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

CANNES DIRECTOR'S FORTNIGHT AND CRITICS' WEEK

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

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

“Enzo” (Robin Campillo) 

­”Amour Apocalypse” (Anne Émond)

­”Brand New Landscape” (Yuiga Danzuka) 

­”Classe Moyenne” (Anthony Cordier)

­”Dangerous Animals” (dir. Sean Byrne)

­”La Danse Renards” (Valéry Carnoy) 

­”L’Engloutie” (Louise Hémon) 

­”Les Filles Désir” (Prïncia Car) 

­”Girl on Edge” (Jinghao Zhou) 

­”Indomptables” (Thomas Ngijol)

­”Kokhuo” (Lee Sang-il)

­”Lucky Lu” (Lloyd Lee Choi) 

­”Militantropos” (Smith/Gorlova/Mozgovyi)

­”Miroirs No. 3″ (Christian Petzold)

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

­”The President’s Cake” (Hasan Hadi)

“Que Ma Volonté Soit Faite” (Julia Kowalski)

“Sorry Baby” (Eva Victor)

And for Critics' Week:

COMPETITION

Imago – Dir. Déni Oumar Pitsaev

Kika – Dir. Alexe Poukine

Left-Handed Girl – Dir. Shih-Ching Tsou

Nino – Dir. Pauline Loquès

Reedland – Dir. Sven Bresser

Sleepless City – Dir. Guillermo Galoe

A Useful Ghost – Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

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

Baise en ville – Dir. Martin Jauvat

Love Letters – Dir. Alice Douard

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

IS THIS THING ON? A TELLURIDE POSSIBILITY

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

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

Theis is the IMDb description for the film:

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

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

Here's the story from World of Reel.

MEGADOC AT T-RIDE?

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

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

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

POSTERS FOR ONE BATTLE AFTER THE OTHER

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

Here's a couple:

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Clarity from New York and Toronto / Ten (Plus) Bets #8 for TFF #51 / Vanity Fair Looks at Saturday Night

CLARITY FROM NEW YORK AND TORONTO

Announcements on Tuesday from both the New York Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival helped to sharpen the focus on what films are likely to be screening as a part of the 51st edition of the Telluride Film Festival.

New York Fest reveals seemed to confirm earlier extrapolations that the following will play TFF #51:

All We Imagine as Light

Anora

Misrecordia

Nickel Boys 

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

In addition NYFF premiere designations signal that the following are also likely for TFF #51:

Dahomey

Grand Tour

No Other Land

Meanwhile, Toronto Centerpiece announcements tend to confirm The Seed of the Sacred Fig in addition to the inclusion of  Flow and Santosh as TFF #51 films.

Additionally, the fate of Paul Schrader's Oh, Canada is once again, up in the air, as NYFF lists it with no premiere designation as opposed to a U.S. Premiere designation which would normally signal a Telluride play. Meanwhile Toronto's lineup lists it as a North American Premiere.  Both things can't be true.  I'm thinking Oh, Canada might be in TFF #51 after all.

With three weeks left we expect to hear more from both of these fests as well as nod or two from London.

The full TIFF Centerpiece announcement.

The New York Film Fest Main Slate

TEN (PLUS) BETS #8 FOR TFF #51

Woooo...we ARE getting down to it for 2024!

Here's your now weekly prediction about what will be screening at the 51st Telluride Film Festival.  First a look at last week's predicted field:

1) Anora/Baker

2) Conclave/Berger

3) Emilia Perez/Audiard

4) The End/Oppenheimer

5) All We Imagine as Light/Kapadia

6) The Piano Lesson/Washington

7) Nickel Boys/Ross

8) Misrecordia/Guiraudie

9) Better Man/Gracey

10) Piece by Piece/Neville

And a Bonus Five Bets:

11) The Apprentice/Abassi

12) A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things/Cousins

13) The Seed of the Sacred Fig/Rasoulof

14) The Friend/Siegel and McGeehee

15) Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight/Davitz

Other possibilities:

Maria/Larrain

Megalopolis/Coppola

Separated/Morris

Saturday Night/Reitman

Parthenope/Sorrentino

In the Hand of Dante/Schnabel

Napoleon (new restoration)/Gance

Leonardo DaVinci/Burns

The Actor/Johnson

Memoir of a Snail/Elliot

One on One: John and Yoko/ Macdonald and Rice-Edwards

Harvest/Tsangari

Allegorie Citadine/ Rohrwacher and JR

And with three weeks remaining, here is this week's Ten+ Bets:

1) Anora/Baker

2) Conclave/Berger

3) Emilia Perez/Audiard

4) The End/Oppenheimer

5) All We Imagine as Light/Kapadia

6) The Piano Lesson/Washington

7) Nickel Boys/Ross

8) Misrecordia/Guiraudie

9) Better Man/Gracey

10) Piece by Piece/Neville

And a Bonus Ten Bets:

11) Dahomey/Diop

12) Grand Tour/Gomes

13) No Other Land/Adra, Ballal, Abraham and Szor

14) The Seed of the Sacred Fig/Rasoulof

15) The Friend/Siegel and McGeehee

16) Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight/Davitz

17) The Apprentice/Abassi

18) A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things/Cousins

19) Maria/Larrain

20) Saturday Night/Reitman

Other possibilities:

Separated/Morris

Oh, Canada/Schrader

Flow/Zibalodis

Santosh/Suri

Megalopolis/Coppola

Allegorie Citadine/ Rohrwacher and JR

The Actor/Johnson

Parthenope/Sorrentino

Hand of Dante/Schnabel

Napoleon (new restoration)/Gance

Leonardo DaVinci/Burns

Memoir of a Snail/Elliot

One on One: John and Yoko/ Macdonald and Rice-Edwards

The Outrun/Fingscheidt and/or Blitz/McQueen

VANITY FAIR LOOKS AT SATURDAY NIGHT

Vanity Fair's Anthony Breznican has written a big piece about Jason Reitman's Saturday Night.  That went up yesterday and includes a bunch of photos from the set.  The film is set to open on Oct. 11th.  

There have been rumors for awhile that it would screen at Telluride but there hasn't been any real evidence that that's true.  I could see it bypassing TFF and playing Toronto and/or New York.  On the other had, Reitman has so frequently been to Telluride that I have to believe that there's a better than fair chance that it DOES play TFF #51.  

The other film that falls into that category of uncertainty is Ali Abassi's The Apprentice.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they both make it to the San Juans.

Here's the link to the Vanity Fair article as well as a couple of stills from the article.

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Checking the Distributors: Sony Pictures Classics / Emilia Perez Trailer / Megalopolis Still Costing Coppola

CHACKING GTHE DISTRIBUTORS: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

I think it's fair to say that no distributor has had a longer term relationship with the Telluride Film Festival than Sony Pictures Classics.  SPC's presence at TFF has been a staple for many years.  His a reminder of the films from SPC that have played the fest over the last ten years:

2013: The Invisible Woman, Jodorowsky's Dune, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer.

2014: Foxcatcher, Leviathan, Merchants of Doubt, Mr. Turner, Red Army, Salt of the Earth and Wild Tales.

2015: Son of Saul

2016: The Eagle Huntress, Toni Erdmann, Maudie, Norman: The Moderate Rise...

2017: Fantastic Woman, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Foxtrot, Loveless, The Rider.

2018: The White Crow

2019: Pain and Glory, The Climb, Lyrebird

2020 (if it had happened): The Duke, The Father, The Truffle Hunters

2021: Julia, The Duke

2022: One Fine Morning, Living, The Return of Tanya Tucker, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song.

2023: The Teachers' Lounge, They Shot the Piano Player, Daddio, Strange Way of Life

This year SPC could bring Pedro Almodovar's The Room Next Door, Walter Salles I'm Still Here and an outside possibility is Sylvain Chomet's animated The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol (though IMDb Pro has it listed as still filming).

The Room Next Door is Almodovar's first English language feature film.  Last year his Strange Way of Life was at TFF #50 and the director has had a long history with Telluride.

Walter Salles' I'm Still Here also has a TFF history (Central Station 1998, The Motorcycle Diaries 2004) but it has been a long time since he last had a film in the San Juans.

Chances:

The Room Next Door 50%

I'm Still Here 35%

Marcel Pagnol 10%

EMILIA PEREZ TRAILER

We have a foreign language trailer for Jacques Audiard's Cannes prize winner Emilia Perez.  Here it is from YouTube:

MEGALOPOLIS STILL COSTING COPPOLA

We noted last week that Lionsgate had picked up Francis Ford Coppola's passion project.  Since then The Hollywood Reporter reported last week that the $120 million deal did not include any money for marketing.  THR's Aaron Couch and Kim Masters wrote:

"Lionsgate, it appears, will not be paying for marketing. Instead, Coppola is expected to provide the spend himself. Lionsgate intends to put the feature on more than 1,500 screens, which sources in the distribution world say would require around $15 million to $20 million in marketing. It’s unclear how much Megalopolis’ campaign will entail."

I'm just going to say it, I hope Megalopolis plays TFF #51 and I think it could happen.

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Ten Bets for TFF #51 / Coppola and Megalopolis Get a Distributor / Blitz Is Seen / No Nightbitch at TFF

TEN BETS FOR TFF #51 

I've been doing the "Ten Bets" format as a way of predicting Telluride lineups for since 2011.  

Here's last year's first Ten Bets with the films that actually played TFF #50 in Bold.

1) The Holdovers/Payne

2) May December/Haynes

3) Nyad/Chin and Vasarhelyi

4) Monster/Kore-eda

5) (All of Us)Strangers/Haigh

6) El Conde/Larrain

7) Poor Things/Lanthimos

8) Anatomy of a Fall/Triet

9) The American Buffalo/Burns

10) The End/Oppenheimer

So 6 of 10.

In previous years the correct ratios were:

2011: 8/10
2012: 5/10
2013: 6/10
2014: 7/10
2015: 4/10
2016: 3/10
2017: 7/10
2018: 5/10

2019: 4/10

2020: No fest

2021: 8/10

2022: 6/10

2023: 6/10

That puts the average of correct picks on this first whirl at 5.8.

That being said, I feel less confidence about this year's first Ten Bets than maybe any other year.  Sooo... with great trepidation...here are 2024's first Ten Bets for TFF:

1) Anora/Sean Baker

2) The Seed of the Scared Fig/Mohammad Rasoulof

3) Emilia Perez/Jacques Audiard

4) The Room Next Door/Pedro Almodovar

5) Bird/Andrea Arnold

6) Maria/Pablo Larrain

7) Oh, Canada/Paul Schrader

8) The End/Joshua Oppenheimer

9) Queer/Luca Guadagnino

10) Conclave/Edward Berger

Other possibilities:

We Live in Time/Crowley

I'm Still Here/Salles

Parthenope/Sorrentino

In the Hand of Dante/Schnabel

Hard Truths/Leigh

The Piano Lesson/Washington

Untitled Noah Baumbach

Nickel Boys/Ross

Blitz/McQueen

Megalopolis/Coppola

Now we'll see how this all plays out.

COPPOLA AND MEGALOPOLIS GET A DISTRIBUTOR

Lionsgate has acquired Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis for U.S. distribution.  The film has been set for a Sept. 27th release date putting it in position to potentially play TFF and/or Toronto.  Lionsgate has had an occasional presence at Telluride over the years with their last appearance in 2022 with Living.  

So it appears that the possibility of a Telluride play is still open.

Here's that story from The Playlist.

BLITZ IS SEEN

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reports that Steve McQueen's Blitz has been screened in front of real humans in New York and London.  So, at least some of the mystery about its existence has been removed. 

Now, none of this means that Blitz will play any festival but it also doesn't preclude that possibility that it could play T-ride.

I still think that Blitz World Premiering at the BFI/London Fest is the most likely scenario for the film.

Here's that story from WOR.

NO NIGHTBITCH AT TFF

The Toronto International Film Festival  announced their first set of selections for their 2024 edition this week and included on that list was Marielle Heller's Nightbitch.  MTFB readers saw that in my look at Searchlight films that it seemed like their most likely TFF possibility.  As Toronto has announced that the film will be a World Premiere that implies that TFF #50 is off the table.

This is the link to that story from Variety.

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Megalopolis Teaser / Rasoulof Escapes from Iran / New Bikeriders Trailer for the U.K. / Critics from Cannes

MEGALOPOLIS TEASER

As Francis Ford Coppola nears premiering his latest and self-financed epic at Cannes, he released a teaser trailer on Tuesday.  It looks impressive.  Here it is from YouTube:

RASOULOF ESCAPES FROM IRAN

We've been following the latest travails of Iranian film maker Mohammad Rasoulof for the past few weeks.  Rasoulof has a number of films screen at Telluride (Manuscripts Don't Burn, A Man of Integrity) and has another film set to bow at Cannes on May 24th that could well be a TFF #51 possibility.

We reported recently that Rasoulof had been sentenced to an eight year prison term as well as other punishments as the Iranian regime seeks to silence him and stifle the release of his films.

Now comes word from multiple sources that Rasoulof has managed to get out of Iran and is in hiding somewhere in Europe.

Rasoulof did release a statement regarding the escape:

"I arrived in Europe a few days ago after a long and complicated journey.

About a month ago, my lawyers informed me that my eight-year prison sentence was confirmed in the court of appeal and would be implemented on short notice. Knowing that the news of my new film would be revealed very soon, I knew that without a doubt, a new sentence would be added to these eight years. I didn’t have much time to make a decision. I had to choose between prison and leaving Iran. With a heavy heart, I chose exile. The Islamic Republic confiscated my passport in September 2017. Therefore, I had to leave Iran secretly."

At this point it is not known whether Rasoulof will attempt to make a live appearance for the premiere of his Cannes competition film The Seed of the Sacred Fig. 

NEW BIKERIDERS TRAILER FOR THE U.K.

Late last week Universal and Focus Features released a third trailer for Jeff Nichols The Bikeriders for consumption in the U.K.  Here it is from YouTube:

The Bikeriders opens in the U.S. on June 21st.

CRITICS FROM CANNES

Now that the 77th Cannes Film Festival is underway you can expect to see MTFB's usual compilation of critical responses coming your way beginning with Monday's post.  I'll be following multiple collections of critical response in order to get a sense of what films are capturing the moment in Cannes and as a way to assess TFF potential.  One of those sources will be, again, the massive critical collection from Reini Urban.  Last year TFF films that appeared at Cannes first had these ratings from Urban's list using a ten point scale:

The Zone of Interest 8.16

Perfect Days 7.91

Anatomy of a Fall 7.90

La Chimera 7.46

Fallen Leaves 7.46

The Taste of Things 7.01

Occupied City 6.97

Anselm 6.41

Little Girl Blue 6.21

Room 999 also played Cannes then Telluride last year but is nowhere to be found on Urban's list.

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Roger Corman 1926-2024 / Last Word on Cannes Before It Launches

 ROGER CORMAN 1926-2024

Film pioneer and legend Roger Corman died on Saturday.  Among other things, Corman was a Telluride tribute recipient in 2012.  That afforded me the opportunity to meet him and express my appreciation for what he had done for the universe of film.  It was a brief exchange and he graciously accepted my gratitude.  

I'm sure most of the readers of this space are abundantly aware of Corman's legacy in film.  The film Stage listed the following as film folk to whom Corman helped to launch:

Martin Scorsese
Francis Ford Coppola
Jack Nicholson
Robert De Niro
James Cameron
Jonathan Demme
Peter Bogdanovich
John Sayles
Dennis Hopper
Joe Dante
Ron Howard
Bruce Dern
Sylvester Stallone
William Shatner

Here's my photo of meeting Corman in 2012 just outside the Galaxy:

The eulogies and remembrances have been all over social media.  They have strongly reminded us of the legacy that Corman leaves behind.  You could make the argument that ne was as responsible as anyone for the greatness of the films of the 1970s.

A titan.

Here are Corman obituaries from:

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter

Indiewire

LAST WORD ON CANNES BEFORE IT LAUNCHES

Both The Playlist and The Film Stage have posted lists of Cannes films they regard as most anticipated and so as we head into the two week fest which traditionally crosses over around an average of eight films to TFF each year.

And so, with one more eye toward that here are the films that each source listed that, to me, feel like possibilities for The SHOW.

From both lists (including "Honorable Mentions":

Bird (Arnold)

Emilia Perez (Audiard)

Oh, Canada (Schrader)

The Apprentice (Abassi)

Megalopolis (Coppola)

Parthenope (Sorrentino)

Rumours (Maddin and Johnsons)

Additionally from The Playlist:

Meeting with Pol Pot (Panh) 

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Rasoulof)

The Most Precious of Cargoes (Hazanavicius)

Additionally from The Film Stage:

Napoleon (Gance)

Here are the complete posts from:

The Playlist

The Film Stage

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Megalopolis Trailer / Third Trailer for The Bikeriders / Parthenope Has a Home

MEGALOPOLIS TRAILER

Just this weekend American Zoetrope released an initial trailer for Francis ford Coppola's anticipated Megalopolis.  The film is set to debut at Cannes.  I have wondering (hoping?) if it might be a TFF #51 selection.  

Here's the trailer from YouTube and JoBlo:

THIRD TRAILER FOR THE BIKERIDERS

This past week we got a new poster for Jeff Nichol's The Bikeriders which world premiered at Telluride in September.  A day or so later Focus Features dropped a third teaser/trailer for the film .  Here that is from YouTube and JoBlo Upcoming Movies:

The Bikeriders opens June 21st.

PARTHENOPE HAS A HOME

Many of the early Oscar predictions and looks at "Most Anticipated" lists that I have been looking at to get a sense of what films might be in line for a T-ride berth have included Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope.  The case for a possible screening at TFF #51 may have been strengthened this week as the film was picked by A24 for U.S. distribution ahead of its premiere screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in a couple of weeks.

A24 has become a consistent presence at Telluride in recent years including screening of The Zone of Interest (2023). Aftersun (2022) and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) among many others.

The acquisition of Parthenope by A24 doesn't guarantee anything, but it also doesn't hurt.

Here are the details from Deadline.com.

Parthenope is described as follows (from the Deadline article):

"The movie follows Parthenope, who born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city and its many memorable characters." 

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Megalopolis Movement? / Interviews and Profiles: Kevin Macdonald and High and Low-John Galliano

MEGALOPOLIS MOVEMENT?

Variety reported that Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed Megalopolis may be near a deal for French distribution prior to its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.  The article further claims that Amazon and Apple are "still in the running" as possible distribution in the U.S. French outlet Le Point is reporting that the film will likely have a French release in September.

If true, none of this intell reduces the TFF #51 prospects for the film.

Here's the Variety article.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Director Kevin Macdonald talks about High and Low-John Galliano from Mubi.com.

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Another Early Oscar Look / Will Abel Screen at Abel? / Speaking of Cannes...

ANOTHER EARLY OSCAR LOOK

Joey Magidson of Awards Radar has posted his first set of picks for the 2025 Oscars and as has been my way, I've looked through them for possible TFF #51 titles.  Magidson has divided them into two parts.  Part One went up last Friday focusing on "Above the Line" categories.  Part Two will be posted later this week.

Here's what I'm seeing from Part One beginning with films Magidson thinks are Best Picture contenders:

Blitz-Steve McQueen

Conclave-Edward Berger

Maria-Pablo Larrain

The Nickel Boys-Ross

SNL 1975-Reitman

Queer-Gaudagnino

Bird-Arnold

The End-Oppenheimer

The Apprentice-Abbasi

The Piano Lesson-Washington

From the other "Above the Line" Categories:

Megalopolis-Coppola

The Actor-Johnson

We Live in Time-Crowley

Here's the link to Magidson's post.

WILL ABEL SCREEN AT ABEL?

News this week that a newly restores print of Abel Gance's monumental silent film Napoleon will lead off the Cannes Classics section on May 14th.

From Cannes' press release:

"A legend known to cinephiles the world over, a major work of the silent era, one of the most monumental restorations in the history of filmmaking will be unveiled on May 14 as a world premiere: Napoléon by Abel Gance (1st period), in a version resulting from a colossal, passionate effort by the Cinémathèque française, with the support of the CNC."

Naturally that makes one think that the restoration could be a natural choice for TFF.  I can see this screening at Elk Park which is re-christened the Abel Gance Open Air Cinema each year for the festival.

The entire press release is here.

AND SPEAKING OF CANNES...

Here's the official poster for the 77th Edition of the Cannes Film Festival:

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Cannes Lineup Revealed

CANNES LINEUP REVEALED

Early this morning the Cannes Film Festival officially revealed most of its lineup.  This is of particular interest to Telluride Film Fest followers because most years there is a substantial cross over from Cannes to T-ride.  The average is somewhere around 7-8 films per year.  So let's see what Cannes 2024 will be screening.  Per Variety:

OPENER

“Second Act,” Quentin Dupieux

COMPETITION

“All We Imagine as Light,” Payal Kapadia

“Anora,” Sean Baker

“Bird,” Andrea Arnold

“Caught by the Tides” (“Feng Liu Yi Dai”), Jia Zhang-Ke

“Emilia Perez,” Jacques Audiard

“Grand Tour,” Miguel Gomes

“Kinds of Kindness,” Yorgos Lanthimos

“L’Amour Ouf,” Gilles Lellouche

“Limonov: The Ballad,” Kirill Serebrennikov

“Marcello Mio,” Christophe Honore

“Megalopolis,” Francis Ford Coppola

“Motel Destino,” Karim Ainouz

“Oh Canada,” Paul Schrader

“Parthenope,” Paolo Sorrentino

“The Apprentice,” Ali Abbasi

“The Girl With the Needle,” Magnus von Horn

“The Shrouds,” David Cronenberg

“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat

“Wild Diamond” (“Diamant Brut”), Agathe Riedinger

UN CERTAIN REGARD

“Armand,” Halfdan Ullman Tondel

“Black Dog” (“Gou Zhen”), Guan Hu

“The Damned” (Les Damnes”), Roberto Minervini

“L’Histoire de Souleymane,” Boris Lojkine

“Le Royaume,” Julien Colonna

“My Sunshine” (“Boku No Ohisama”), Hiroshi Okuyama

“Norah,” Tawfik Alzaidi

“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” Rungano Nyoni

“Santosh,” Sandhya Suri

“September Says,” Ariane Labed

“The Shameless,” Konstantin Bojanov

“Viet and Nam,” Truong Minh Quy

“The Village Next to Paradise,” Mo Harawe

“Vingt Dieux!,” Louise Courvoisier

“Who Let the Dog Bite?” (“Le Proces du Chien”), Laetitia Dosch

OUT OF COMPETITION

“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” George Miller

“Horizon, an American Saga,” Kevin Costner

“Rumours,” Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin

“She’s Got No Name,” Chan Peter Ho-Sun

CANNES PREMIERE

“C’est Pas Moi,” Leos Carax

“En Fanfare” (“The Matching Bang”), Emmanuel Courcol

“Everybody Loves Touda,” Nabil Ayouch

From these lists it seems like the most probable TFF choices might include:

Andrea Arnold's Bird

Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez

Francia Ford Coppola's Megalopolis

Paul Shrader's Oh, Canada

Paolo Sorrention's Parthenope

Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice

Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson's Rumours

Rithy Pahn's Rendezous with Pol Pot

I had been including Sean Baker's Anora but this past week World of Reel suggested that the film would be released this summer.

Here's the entire Variety story.

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Final Cannes Speculation / Amy Adams Film Back in the Game? / Janet Planet Trailer, Poster and Release Date

FINAL CANNES SPECULATION

All of the anticipation about what films will be selected for the 77th Cannes film Festival comes to a conclusion on Thursday when the bulk of the films that have been invited will be revealed.  The unveiling is set for 11:00 AM Paris time.  That should mean I'll have the skinny in Thursday morning's regularly scheduled post.  A quick note here, however, is that may mean that Thursday's post doesn't go up as early in the morning as it usually does.  

With that, here are the final two Cannes spec pieces that I'll pass along with my guesses from those lists which films seem most Telluride-ish.  From Indiewire and Ioncinema.

From Indiewire:

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

The End- Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer

Juror #2- Dir: Clint Eastwood

Marcel and Mister Pagnol- Dir: Sylvain Chomet

Megalopolis- Dir: Francis Ford Coppola

Oh, Canada- Dir: Paul Schrader

Queer- Dir: Luca Guadagnino

Rumours- Dir: Guy Maddin

Parthenope- Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

The complete list from Indiewire is here.

And from Ioncinema:

Anora- Dir: Sean Baker

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

Emilia Perez- Dir: Jacques Audiard

Hard Truths- Dir: Mike Leigh

Parthenope- Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

The End-  Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer

 

And here are three films that are included on Ioncinema's list and have been on others that I've not included previously on my guess list but...do have a slim possibility of a T-ride play"

The Shrouds- Dir: David Cronenberg

The Most Valuable Commodity- Dir: Francois Ozon

When Autumn Comes- Dir: Michel Hazanavicius

The Ioncinema list is here.

 Let's see what happens on Thursday!

AMY ADAMS FILM BACK IN THE GAME?

I had written off Marielle Heller's Nightbitch starring TFF tribute recipient Amy Adams (2016) last year amid reports that Searchlight was unsure what to do with the film.  I had included it in early TFF #50 speculation owing to Adams past tribute and that Heller had Can You Ever Forgive Me? at TFF 2018 and that film earned three Oscar nominations (Best Actress for Melissa McCarthy, Best Supporting Actor for Richard E. Grant and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jeff Whitty and Nicole Holofcener)  All that seemed like a confluence of factors that made for a solid case that we'd see it announced for the TFF #50 lineup.  But noop.

Now comes news that Searchlight has announced an awards friendly release date of  Dec.6th.  That makes me think that a TFF #51 play could be in the cards.

The hubbub last year was that the film sounds, well...weird.  The IMDb description is fairly innocuous:

"A woman pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her domesticity takes a surreal turn."

Left unsaid in that description is that the "surreal turn" is that the woman believes that she's turning into a dog.

What motivated Searchlight to finally decide to release the film in the awards window?  I have no real proof but I wonder if the response to Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things (also from Searchlight) convinced them that "weird" was okay?

Here's more of the lowdown from The Hollywood Reporter.

JANET PLANET TRAILER, POSTER AND RELEASE DATE

A24 has just released a trailer and poster for Annie Baker's Janet Planet which screened at TFF #50.  The film will be released on June 21st.  Here's the trailer from YouTube:

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More Cannes Thoughts / The Cannes-Oscar Scoreboard

MORE CANNES THOUGHTS 

With a week left until the announcement of the lineup for the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, I've added a look at analysis from Deadline as to what may be in and out.

Those films that Deadline mentions that feel like a Telluride possibility include:

Parthenope- Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

Conclave- Dir: Edward Berger

Touch- Dir: Baltasar Kormakur

Deadline also mentions Frances ford Coppola's Megalopolis is still possible but uncertain due to Coppola's aiming for an IMAX release.

The piece also includes a listing of a number of films that have had Cannes speculation that likely will not be in France in May including:

Pablo Larrain's Maria

Sean Baker's Anora

Paul Schrader's Oh, Canada

Mike Leigh's Hard Truths

Luca Guadagnino's Queer

Joshua Oppenheimer's The End

Ali Abbasi' The Apprentice

Jacques Audiard's Emilia Perez

And one other surprising Telluride related nugget:  Deadline suggests that Jeff Nichol's The Bikeriders which played at TFF #50 might actually get a slot at Cannes.  Author Andreas Wiseman writes:

"Another movie in the wildcard section of this discussion is Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders, which is being discussed by insiders for a potential slot somewhere in the lineup. On paper, this seems an unlikely choice given that it launched at North American festivals and at London last year but Nichols has history with Cannes and the starry movie isn’t released until June. The door isn’t shut on this one."

That would be a wild reversal of the often occurring Cannes to Telluride pipeline.

The complete Deadline post is here.

THE CANNES-OSCAR SCOREBOARD

Beginning with my March 14th post I have been scouring early Oscar predictions and Cannes spec pieces for clues about films which could be potential selections for TFF #51.  I'll have a couple of more Cannes looks on Monday next week prior to the actual announcement from France.  right now, though, these are the films that have shown up on the lists most frequently and how many times they've been mentioned:

Magalopolis (7)

Bird (6)

Conclave (6)

Maria (6)

Parthenope (5)

The End (5)

The Apprentice (5)

Blitz (5)

The Piano Lesson (5)

Queer (5)

Emilia Perez (4)

The Actor (4)

The Nickel Boys (4)

Long Day's Journey Into Night (4)

Anora (3)

Hard Truths (3)

SNL 1975 (2)

Oh, Canada (2)

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More Cannes Speculation / Orlando Has a Date

 MORE CANNES SPECULATION

Over the weekend I checked in on Jordan Ruimy /World of Reel's evolving list of possible films that will be invited to the Cannes Film Festival in less than two weeks (April 11th).  As always, I look to Cannes for the emergence of films that could World Premiere there in May and then emerge at Telluride as North American premieres.

Looking at Ruimy's list, it seems like there is a lot of agreement with films that I included from Screen Daily's Cannes list last week.  Here are the films from Ruimy's post that I feel like have the most likely chance of playing TFF:

Megalopolis-Dir: Frances Ford Coppola (although there's a good deal of buzz that it may NOT appear at Cannes after all.  It seems that Coppola wants a distribution deal in place before the film screens anywhere and if that doesn't happen, the focus for its first public screening might switch to a fall festival scenario-stay tuned).

Anora- Dir: Sean Baker

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

Emilia Perez- Dir: Jacques Audiard

Hard Truths- Dir: Mike Leigh

Parthenope- Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

The End- Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer

The Apprentice- Dir: Ali Abbasi

In the Hands of Dante- Dir: Julian Schnabel

Rumors- Dir: Guy Maddin

WOR's complete list is linked here.

ORLANDO HAS A DATE

Janus Films has announced a release date for physical media sales of Paul B. Preciado's Orlando: My Political Biography.  Blu-Ray and DVD sales of the documentary will begin on June 25th.

Here's the IMDb description of the film:

"Academic virtuoso turned filmmaker Paul B. Preciado's Berlin Film Festival award-winning doc tells his and others' stories of transition through unique reenactments and visual interpretations of Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography."

And here is the announcement from Janus Films.

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Vanity Fair's Too Early Oscar Picks and TFF / Cannes Speculation and TFF / The Best Docs of the 21st Century and TFF

VANITY FAIR'S TOO EARLY OSCAR PICKS AND TFF

I'm continuing my current project of scouring early Oscar prognostications for possible titles that might pop up at the 51st Telluride Film Festival.  Today's source is Joe Reid of Vanity Fair. These predicted films seem to me to have the best chance at TFF (listed in the order they are presented in the article):

Megalopolis- Dir: Frances Ford Coppola

Hard Truths- Dir: Mike Leigh

Blitz- Dir: Steve McQueen

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

The End- Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer

Conclave- Dir: Edward Berger

The Actor- Dir: Duke Johnson

The Piano Lesson- Dir: Malcolm Washington

Maria- Dir: Pablo Larrain

The Nickel Boys- Dir: RaMell Ross

Queer; Dir: Luca Guadagnino

Long Day's Journey Into Night- Dir: Jonathan Kent

The Apprentice- Dir: Ali Abbasi

SNL 1975- Dir: Jason Reitman

The complete list of Vanity Fair predictions is linked here.

CANNES SPECULATION AND TFF

In addition to Oscar speculation as a way to sense some of the films that could be on their way to Telluride, the films that are selected for inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival merit investigation.

Each year there are a number of films that end up playing at Cannes in May and again as a North American premiere at TFF.  Last year I logged 10 films that played both fests including Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest and The Teachers' Lounge.  The average is around eight per year.

So, to begin that part of the process, I took a look at Screen Daily's annual Cannes speculation  article that was posted a week ago.  Screen Daily divides its list geographically.  That said, here are what feel like films that could possibly make the Cannes/Telluride connection:

Anora- Dir: Sean Baker

Maria- Dir: Pablo Larrain

Megalopolis- Dir: Frances Ford Coppola

Bird- Dir: Andrea Arnold

The End- Dir: Joshua Oppenheimer

Emilia Perez-Jacques Audiard

Dear Paris- Dir: Marjane Satrapi

The complete Screen Daily article is linked here.

THE BEST DOCS OF THE 21ST CENTURY AND TFF

Indiewire posted a list of what they have determined to be the 52 best documentaries of the 21st century.  Not surprisingly a good number of the films that made the list also made an appearance at the Telluride Film Festival.

Here's the list of docs from the top 52 that screened at TFF.  These are listed in reverse order by where Indiewire ranked them.  The year the doc appeared at Telluride is indicated to the title's right in parentheses:

43) The Central Park Five (2012)\

31) Procession (2021)

29) Fire at Sea (2016)

17) Waltz with Bashir (2008)

13) Bowling for Columbine (2002)

10) The Look of Silence (2015)

9) Stories We Tell (2013)

6) Faces Places (2017)

5) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)

4) Flee (2021)

1) The Act of Killing (2013)

The complete list of 52 including description and analysis is linked here.

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