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
Among the weirder things that I've noticed this summer as we edged ever closer to the opening of the 45th TFF is that habitual Telluride presence, Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has had no film pop up as a potential choice for TFF #45 inclusion.
That's stunning as SPC has been the singularly most consistent distributor present in all the years that I've been attending. Most years SPC has averaged 4.5 films per year. There has never been a year when there wasn't at least one SPC film playing since my first Telluride in 2006. 2015 was that rare year when there was just one SPC film in play at T-ride and that was the incredibly powerful Son of Saul.
So, the lack of any prospect for SPC at TFF has just seemed almost impossible to believe.
Now, though, there is a new possibility.
Multiple sources reported yesterday that SPC had secure North American distribution for Ralph Fiennes' The White Dove.
The White Dove deals with the events surrounding the defection of ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev.
Suddenly, SPC seems like they could be back in the game regarding a Telluride berth. The late acquisition is certainly no guarantee, but I would point out that Fiennes was in Telluride in 2013 with his last directorial effort, The Invisible Woman and that film was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.
Again, no guarantee, but you have to think that the film is a real candidate for TFF #45.
Details of the acquisition news is linked here from:
After last week's Toronto reveal of the documentaries playing there I'm modestly convinced that mountain climbing saga Free Solo will probably play in The SHOW.
National Geographic is the film's distributor and released a full trailer for the late last weekend.
Here's the stunner from YouTube:
A release date for the film has not been announced.
The Playlist tweeted a series of new images from Olivier Assayas' Non-Fiction yesterday. The film seems a dead certainty to play TFF and was listed at #10 on last week's Ten Bets list.
Here are a couple of the new pics from the film:
Still stumping here for Juliette Binoche to make an appearance on Colorado Ave.
That's your Tuesday. More to come on Thursday.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com
I'm continuing my rundown of common players at Telluride fests that have films thought to be ready for presentation. Yesterday I wrote about Herzog, Burns, Payne and Morris. Today...
Mark Cousins...Cousins has been a part of the Telluride program in four of the last five years and I suspect that he'll return this year. He has a documentary that he co-directed with Iranian film maker Mania Akbari.
The film is described as a conversation/discourse between the two. "Life May Be" has played the Edinburgh and Karlovy Vary Fests this summer. I think there's a very high probability that this film plays.
Iranian film maker Mania Akbari (via The Guardian)
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu... Inarritu has become a fixture at Telluride. Both "Babel" and "Biutiful" played the fest and Inarritu attended last year in support of his friend, Alfonso Cuaron, for a little picture called "Gravity". It may be instructive to know that "Gravity" played Venice and then came to Telluride.
As I'm sure you know, Inarritu's "Birdman" will open the Venice fest on Aug. 27th. T-ride opens Aug. 29...so I really expect to see "Birdman" at Telluride. My questions are: Will Keaton come along? (A Keaton tribute?) and will Cuaron return Inarritu's favor and just be a guest this year...because that wouldn't surprise me at all. Nevertheless, count on "Birdman" (it's at # 1 on the last week's Ten Bets).
Mike Leigh...the writer/director has been at Telluride a number of times. He's been a long time player at TFF beginning over a quarter century ago with 1988's "High Hopes". He's also been at TFF with "Secrets and Lies" in '96 (he was the recipient of a tribute) , "Happy Go Lucky" in '08, and "Another Year" in '10.
Now, Leigh has "Mr. Turner" ready after its competition run at Cannes in May and Timothy Spall's win for Best Actor there. I fully expect "Mr. Turner" to make an appearance at TFF #41 and further, I suspect Mr. Spall will attend as well.
Jean-Luc and Pierre Dardennes...have also become regulars at Telluride over the past few years. They tribute recipients in 2005 which included the presentation of "The Child" and were back in 2011 with "The Kid with a Bike". This year, they have "Two Days, One Night" starring another TFF Tributee, Marion Cotillard. Sundance Selects has the distribution, so all of these factors considered make me believe that "Two Days" is also a likely Telluride play.
My question here is": "Will Marion return to Telluride?" That question has an additional component in that she has another film that could play, Justin Kurzel's "MacBeth" with Michael Fassbender in the title role. Could Cotillard double dip at T-ride? I hope so!
Here's the link to the "Two Days, One Night" IMDb page:
And finally, today's last "Usual Suspect" is Olivier Assayas. Assayas fits a familiar profile listed in a number of the "Usual Suspects" mentioned above. His film "Clouds of Sils Maria" played well at Cannes. Juliette Binoche was named Best Actress for the film at Cannes by the International Cinephile Society. But of all the "Usual Suspects" listed today, Assayas has, perhaps, the sketchiest Telluride resume. His "Irma Vep" played in 1996 and "Carlos" in 2010. His 2012 film "Something in the Air" played Venice, Toronto and New York but not Telluride.
All of these factors have made me a bit squeamish about "Clouds of Sils Maria" making it onto Telluride's program. I wouldn't be surprised, but I'm much less bullish about its chances than any of the other "Usuals" listed in today's blog.
I also wouldn't be stunned if a Juliette Binoche tribute was a part of a package that included the presentation of "Clouds".
Tomorrow, the final five of this year's "Usual Suspects"
HERZOG ON HIS QUEEN
The Playlist posted an interview with Werner Herzog yesterday in which the auteur talks about his new film, and likely Telluride presentation, "Queen of the Desert" starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Pattinson. I current lay have "Queen" at #4 on the "Ten Bets" list.
Movie City News' David Poland added his two cents (actually more than two) to the whole Toronto ultimatum concerning premieres, their first weekend and Telluride's programming. It's a lengthy article and has some interesting, thought-provoking things to say about the situation. It also includes a proposal for a compromise concerning independent, small and/or foreign films caught in the vortex of Toronto's demand.
The 38th Telluride Film Festival will be under way in 2 weeks and 2 days....
MTFB UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
It looks increasingly as if there will be a "Michael's Telluride Film Blog" shin dig"/"meet and greet"/seminar/thingy in Telluride on Friday, Sept. 2. I'm working on the details right now and will be passing them along as they get firmed up. If it comes together like I think it's going to, it will be a pleasant way to get together and talk a little bit about the Festival before it really cranks up.
I'll let you know as we get closer to the festival.
"GOODBYE" SAYS "HELLO"
Ioncinema reports late yesterday that they're fairly certain that writer-director Mia Hansen-Love's "Goodbye First Love" is headed to the Telluride Film Festival.
Ioncinema tweeted:
"Goodbye First Love-looks like it's Telluride Bound"
The French/German film follows the ups and downs of a romantic relationship of a couple beginning in their adolescence.
Adding some background info that sort of provides a semi-Telluride connection to past festivals is the nugget that Hansen-Love is purportedly engaged to Olivier Assayas ("Carlos"-TFF #37).
The Playlist, First Showing.net and Movie Web all had versions of posts up yesterday with new posters for "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" that are character specific (so I imagine that there will be others rolled over over the next few days)
and the first (to my knowledge) of Mark Forster's "Machine Gun Preacher" which I think has a chance to be at Telluride.
Sasha Stone of Awards Daily has a nice post up that focuses on her view of the state of the race for Oscar glory as we approach the thundering tumult that will be Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York. She gives a clear eyed assessment of what's what and the players in the line-ups of those fests that we know about. Take a look at it, see what you think: http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/08/cantstop/
