launch with the bells and whistles of a red carpet, press conference, junkets, etc."
So, I'm moving Artificial to the list of possibles and Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter back into the Ten Bets:
Bucking Fastard
Club Kid
Coward
The Debut
Elsinore
A Long Winter
Fatherland
La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)
Minotaur
Paper Tiger
Other possibilities: Artificial, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.
A couple of other notes...
For Ten Bets #6 next week I'll begin to actually list the films in order of likelihood to play...
And we should get some news from Toronto which should be informative.
WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: MUBI
MTFB continues its look at the film distribution companies that have had the largest profiles at the Telluride Film Festival over the past five years in an effort to, perhaps, set the table for films that could be headed to TFF #53. Up to this point for 2026 we have examined: Netflix, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features and A24. Each of those outfits have averaged two or more films at TFF in that time span.
Today we look at Mubi, which has had nine films at Telluride since 2021 but whose footprint has increased over the last couple of years. Additionally Mubi could potentially provide more films to TFF #53 than any other distributor.
Here's Mubi's history over the last five years:
2021: Unclenching the Fists.
2022: No films.
2023: Fallen Leaves, High & Low: John Galliano, Tehachapi.
2024: Bird.
2025: The History of Sound, King Hamlet, La Grazia, Mastermind.
And these are the films in the Mubi warehouse we think might be TFF possibilities (with their chance of making the lineup):
Coward 70%
Fatherland 65%
A Long Winter 55%
Minotaur 50%
Rose 40%
Hope 25%
NEXT BEST PICTURE GUESSES TELLIRIDE (AND OTHER FALL FESTS)
Matt Neglia and his crew at Next Best Picture have posted a massive list of films for each of the four major "fall" film fests: Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York. Looking at his T-ride list is intriguing, Here it is with films on the MTFB Ten Bets (and possibilities) list indicated with ***.
All Of A Sudden (Ryusuki Hamaguchi)
American Doctor (Poh Si Teng)
Artificial (Luca Guadagnino)***
Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)
Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)
Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)***
Club Kid (Jordan Firstman)***
Coward (Lukas Dhont)***
The Debut (Jesse Eisenberg)***
Elsinore (Simon Stone)***
Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)***
Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)***
Iron Boy (Louis Clichy)
Josephine (Beth de Araújo)
La Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)***
La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)
A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)***
Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)***
Mouse (Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson)
The Only Living Pick Pocket In New York (Noah Segan)
Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)
Rehearsals for a Revolution (Pegah Ahangarani)
Rose (Markus Schleinzer)
Saturn Return (Greg Kwedar)
The Unknown (Arthur Harari)
Yellow Letters (İlker Çatak)***
Couple of notes:
Films on the NBP list that are not currently a "Bet" by MTFB but are on the radar are: Behemoth!, Bitter Christmas, La Gradiva, Primetime, Rose and Saturn Return.
Josephine and The Only Living Pickpocket in New York were Sundance selections which doesn't rule them out for Telluride, but it's uncommon for a film to screen both places.
Lot's of buzz early this week with first look photos and a trailer for Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! The film stars Pedro Pascal and is described at IMDb like this:
"Follows a musician from a family of musicians who returns to Los Angeles. A love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it."
Behemoth! is being distributed by Searchlight and there is a good deal of speculation that it will be making a fall film fest run though whether that would include Telluride is very uncertain at this point.
Here's an image from the Vanity Fair article:
In addition, Searchlight dropped a trailer on Tuesday. Here that is from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T64gVlcc1I&t=99s
Searchlight hasn't yet announced a release date from the film.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Artificial and The Story of Documentary Film.
PAUSE: MOVES THIS WEEK...
We'll get to the new Ten Bets after this ...
Variety reports that hot property Elsinore starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman has been acquired by Focus Features after what they report as a:
"a competitive bidding war among several studios for the Simon Stone-directed drama"
MTFB has been following the emergence of the film since last week marking it as a late breaking possibility for TFF #53. Variety's tory on the acquisition by Focus also had something to say about that:
"Sources tell Variety that programmers at each of the fall festivals — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — are circling the title, though a premiere venue has yet to be set."
The Playlist underscored the point reporting that:
"(Elsinore) is also a movie that, like “Artificial,” has gotten into every festival it has screened for."
The way I read that is that all four fests are eager to program the film and now it's matter of what Focus wants to do...where they wan to with the film. It sure doesn't slow down the speculation that it might well be included for The SHOW.
Add that to the other notices last week that Artificial had been invited by "all the major fall festivals" per The Playlist.
On top of that, Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut seems to be picking up steam with his claim that the film will debut at a fall film fest. Don't discount that A Real Pain played Telluride nor should we ignore that Emma Stone, who we believe is a big fan of Telluride, is/was a producer for both films.
All of this has altered the new Ten Bets from last week. Which leads us back to...
Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.
WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: FOCUS FEATURES
I MTFB's continuing look at common distributors of films that make the Telluride lineup we turn for Focus Features which, over the last five years, has been the fourth most ubiquitou distributor at TFF. They've screened 11 films at The SHOW in that time:
2021: Belfast, The Card Counter.
2022: TAR, Armageddon Time.
2023: The Holdovers, The Bikeriders
2024: Conclave, Piece by Piece.
2025: Hamnet, Bugonia, Hamlet.
11 films, six of which were nominated for Best Picture. That's an impressive list. So going into TFF #53 you have to think Focus will have at least two films make the grade... Here's their most likely applicants:
(The newly acquired) Elsinore, Sense and Sensibility, Hope and The Uprising.
Chances for TFF #53:
Elsinore 70%
Sense and Sensibility 40%
Hope 25%
The Uprising 20%
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
Jim Bedford passed away on Saturday, June 20th, 2026. He was 81.
Bedford, "BF" to his friends, was a giant part of the Telluride Film Festival from the very beginning listed as the Fest's Telluride "coordinator" right below the founders of the fest in the 1974 program for TFF #1.
The only reason I know that is that I have a duplicated copy of that first year's program courtesy of Mr. Bedford. I also have an original copy of every Telluride program since then, again courtesy of Mr. Bedford.
He seemed to be a fan of the blog, particularly the "history of the fest pages" that you can look at by clicking the links at the bottom of the masthead/MTFB logo at the top of this page. All of the work that I did to put that together a few years back that covers 1974-2005 comes from those programs.
Mr. Bedford and I had exchanged some emails over the years so we, weren't strangers, but I had never met him face-to-face until a couple of years ago. That came about as a result of an invitation from him for me to join in a annual meet-up held during each festival. The purpose of the meeting each year is to raise a glass to all the folks who had been a part of the TFF family, particularly on the technical side of the fest, who had passed since the previous year's fest.
I was very deeply moved that I was asked to be any part of this ceremony. I still am.
I was fortunate enough to be asked back again last year and actually got to spend some time with "BF" (He'll always be Mr. Bedford to me. Too much respect for what the man did...and that's not even mentioning the legacy of KOTO radio in Telluride). He was very encouraging about this space.
Mr. Bedford's last program credit for TFF came in 2010 with the 37th Fest.
I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that without Jim Bedford there might not be a Telluride Film Festival.
So here's to Jim Bedford. He was kind and thoughtful and loved the SHOW.
TEN BETS FOR TFF #53: VOL. 2
Here's the first update of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #53' First, last week's bets:
The Black Ball
Bucking Fastard
Coward
The Debut
Fatherland
A Long Winter
Minotaur
Paper Tiger
The Story of Documentary Film
Yellow Letters
This week we add in a couple of films and move a couple to the "Other possibilities" list:
The Black Ball
Bucking Fastard
Club Kid
Coward
The Debut
Fatherland
Fjord
Minotaur
Paper Tiger
Yellow Letters
Other possibilities: A Long Winter and The Story of Documentary Film.
We'll have an updated list again next Thursday.
TRAILERS!
THE DEBUT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clyzHmBx43E
SHEEP IN THE BOX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mlc8TAPNw
KLARA AND THE SUN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwmEqQv82M
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
Ezra Cubero writing for Silver Screen Express has posted his annual set of speculations about which films might go where as regards Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York. It's an interesting take with some surprises.
Cubero had 11 films on his list last year the did make the TFF #52 lineup.
I culled the post and began by creating a list of the films that Cubero thinks have some shot at the TFF #53 lineup. It's a lengthy list which follows below (with director listed to the right). He has three categories..."Possible". "Could Happen" and "Nope".
Telluride "Possibles"
All of a Sudden
Behemoth!
The Black Ball+++
Coward+++
The Debut+++
Fatherland+++
Fjord
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!**
Josephine**
A Long Winter+++
Minotaur+++
Mouse
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York**
Paper Tiger+++
Prima Facie
Rose
Sense and Sensibility
Tender Loving Care
The Weight**
Among the "Could Be's":
Being Heumann
Bitter Christmas
Club Kid
The Dreamed Adventure
Look Back
A Place in Hell
Primetime
Saturn Return
Tangled
+++ Indicates the film's presence on MTFB's first Ten Bets for TFF #53
** Indicates a Sundance Fest film which usually mitigates a film's chances at playing Telluride.
Of note, Cubero lists Herzog's Bucking Fastard as a "No" for TFF #53. I feel pretty good about its chances.
There was a time that I had Lucas Guadagnino's Artificial on my TFF #53 watch list. The film was housed at Amazon-MGM and Guadagnino's past with films at Telluride (Bones and All, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams) made it seem like a good bet. Then it was announced the film would open in 2027 and that took it right out of my speculation.
New turns have made the film's future murky. Reportedly Amazon-MGM has cut ties with the film and are seeking a buyer for it; Word is that A24, NEON, Netflix and Focus Features and others have seen the film but as of this morning, no deal has been made.
If Artificial lands at any of the aforementioned distributors that could, conceivably, put it back into play for fall fests including Telluride.
The IMDb description for the films:
"Follows the confusing firing and rehiring cycle of Sam Altman at OpenAI where the board gained control of the company and removed him, and Altman still returned."
Stay tuned.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social
MTFB's Facebook Page
MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays
If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com
Well, here it is (Live from the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, VA.) the first Ten Bets for 2026 for TFF #53. I'm doing this a little differently than in the past in that I am listing the early versions of the Ten Bets in alphabetical order. In the later going, as we get closer to The SHOW, I'll revert to the traditional ranking in order of what I think the chances are of making a TFF appearance.
So here are the first guesses (10 of them) for films at TFF #53 (in the aforementioned alphabetical order):
The Black Ball
Bucking Fastard
Coward
The Debut
Fatherland
A Long Winter
Minotaur
Paper Tiger
The Story of Documentary Film
Yellow Letters
As the weeks unfold, I'll update every Thursday as new info and rumors swirl. Additionally, as we get closer to Labor Day, I'll also expand the list beyond a mere ten bets.
I'll remind readers that MTFB averages about six correct guesses on each year's initial Ten Bets. I also have to tell you that there are some titles here that I'd be very excited about seeing.
Let the next few weeks tell the story!
WORLD OF REEL ON VENICE TITLES
Jordan Ruimy has a list of possible Venice titles. Many MTFB readers know that each year a number of films play the early part of Venice and then make a blazing trans-continental trip to the San Juans.
From WOR's Venice speculative list, here's my take on what might make the trip:
.png)
