Distributor Monday #3: Neon / SPC and Nuremburg / World of Reel Venice Update / Springsteen on White...Oh, And the Trailer Again

 DISTRIBUTOR MONDAY: NEON

Neon has come on strong over the last decade as a Telluride staple.  Their first appearance at TFF came in 2016 as the distributor of Errol Morris's The B-Side.  In the years since then Neon has placed 18 other films at TFF for an impressive average of 2.4 films per year.  In that time some other notable titles under the Neon banner that have appeared at TFF include: Last year's Best Picture winner Anora, 2020 Oscar Best Picture winner Parasite, Anatomy of a Fall and Flee.

This year, Neon made the biggest splash at Cannes acquiring a bunch of properties.  Consequently they have a deep roster of films that could play at TFF.  I have at least six films (all of which were Cannes selections in various categories) that could come from Neon to Telluride.  Here's what we know about each of them.  They're arranged  from what I feel is most likely to least likely.  Films that are on my most recent "Ten Bets" list are indicated with +.  Individuals that have been past attendees of TFF are indicated with *.

It Was Just an Accident+.  Director Jafar Panahi* (strictly speaking Panahi didn't attend with his film Taxi).  Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari. Won this year's Palme d'Or at Cannes.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

A small mishap triggers a chain reaction of ever-growing problems.

I believe that should It Was Just a Simple Accident play Telluride it would be the first time in the festival's history to program the Palme d'Or winner for three years running.

Sentimental Value+.  Director: Joachim Trier.  Stars: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard*, Elle Fanning.  Won this year's Grand Prize at Cannes.  Release date: Nov. 7th.  IMDb description:

An intimate exploration of family, memories, and the reconciliatory power of art.

Sentimental Value finished Cannes with the second best critical rating of any film playing that fest with an 8.04 cumulative rating (out of 10) from Cannes-Ratings.org.  In contrast Plame d'Or winner It Was Just a Simple Accident was 7th best with a cumulative of 7.76.

The Secret Agent+.  Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho.  Stars: Wagner Moura (won Best Actor at Cannes), Maria Fernanda Cândido.  The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

In 1977, a technology expert flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in search of peace. He soon realizes that the city is far from being the refuge he seeks.

The Secret Agent was also well regarded critically at Cannes with a cumulative rating of 7.00 which was the 30th best among all films that played at that Fest.

Sirat.  Director: Oliver Laxe.  Stars: Sergi López, Bruno Núñez Arjona.  The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes.  Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

A father, accompanied by his son, goes looking for his missing daughter in North Africa.

This is another film with a great critical reception at Cannes.  It had a 7.87 cumulative rating which was the 5th best of the entire fest.  It could well move onto next Thursday's second iteration of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #52.

Orwell: 2+2+5.  Director: Raoul Peck. Release date: TBD.  IMDb description:

The ultimate and comprehensive documentary film about the exceptional writer George Orwell.

Orwell: 2+2=5 had the 22nd best critical rating from Cannes ratings.org at 7.13.

Alpha.  Director: Julia Ducournau.  Stars: Tahar Rahim*, Emma Mackey.  The film played in Palme d'Or competition at Cannes.  Release date: Sometime in October.  IMDb description:

Alpha, 13, is a troubled teenager who lives alone with her mother. Their world comes crashing down the day she comes home from school with a tattoo on her arm.

Alpha's critical reception at Cannes was tough.  A 47 on Metacritic and a 50 on Rotten Tomatoes.

The assessment of chances for TFF #52:

It Was Just an Accident 70%

Sentimental Value 60%

The Secret Agent 50%

Sirat 50%

Orwell 2+2=5 45%

Alpha 20%

SPC AND NUREMBURG

Sony Pictures Classics might not be done for TFF #52 yet.  SPC announced on Wednesday last week that they had acquired the James Vanderbilt's Nuremburg and plan to release the film on Nov. 7th.  The film stars Russell Crowe as Herman Goring and Rami Malek as the U.S. psychiatrist charged with determining if the Nazi's are mentally competent to stand trial.  Michael Shannon also stars.  In addition to directing Vanderbilt also adapted the screenplay from the book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.

.m not sold on that 

According to the SPC press release the timing of the release coincides with 80th anniversary of the post-war trials held in Nuremburg, Germany,  It also just happens to be in the Awards season sweet spot.

So, retrofit the SPC speculation from last week and add Nuremburg to the list of TFF possibilities.  I'm not sold on the notion that it does play Telluride but I also don't think it's impossible.  Mark at at a current 35% chance to make the TFF cut.

Here's the link to the full SPC PR release.

WORLD OF REEL AND VENICE

Jordan Ruimy has updated his Venice speculation list as of last Thursday.  Of note is his addition of Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein and Agnieszka Holland's Franz to the list.  Both could also be potentials for T-ride although Ruimy also writes that:

"I’m also hearing that Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited “Frankenstein” has locked its TIFF premiere..."

Notice that Ruimy doesn't mention what that premiere status is for Toronto but...

Here's Jordan's updated list with what I think has Telluride potential indicated with ***.

After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino)***

One Battle After Another (PT Anderson)

A House of Dynamite (Kathryn Bigelow)***

Jay Kelly (Noah Baumbach)***

The Way of the Wind (Terrence Malick)

Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos)***

The Smashing Machine (Benny Safdie)

No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook)

Father Mother Brother Sister (Jim Jarmusch)

The Ballad of A Small Player (Edward Berger)***

The Cry of the Guards (Claire Denis)***

Chocobar (Lucrecia Martel)

Sacrifice (Romain Gavras)***

In the Hands of Dante (Julian Schnabel)***

Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold)

Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)***

La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino)***

An Affair (Arnaud Desplechin)

Orphan (Laszlo Nemes)***

The Wizard of Kremlin (Olivier Assayas)***

Franz (Agnieszka Holland)***

Below the Clouds (Gianfranco Rosi)***

Duse (Pietro Marcello)

Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)***

Couture (Alice Wincour)***

The entirety of Ruimy's post with its extensive analysis is linked here.

 

BTW...add Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite to the Netflix list from a couple of weeks back.  I'm putting its TFF chances at 30%.

SPRINGSTEEN ON WHITE...OH, AND THE TRAILER AGAIN

I have high hopes that Searchlight brings the Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere to TFF #52.  Right now it and Del Toro's Frankenstein are my two big "hope fors". 

That said, we know director Scott Cooper has been at Telluride a number of times both with and without projects.  We know that the film is being distributed by frequent TFF player Searchlight and we know that the film has a fest friendly release date of Oct. 24th.  So, I got that going for me.

This Past week Springsteen talked to The Hollywood Reporter about the film and the actor Jeremy Allen White who plays The Boss in the film.  Here's that interview. 

And, by the by, we had lots of trouble with linking to the trailer for Deliver Me from Nowhere last week...so here we go again:

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As We Head Into June / Ken Burns' Next Big Thing / Maybe we Can Join The Serkis?

AS WE HEAD INTO JUNE

As I have mentioned, we're only a few days away from beginning a couple of summer traditions here at MTFB.  Starting Next week I'll begin running down each of the distributors that have been the most common players with films at Telluride.  I'll take a look at the films from each outfit that are the most probable TFF choices and try to assess each film's chances of actually going to TFF #52.

As a way of setting the table for that, here's a quick look at which distributors we're talking about.  First, a little methodology.  I looked at each year going back to 2015 to gather the info.  I did leave out the covid year cancelled TFF despite the fest having released a lineup because it was surely not complete at the time the decision was made to cancel that year.

That said, here are the eight distributors I'll be looking at over the next few weeks based on the number of films they have screened at Telluride since 2015:

Netflix: 34 (3.8/yr.)

Sony Pictures Classics (SPC): 31 (3.4/yr.)

Neon: 19 (2.1/yr.)

A24: 16 (1.8/yr.)

(Fox) Searchlight: 14 (1.6/yr.)

Amazon/MGM: 12 (1.3/yr.)

Focus Features: 10 (1.1/yr.)

Mubi: 5***

***I include Mubi on the list with its small number of five films because it's a late-comer to The SHOW having screened all 5 within the last four fests for an average of 1.25/yr.

Some interesting tidbits...

Obviously, Netflix has screened the most films since 2015 (its first appearance at TFF came that year) but SPC is only three behind and both distribs are the only outfits that have had films screen every year of this survey. 

Searchlight only missed one year in this time frame in 2016.

Three of these distributors only missed two years:

Neon in 2017and 2015.

A24 in 2024 and 2018.

Focus Features in 2019 and 2016.

Monday we'll start with Netflix and look at what films they have and what might play TFF #52.  Subsequently, we'll look at the other distributors each week in the order of which house has played the most at T-ride since 2015.

KEN BURNS' NEXT BIG THING

TFF Board of Governors member Ken Burns has begun promoting his next big project which is a documentary look at American Revolution as the nation begins to hit the 250 year milestones that will lead up to the nation's Semiquincentennial or Bisesquicentennial coming on July 4th, 2026.

The six part 12 hour series will air on PBS beginning on Nov. 16th.  Normally it would be a no-brainer to think that at least some portion of the series, if not all six parts, would play at TFF...but... as a part of the roll out for it they've already begun a nationwide tour which has/will include screenings of at least some of the doc.  Those began last march in Richmond, VA. and will continue through Oct. 9th in Washington D.C.  The press release says that additional dates are forthcoming.

One wonders if those presentations will dissuade TFF from screening any of it.  It is of note that there is a gap between a July 17th presentation in L.A. and sept. 20th presentation in Saratoga, NY.

Here's a link to its PBS landing page including a small clip from the doc.

And here's a link to the official press release.

All things considered, I still think it's likely that at least some segments will be screened at TFF #52.

MAYBE WE CAN JOIN THE SERKIS?

Animal Farm still via World of Reel

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel reports that Andy Serkis' animated adaptation of George Orwell's classic Animal Farm will premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.  That fest is set to run June 8-14.

I have thought for awhile that this could be a TFF choice and its inclusion for Annecy is in no way a TFF disqualifier.  As a matter of fact I could see it playing along with Raoul Peck's Documentary about Orwell: Orwell: 2+2=5 which just screened at the Cannes fest last month as a kind of TFF double bill.

Just a thought.

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It's All About Who Got What / Down the Stretch...

IT'S ALL ABUT WHO GOT WHAT

We've entered the Post-Cannes/Pre-Venice phase of the countdown to Telluride.  One of the things to look at not that Cannes is over and while we wait for Venice to announce titles and then their schedule is what distributors acquired films that screened at Cannes.  Distributors that have had a substantial relationship with Telluride and that do snag new titles during or post-Cannes can spotlight a film that makes the trip to T-ride.  The biggest players this year were Neon and Mubi, both of which could position any of their newly acquired films as a TFF #52 offering.

Neon picked up seven films in total.  Three of them have been floating around my Telluride radar: A Simple Accident (Palme d'Or winner), Splitsville and Orwell: 2+2+5.  Neon also bought Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value in addition to Sirat (Jury Prize), The Secret Agent (Best Director, Best Actor and Alpha.

At this point I don't think its a matter of whether Neon will have films at Telluride, the question instead is how many will it be?

Mubi was almost as active as they acquired five titles.  Three of those have been on my screen: Die, My Love, The Mastermind and The History of Sound.  In addition to those, Mubi has also picked up Sound of Falling and My Father's Shadow.

Long time Telluride presence Sony Pictures Classics has Eleanor the Great, The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol and The President's Cake.  Any or all of these may be on your TFF #52 menu.

Other acquisitions of note include:

Netflix: Nouvelle Vague

Janus: Ressurection

Apple TV+: Bono: Stories of Surrender

A24: Pillion

DOWN THE STRETCH...

As May comes to a close, MTFB really starts to get cranked up in a serious way regarding the potential TFF lineup.  The run from June to Labor Day will include weekly looks as distributors that often have films at T-ride and I'll try to assess the TFF chances of some of the titles each outfit has.

Additionally, the weekly list of "Ten Bets" will begin in three weeks.  As frequent readers know, I'll start out with 10 guesses and that list will actually expand right up to the day before Telluride announces the TFF #52 lineup (expected Thursday, Aug. 28th.).  We also expect Venice to announce its lineup at the end of July and their schedule a couple of weeks into August.  And, as has become the norm, Toronto's announcements (last year the first big drop of titles came in the third week of July.

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Checking Distributors: NEON / The End and Venice (and Telluride?)

 CHECKING DISTRIBUTORS: NEON

Distributor NEON is a relative newcomer to the TFF scene but their presence over the last few years has been very noticeable.  Here's the NEON lineup from past TFFs:

2023: Anatomy of a Fall (Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay and nominated for four others including Best Picture), La Chimera, Perfect Days (Oscar nominated for Best International Feature), The Royal Hotel.

2022: Broker, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Oscar nominated for Best Documentary)

2021: Petite Maman, Spencer (Oscar nominated for Best Actress-Kristen Stewart) , Flee (Oscar nominated for Best Animated Film, Best International Film and Best Documentary), Three Minutes-A Lengthening

2020: Ammonite*** if the fest had happened

2019: Parasite (nominated for six Academy Awards and won four including Best Picture and Director). Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Amazing Grace

2018: Border (Oscar nominated for Best Makeup and Hair), The Biggest Little Farm

2017: None

2016: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

For 2024 NEON has four films that might fit the bill for T-ride:

Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winning Anora, Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Joshua Oppenheimer's The End (see below) and Duke Johnson's The Actor.  In each case the director has had work at Telluride previously  In the case of both Rasoulof and Oppenheimer, they've had films at Telluride more than once.

Chances for these four films at TFF #51:

Anora 50%

The Seed of the Sacred Fig 50%

The End 45%

The Actor 25%

THE END AND VENICE (AND TELLURIDE?)

Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel wrote on Saturday that he was hearing that Joshua Oppenheimer's The End will not play at Venice but that Telluride was still a real possibility.

Here's what Ruimy says at the start of his report:

"Hearing shaky things about this one. It might have the same fate as Audrey Diwan’s “Emmanuelle” and not show up at either Cannes or Venice … However, Telluride is a real possibility for a world premiere. Just what I’m hearing."

You can read the entire piece at the link above.

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Checking the Distributors: NEON / Saltburn and TFF? / First Ten Bets in One Week

 CHECKING THE DISTRIBUTORS: NEON

Part Four today of MTFB's rundown of the most frequent distribution companies that have screened films at TFF over the past seven years.  Today's outfit is NEON.

NEON has had one fewer film actually play Telluride than  last Monday's company-A24.  That means that NEON is also very close to averaging two films per festival since 2015.

Here's what we have seen from NEON at TFF in that time frame:

2022: Broker, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Oscar nominated for Best Documentary)

2021: Petite Maman, Spencer (Oscar nominated for Best Actress-Kristen Stewart) , Flee (Oscar nominated for Best Animated Film, Best International Film and Best Documentary), Three Minutes-A Lengthening

2020: Ammonite*** if the fest had happened

2019: Parasite (nominated for six Academy Awards and won four including Best Picture and Director). Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Amazing Grace

2018: Border (Oscar nominated for Best Makeup and Hair), The Biggest Little Farm

2017: None

2016: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

As we look to NEON's possible participation in TFF #50 we discover that they have a lot of films that could be in play.  Foremost is probably Cannes Palme d'Or winner Anatomy of a Fall.  The Palme winner hasn't played in Telluride since 2019's Parasite (also distributed by NEON) but that absence may actually work to increase the odds for a spot at Telluride this year.

That said, the most likely two films from the NEON stable to make the TFF #50 list in my estimation are Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera and Kitty Green's The Royal Hotel.  Each of these films start with a 50/50 chance of making the TFF lineup.

Other NEON films that are possibles and where I'd place their chances of  selection for TFF are:

The End/Oppenheimer 30%

The Actor/Johnson 20%

Longlegs/Perkins 20%

And I'd also say that if Raoul Peck's George Orwell (co-produced by Alex Gibney) documentary is ready that it too is a possibility at 20%.  Its currently listed as "filming".

SALTBURN AND TFF

I thought for a good long while that Emerald Fennell's Saltburn might be a real player for a TFF bid.  The writer/director is coming off an Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman (2020) with this much anticipated film.

Well, Jordan Ruimy on Monday reported that Telluride appears to me making a push for the film.  Ruimy wrote:

"Now I’m hearing that TIFF, Telluride and Venice are fighting it out for the world premiere of Fennell’s film. Who will win the “Saltburn” stakes? My money is on Venice. It probably will world premiere on the Lido."

And, of course, a Venice World Premiere doesn't necessarily preclude a following screening at Telluride.

The entire Ruimy article is linked here.

IMDb Pro lists Saltburn's distribution status for the U.S. with Amazon but only labeling it as the distributor for video.

FIRST TEN BETS IN ONE WEEK

One week from today MTFB will put up the first Ten Bets for TFF #50.  Past attempts at the first Ten Bets have shown that and average of five of the ten will actually show up and play at TFF.  Then as the summer continues I will adjust the Ten Bets each week on Thursday to reflect the growing body of evidence pointing to which films we'll be offered over Labor Day weekend.

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Couple of Deals to Note / Cannes and the Critics / Trailers and Clips: May/December, La Chimera, Perfect Days

A COUPLE OF DEALS OF NOTE

Two acquisition deals of note occurred at Cannes since last Monday's post.  

Netflix nabbed North American rights for Todd Haynes' May/December for $11 million.  May/December has long been  on the MTFB radar as a possible TFF #50 selection and while the Netflix action doesn't guarantee a TFF berth it sure doesn't hurt.

The other deal that caught my eye was from NEON which took North American rights for Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall.  Anatomy began the festival as just another Cannes title that I had not focused on regarding its TFF chances but with a very solid critical response (88 on Metacritic, 100% on RT),  Plame d'Or buzz and this acquisition from NEON, which has become a frequent contributor to the TFF lineup (Parasite, Broker, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed), I have to think that Anatomy of a Fall has emerged as a serious candidate for TFF inclusion.

Here is reporting from The Hollywood Reporter on the Netflix May/December deal and for the NEON deal for Anatomy of a Fall.

CANNES AND THE CRITICS

As the 76th Cannes Film Festival makes its turn into the final stretch...awards are Saturday night, here's a snapshot of where the critical reaction has been to films that have played thus far in the Palme d'Or competition.

The top five from Screen Daily:

1) Fallen Leaves 3.2

2) Anatomy of a Fall 3.0

2) May/December 3.0

4) The Zone of Interest 2.8

4) The Pot Au Feu 2.8

4) Youth 2.8

4) About Dry Grasses 2.8

The top five from Ioncinema:

1) The Zone of Interest 3.9

2) Fallen Leaves 3.8

3) Anatomy of a Fall 3.5

4) About Dry Grasses 3.4

5) May/December 3.3.

The top five from the International Cinephile Society:

1) The Zone of Interest 4.21

2) Fallen Leaves 3.88

3) Anatomy of a Fall 3.50

4) About Dry Grasses 3.42

5) Youth 3.33

Normally I would be including the massive critical compilation from Reini Urban but that link is currently down.

TRAILERS AND CLIPS

MAY/DECEMBER

LA CHIMERA

From NEON's Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/neonrated/status/1660999454034472962

PERFECT DAYS

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Ten Bets #2 / 700,000+ / Hope Springs / NEON's Shine / Two Off the Table ?/ My Marcel Dance Continues

TEN BETS #2

Here's the second edition of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #49.  It's my weekly assessment that will update each week through the summer with my best assessment of the films that I think could make the TFF #49 lineup.  Last week the initial Ten Bets were:

1) Bardo/Inarritu

2) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

3) The Son/Zeller

4) Close/Dhont

5) Women Talking/Polley

6) Aftersun/Wells

7) Showing Up/Reichardt

8) White Noise/Baumbach

9) Broker/Kore-eda

10) She Said/M. Schrader

Plus some other possibilities: Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, Holy Spider/Abdasi, Blonde/Dominik, The Master Gardener/P. Schrader, Next Goal Wins/Waititi, The Forger/Peren, Babylon/Chazelle, TAR/Fields

Not much jostling this week...  Here's the new Ten Bets:

1) Bardo/Inarritu

2) One Fine Morning/Hansen-Love

3) The Son/Zeller

4) Close/Dhont

5) Women Talking/Polley

6) Aftersun/Wells

7) Showing Up/Reichardt

8) Broker/Kore-eda

9) White Noise/Baumbach

10) The Master Gardener/P. Schrader

Others: Tori and Lokita/Dardennes, Holy Spider/Abdasi, Blonde/Dominik, The Master Gardener/P. Schrader, Next Goal Wins/Waititi, The Forger/Peren, Babylon/Chazelle, TAR/Fields, She Said/M. Schrader

700,000+

Since I posted on Monday MTFB crossed it 700,000th view since I first started the thing back in 2008.  Over that time I have posted 2023 times for a per post average of 346+ views per post.  Biggest post historically for the blog was Jan. 4, 2018 that focused on the upcoming Oscar nominations for that year.  It also included a focus on Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird.  The largest readership for a non-Oscar related post was for last fall's Professional's Telluride poll that has Marcel the Shell with Shoes On as the highest rated film for TFF #48.  That post created quite a stir and was refenced by Variety, Awards Daily, Awards Watch and Indiewire as well as from the film's director, writer and Marcel co-creator Dean Fleischer-Camp.

Marcel opened in limited release this past week and had a ridiculously good per theater average.  The film is currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Marcel will continue to expand into other markets in the coming weeks.

HOPE SPRINGS

Now make no mistake, I don't think (at least at the moment) that we'll see either Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon or Fincher's The Killer at TFF #49 BUT...Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel reported this week that both of the films might get a 2022 release.  Both films had been rumored to be floating into 2023 for release but Ruimy's  reportage suggests that there is some hope for both before the end of the year. 

Jordan writes about Flower Moon saying:

"After embarking on additional shooting, and rumors appearing that it might get delayed to 2023, Apple is now pretty confident that Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” will be released later this year, most likely in December."

That story was published last Sunday.

Then, later on Sunday Jordan posted this:

“The Killer” started production in November 2021 and wrapped shorting this past March. Fincher has 9 months to edit, but we all know he takes an obsessively lengthy time in the editing room. My bet is that the film get released in December. That’s just a hunch."

Fingers crossed that both highly anticipated films as a part of a 2022 release strategy and...if they just so happened to screen at Telluride, so much the better.

NEON SHINES

I'm continuing my preview of possible TFF #49 selections from distribution companies that have been prominently involved at the fest over recent years.  Today's subject is NEON,  Their profile at T-ride isn't as lengthy as an SPC or Searchlight but it has shown brightly over the past five years including the Best Picture Oscar winner for 2019, Bong Joon Ho's Parasite.  Here are the NEON films that

2021: Petite Maman, Spencer (Oscar nominated for Best Actress-Kristen Stewart) , Flee (Oscar nominated for Best Animated Film, Best International Film and Best Documentary)

2020: Ammonite

2019: Parasite (nominated for six Academy Awards and won four including Best Picture and Director). Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Amazing Grace

2018: Border (Oscar nominated for Best Makeup and Hair), The Biggest Little Farm

2017: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

Best chances for this year are three films that all played at Cannes earlier this year:

Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker (won Best Actor and Ecumenical Jury prize at Cannes)

Rueben Ostlund's Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness 

Brett Morgen's David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream

These films are listed from top to bottom in the probability of a TFF appearance.  I put Broker at 55% and Triangle of Sadness and Moonage Daydream at 25% each in probability of being selected for TFF #49.

TWO OFF THE TABLE

(via Netflix)

Not that I have ever really thought they were likely ever on the Telluride table...

Toronto's International Film Fest has moved one film off the chess board with their announcement on Wednesday that Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will World Premiere there.  

The Hollywood Reporter, among others, reported the TIFF announcement.  The story is linked here.

Meanwhile, if you had the musical version of Roald Dahl's Matilda on your list as a Telluride consideration, erase it now.  The BFI London Film Fest has announced the film as its World Premiere Opening Night Gala.  

Here is that news from The British Film Institute.

  

Both films are from Netflix.

MY MARCEL DANCE CONTINUES

Friend of MTFB, Mark Johnson of Awards Daily, attended the just completed Nantucket Film Festival.  His last screening was the TFF #49 favorite Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.  Mark had missed seeing last September.

He was kind enough to reference MTFB's The Professionals Telluride Poll as a part of his very positive review for the film.

You can see Mark's review and even hit the link and re-visit MTFB's Pros Poll.  The link for the review is here.

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Fred Ward 1942-2022 / Marcel Creators Have a Word / Official Clip for Holy Spider / NEON Nabs Broker / Marty Back in Oklahoma

FRED WARD 1942-2022

Fred Ward at TFF #36 (photo via Salon.com and Getty Images)

I will miss Fred Ward.  The actor died on May 8th at the age of 79.  Fred's credits included some great stuff: Escape from Alcatraz, Southern Comfort, The Right Stuff, The Player and, of course, Tremors.  Tremors is one of my wife's favorite movies. For years we've been talking about writing and producing a stage musical adaptation.  Can you envision singing Graboids?

I just watched The Player again a couple of weeks ago.

Ward was in Telluride in 2009 for The SHOW as a part of the group that was there with the foreign film Farewell, a gripping cold war true story that featured Ward as Ronald Reagan.  I saw the film at the fest and it was quote good.

Salon.com had a nice write up about Fred this week.  That's linked here.

MARCELS'S CREATORS HAVE A WORD

Recently, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On co-creators Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate sat down with Joshua Rothkopf writing for Entertainment Weekly for an interview ahead of the films release on June 24th.  The result of that interview was posted at EW.com on Friday the 13th.

Frequent readers of this space already know that I am an outspoken fan of the film so I am pleased to provide the link to the interview, encourage you to read (regarding the genesis of the project and other matters) and then make sure to go see the film or re-watch it of you caught it at Telluride or one of its other film fest stops (SXSW, San Francisco, Seattle, Milwaukee).

OFFICIAL CLIP FOR HOLY SPIDER

On the TFF #49 watch list is Ali Abbasi's Cannes Plame d'Or contender Holy Spider.  The film focuses on a series of murders in Iran and the female journalist that is trying to unravel the story.

Here's the newly released first look clip from YouTube:

NEON NABS BROKER

NEON has acquired North American distribution rights for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker according to multiple sources including Variety.  This is of note to Telluride Film Fest fans as the film now checks off a bunch of boxes that could signal a TFF #49 appearance.

Cannes competition choice...check

Foreign auteur that's played TFF before... check (Kore-eda's Shoplifters in 2018)

Distributor with a history at T-ride...check (NEON)

Assuming reviews are strong out of Cannes, Broker's lineage could land it on my first "Ten Bets" list.

Here's the news of the acquisition from Variety.

MARTY BACK IN OKLAHOMA

Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel reports that additional filming is underway in the northeast part of my home state for Killers of the Flower Moon.  Jordan, as a part of his story, links to a report from Louise Red Corn writing for The Osage News from last Tuesday with photos showing crew and equipment back in Pawhuska.

Speculation is that they'll be filming a social dance that will include an number of the locals that were filmed earlier as extras and background players.

Here's the link to Jordan's story.

Here's the link to the Osage News story.

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Shining a Light on Neon / Odds for the Unannounced Palme d'Or Cannes-idates

SHINING A  LIGHT ON NEON

Distributor Neon's existence has not been terribly long.  The outfit was founded in 2017 and in that short span has landed seven films at Telluride:

2020: Ammonite

2019: Parasite (nominated for six Academy Awards and won four including Best Picture and Director). Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Amazing Grace

2018: Border (Oscar nominated for Best Makeup and Hair), The Biggest Little Farm

2017: The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography

Seven films in four years and still basking in then glow of the success that was Parasite, you have to figure that Neon will land a film or two or three at TFF #48.  What might they be?

My guess that the most likely is Celine Sciamma's  Petite Maman, her follow-up to the very well received Portrait of a Lady on Fire (noted above as having played at TFF #46).  Sciamma could actually double-dip at Telluride should the fest chose to screen Jacques Audiard's Paris 13th District as she is a co-writer of that screenplay.

Also possible for TFF #48 from Neon include:

Pablo Larrain's Spencer starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana 

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria

Michael Sarnoski's Pig starring Nicolas Cage as a man searching for his kidnapped truffle hunting pig

Julia Ducournau's Titane

And a couple of documentaries: The First Wave and Ailey.

ODES FOR THE PALME D'OR

The Film Lounge has set odds for films that are rumored as possible Cannes competition selections.  At the top of the list is Apichatpong Weerasethekul's Memoria. Weerasethekul previously won the Golden Palm at Cannes back in 2010 for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.  Its odds are set at 4-1.  Currently in the 2nd spot is Asghar Farhadi's A Hero at 9-2.  Farhadi's film is on my TFF #48 watch list.  

Films that are also on my watch list and their odds are:

Bergman Island 9-1

Where Is Anne Frank 9-1

The Power of the Dog 20-1

Paris, 13th District 28-1

The Card Counter 33-1

Flag Day 50-1

Mothering Sunday 50-1

  

And from the wish list:

The French Dispatch 22-1

Soggy Bottom 25-1

Check out the complete list of odds here.

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Oscar Has a New Date and the Dominoes Have Begun to Fall / First Domino: BAFTA / The Distribs: Neon

OSCAR HAS A NEW DATE AND THE DOMINOES HAVE BEGUN TO FALL

Oscar has moved.  The ceremony is now set to occur on April 25th after the AMPAS Board of Governors made that decision on Monday.  That's a full eight weeks later than the original date of Feb. 28th.

The decision was also accompanied by an extension of the exhibition eligibility widow to the end of February.

Those two decisions set off a chain reaction of other awards season programs as they adjusted to the new elongated season.

Of concern to readers of the space is how that will affect the lineup for TFF #47 and this is just another hurdle that makes planning for Telluride all the more unpredictable.

Pete Hammond writing at Deadline:

"The traditional fall film festival season, which traditionally kicks off the six-month movie awards season in early September at Venice/Telluride/Toronto, is also likely to be affected by the actions of the Academy’s board today. As one studio consultant just told me, anticipating these changes, “Who will have the stomach for an eight-month season?”

Josh Rottenberg writing for the Los Angeles Times:

"While the marquee fall film festivals in Venice, Toronto and Telluride have, for now, largely stuck to their plans, the postponement of the Oscars could also lead some of those gatherings to shift their dates as well, as the ripple effects spread through the whole awards-season ecosystem."

Anne Thompson of Indiewire:

...festivals from Venice and Telluride to Toronto and New York don’t know what form their annual events will take this year. Big titles like David Fincher’s biopic “Mank” starring Oscar-winner Gary Oldman, may thrive without a fall festival launch (Netflix has not committed to sending its films to festivals), but smaller, less pedigreed titles, that need discovery from media and audiences, could fail to build buzz and attention to become must-sees.

There’s another possibility with the Academy date shift: the festivals themselves can move back as well, allowing for safety concerns as well as finished titles to catch up with them.


Uncertainty upon uncertainty.

Here are the full stories from each of the above:

Deadline

The L.A. Times

Indiewire


FIRST DOMINO: BAFTA

The first domino to fall in the wake of the decision to push the Oscars to April was the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced that they'll be doing their ceremony on April 11th.  It's BAFTA's adjustment to match up with this week's decision from AMPAS.

The Hollywood Reporter's Etan Vlessing has that story linked here.

THE DISTRIBS: NEON

I'm continuing to run down distributors that have had some history with the Telluride Film Festival in what is probably an incredibly futile effort to predict the TFF #47 lineup in a vaccine-free Covid-19 world. Today NEON!

Neon is coming off of last year's fantastic and historic run with Best Picture Oscar winner Parasite.  Their past with TFF looks like this:

2019: Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Amazing Grace

2018: Border, The Biggest Little Farm

2017: No SHOW

2016: The B Side: Elsa Dorfman

After last year's success, you have to figure that Neon probably wants to play at TFF again.  Of course we can't be certain of  anything currently.  Nevertheless, Neon has a couple of films that could be contenders for TFF #47 chief of which is Francis Lee's Ammonite starring a powerhouse duo of Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.  The film has not yet been dated for release but went into post-production last in April of 2019.  So you have to figure that it is totally ready.

Another, lesser buzzed title under the Neon umbrella that could be possible is Michael Sarnoski's Pig starring Nicolas Cage as an Oregon man searching for his kidnapped, truffle snuffling pig.  

The third title that Neon has but that we will not see is Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria that is widely believed to now be waiting for a slot at the 2021 edition of Cannes.

Chances:

Ammonite: 50%

Pig 25%

Memoria 0%

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The Distributors 2019: Neon / Pico Iyer Will Lead Us / First Gaze at Little Women

Good Thursday to all...


THE DISTRIBUTORS 2019: NEON

Film distribution company NEON has come on like gangbusters in the past couple of years.  Their The B Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography played Telluride in 2016.  NEON also played with Border and The Biggest Little Farm last year.  Additionally NEON ended up as the distributor for the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace which was expected to play TFF in both 2015 and 2016 but, due to legal issues did not.

So...it's not a lengthy Telluride resume but it is relatively intense of late.  As a matter of fact, their emergence is so recent I didn't even handicap their chances with films last year and as you can see above, they landed two.

Now, as we're assessing the 2019 landscape, NEON seems poised to make a splash again this year as they have acquired two huge titles from Cannes.  Palme d'Or winner Parasite and Best Screenplay winner at Cannes: Portrait of a Lady on Fire.  At the moment, these two films seem to be the only two NEON films with a shot at TFF #46.

I'm bullish on the chances for both films to make it to the 2019 version of The SHOW

Chances...

Parasite 60%
Portrait of a Lady on Fire 60%

More distribution analysis tomorrow.


PICO IYER WILL LEAD US

The Telluride Film Festival officially announced that author Pico Iyer will serve as Guest Director this year.

Here's the text of the official announcement:

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (TFF), presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce its 2019 Guest Director, Pico Iyer. The celebrated author is set to select a series of films to present at the 46th Telluride Film Festival running over Labor Day Weekend, August 30 through September 2, 2019.

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

“Pico is a tremendously gifted writer with unrivaled wit,” said TFF Executive Director Julie Huntsinger. “His enthusiasm for film, especially within his writing, has buoyed and enchanted us. It has made working with him to create this year’s Guest Director program a particularly delightful experience. Both Tom Luddy and I are thrilled to have him with us this year.”

Pico Iyer is the author of two novels and thirteen works of non-fiction. His books have been translated into 23 languages and both his 2008 meditation on the XIVth Dalai Lama, The Open Road, and his TED Book, The Art of Stillness, were best sellers across the U.S. They have also made him a Guggenheim Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize nominee and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

An essayist for Time since 1986, he is a constant contributor to The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s and more than 200 other newspapers and magazines worldwide, and he has published introductions to 70 other works.

Iyer has also written many liner-notes for Leonard Cohen, essays for several Criterion Collection DVDs and a screenplay for Miramax. His writing on Malick, Farhadi, Bertolucci, Scorsese and many other filmmakers has appeared all over, and his writing on movie studios from North Korea to Hyderabad has borne out The New Yorker’s assertion that “As a guide to far-flung places, he can hardly be surpassed.”

Born in Oxford, England, in 1957, Iyer was educated at Eton, Oxford and Harvard. This year he’s been serving as Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton.

“In the times I’ve been to the Festival I’ve seen as many rich and original films in three days as I get to watch in the next twelve months combined,” said Iyer. “So when Tom and Julie asked if I might be willing to serve as Guest Director this year, I felt as stunned and delighted as if I’d been given the keys to the kingdom. Movies have actually been my secret passion for as long as the Telluride Film Festival has been around. But nobody had intuited this until Tom and Julie, a dream team of sorts, sensed my excitement and offered me a chance to share my enthusiasms and passions with others. The invitation to help choose films for the Festival this year was the most exciting one I can remember receiving; I only hope I can pass on a fraction of the delight that I have found at Telluride to others in this inspiring community.”

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

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

FIRST GAZE AT LITTLE WOMEN


Vanity Fair revealed a first look at still photography from Greta Gerwig's highly anticipated adaptation of Louisa Mae Alcott's classic Little Women.

The film stars Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, Bob Odenkirk and Laura Dern. 

The film is being shepherded by Sony/Columbia nd is due for release on Dec. 25th.

Here's a taste of the visuals from Vanity Fair:

For a view of more of the stills and the article the accompanies them at Vanity Fair click here.

That's the Thursday MTFB.  More tomorrow.


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Ford v. Ferrari Trailer, Poster, Photos / Neon is Bringing Some Heat to the Oscar Race

Good first Monday in June...TFF #46 is a mere three months away!


FORD V. FERRARI TRAILER, POSTER, PHOTOS

20th Century Fox/Disney revved up the hype machine in earnest over the weekend with the release of a slew of promotional materials for James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari.  The film stars Christian Bale and Matt Damon and centers on the true story of Ford Motors attempt to develop a car that could compete against the world renowned Ferrari at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race.

The film is being alluded to as a "buddy" film and likened in a number of the stories about the trailer's release to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  The tenor of the trailer supports that description.  See for yourself (from YouTube):

Additionally we got a look at this poster:

And some stills from the film as well from The Film Stage:

Ford v. Ferrari is dated for a release on Nov. 15th.  The 20th Century Fox/Disney backing doesn't suggest a Telluride play however, James Mangold has been a part of the festival as the director of the Oscar nominated (Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for the film) Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line in 2005.

I have linked a couple of stories associated with the trailer's release from

Variety

The Film Stage

The Wrap


NEON IS BRINGING SOME HEAT TO THE OSCAR RACE

Distribution outfit Neon looks to be  serious presence this Oscar season in the newly re-christened Oscar category Best International Feature (which used to be Best Foreign Language Film).

With acquisitions and positioning of two prize winning films from the recently concluded 72nd Cannes Film Fest.  Neon now has in its film cupboard both Bong Joon-ho's Palme d'Or winner  Parasite and Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire which took the Cannes prize for Best Screenplay.

Parasite has been scheduled for an Oct. 11th U.S. release date and Neon has announced that Portrait will open on Dec. 6th in New York and Los Angeles.

Both films could make the Telluride lineup in three months.  Neon, as I have been noting in recent posts has made a splash at recent TFFs with both Border and Biggest Little Farm playing last year and The B-Side in 2016.

Linked here is coverage about both Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire from Indiewire:

Parasite

Portrait



That's your MTFB entry for this Monday in June.  I'll have more on Thursday.

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