Now That Oscar 2021 Is Over... / Cannes Countdown-Possible Titles / There Is No Evil Trailer and Date / Never Gonna Snow Again Trailer Released

NOW THAT OSCAR 2021 IS OVER...

GoldDerby.com wasted zero time getting  a prospective list of films that could be in the Oscar hunt 10 months from now assuming The Academy doesn't move the probable dates again for Oscar #94.

Looking at their list, a few jump out as possible TFF #48 choices (or are, at least on my wish list and/or radar):

Andrew Dominik's Blonde

Mike Mills' C'mon C'mon

Denis Villenueve's Dune

Will Sharpe's The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch

Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins

Guillermo Del Toro's Nightmare Alley

Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog

The complete Gold Derby list is linked here.

CANNES COUNTDOWN-POSSIBLE TITLES

Variety ran down a number of films that it suggests have a reasonable shot at making the lineup for the Cannes Film Festival now scheduled to take place from July 6-17.  If the fest happens on those dates then the Cannes/Telluride connection that we have seen over the last several years could well be in place to recur.

So here are some of the speculated (and not so speculated) titles that Variety mentions that might make the Cannes/Telluride double play (some of which are mentioned in the Oscar  segment above):

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch

Sean Penn's Flag Day

Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog

Paul Schrader's The Card Counter

Jacques Audiard's Paris 13th District

Asghar Farhadi's A Hero

Mia Hansen-Love's Bergman Island

Ari Folman's Where Is Anne Frank

Cannes will announce its lineup on May 27th.

THERE IS NO EVIL TRAILER AND DATE

Mohammad Rasoulof would have had another film play at Telluride in 2020 had the festival taken place.  His Berlin Golden Bear winning There Is No Evil was an official selection of TFF #47.  Rasoulof previously screened Manuscripts Don't Burn and A Man of Integrity at TFF.

Now word comes from distributor Kino Lorber that the film will be released on May 14th.  To underscore that announcement, Kino Lorber released a trailer for the film this week.  Here it is thanks to YouTube:

Here's the story from Indiewire.

 

NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN  TRAILER RELEASED

Ahead of its New York premiere this weekend, Kino Lorber has released a trailer for Poland's official nominee for the just past Oscar for Best International Feature, Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert's Never Gonna Snow Again.  The film was an official selection of TFF #47.

The description of the film from IMDb says:

"Zhenia, a Russian-speaking immigrant from the East works as a masseur in Poland and becomes a guru-like figure in a wealthy gated community of his clients."

Indiewire reports that the film will be released in July.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

And the story from Indiewire is linked here.

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TFF Oscar Streak Continues / 2021 Oscar Rundown

 TFF OSCAR STREAK CONTINUES

The Telluride Film Festival didn't happen for the 2020-21 Oscar season and still managed to extend its streak of having scheduled and screened (at a drive-in) the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner.  11 of the last 13 Oscar winning Best Pictures screened as a part of the festival.  The only two exceptions have been The Hurt Locker for 2009 and Green Book for 2018.

Here's the run:

2008: Slumdog Millionaire

2010: The King's Speech

2011: The Artist

2012: Argo

2013: 12 Years a Slave

2014: Birdman

2015: Spotlight

2016: Moonlight

2017: The Shape of Water

2019: Parasite

2020: Nomadland

2021 OSCAR RUNDOWN

Here are the winners of the 2021 Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Nomadland. 

Best Direction: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland,

Best Actress: Frances McDormand/Nomadland

Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins/The Father.

Best Supporting Actress: Yuh-jung Youn/Minari.  

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah.

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Father.

Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman.

Best International Feature: Another Round. 

Best Documentary Feature: My Octopus Teacher.

Best Animated Feature: Soul. 

Best Original Score: Soul. 

Best Original Song: Fight for You/Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Cinematography: Mank.

Best Editing: Sound of Metal.

Best Production Design: Mank. 

Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. 

Best Makeup/Hair: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

Best Sound: Sound of Metal. 

Best Visual Effects: Tenet. 

Best Animated Short: If Anything Happens I Love You. 

Best Live Action Short: Two Distant Strangers.  

Best Documentary Short: Colette

Nomadland led the way with three wins- Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress-on a night when The Academy really did share the wealth.  Its wins along with the two for The Father- Best Actor and  Best Adapted Screenplay-gave TFF #47 a respectable total of five Oscars.

The Father' double win was part of a substantial list of two win films on the night.

The rundown of wins by film:

Nomadland- 3- Picture, Direction, Actress.

The Father- 2- Actor, Adapted Screenplay

Soul- 2- Animated Feature, Score

Judas and the Black Messiah- 2- Supporting Actor, Song

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom- 2- Costumes, Makeup/Hair

Sound of Metal- 2- Editing, Sound

Mank- 2- Production Design, Cinematography

Single feature film wins for: Minari, Promising Young Woman, Another Round, My Octopus Teacher and Tenet.

On a personal level:

I correctly predicted 16 of the 23 categories with an additional four statues going to films that I listed as Upset Specials. That's just shy of 70% which is under my average (79.6%) for the past several years.

My biggest surprise of the evening was McDormand winning Best Actress.  I really did not believe she's win again so soon after her Three Billboards win.

Now we gear up with some seriousness of purpose working under the assumption the Telluride happens in 19 weeks to suss out what its lineup looks will look like.

Back to it!

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Oscar Update: Predicting Winners in the Big Eight / More on Tavernier

 PREDICTING WINNERS IN THE BIG EIGHT

Here's my latest take on the Oscar winners in the Big Eight categories.  TFF films/performers in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Nomadland

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Promising Young Woman

4) Minari

5) Mank

6) Judas and the Black Messiah

7) Sound of Metal

8) The Father

BEST DIRECTION

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) David Fincher/Mank

3) Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman

4) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari

5) Thomas Vinterberg/Another Round

BEST ACTRESS

1) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman

2) Frances McDormand/Nomadland

3) Andra Day/The United States vs. Billie Holiday

4) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

5) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman

BEST ACTOR

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal

4) Steven Yeun/Minari

5) Gary Oldman/Mank

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

2) Yuh-jung Youn/Minari

3) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy

4) Olivia Colman/The Father

5) Amanda Seyfried/Mank

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Nomadland

2) The Father

3) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

4) One Night in Miami

5) The White Tiger

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Promising Young Woman

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7

3) Minari

4) Judas and the Black Messiah

5) Sound of Metal

MORE ON TAVERNIER

A couple of more notes after the passing of Bertrand Tavernier last week:

The Playlist posted a story last week that centered on Martin Scorsese's remembrance of Tavernier.  That story is linked here.

Cannes Festival Thierry Fremaux has also memorialized Tavernier yesterday in Variety.  That is linked here.

Additionally, The Film Stage reports that Tavernier's My Journey Through French Cinema is out on Blu- Ray this week.

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Oscar Update: Best Picture / TFF and the Gotham Nominations / Waiting for Kurt

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE 

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Picture updated since I last posted this category on  Oct. 19th.  A film's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (2)

2) Mank (3)

3) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

4) The Father (5)

5) One Night in Miami (6)

6) Minari (10)

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (9)

8) Da 5 Bloods (7)

9) News of the World (4)

10) Soul (-)

Hot: Minari, Ma Rainey, Soul

Not: News of the World, Judas and the Black Messiah, Ammonite, On the Rocks, Tenet

TFF AND THE GOTHAMS

Gotham Award nominations were announced this past week.  The Gothams are out of the gate as the first of 2020 end of year awards.  The Gothams aim to recognize independent films.  TFF #46 and #47 films were named to the list of nominees.

Kelly Reichardt's First Cow (TFF #46) led the field with four nominations: Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Joe Magaro) and Breakthrough Actor (Orion Lee).

TFF #46's The Assistant also was nominated for Best Feature.  

TFF #46's Beanpole was nominated for Best International Feature.

TFF #47's Nomadland had nominations for Best Feature and Best Actress (Frances McDormand).

Here's coverage of the complete list of nominations from Erik Anderson/Awards Watch.

WAITING FOR KURT

Some followers of MTFB know that I am a big fan of the late great Kurt Vonnegut.  One of the highlights of my life was to catch a lecture from here back in February of 2003 at Oklahoma City University.  I took a personal day to do it, which, if you know me, is such a rare occurrence.  Usually the only time I use personal days to miss school is for TFF.

Got to see the man talk with a couple of my former students which, if you saw Vonnegut's standard lecture at the time, turned out to be very cool.  The man asked the audience to remember a teacher from our past, so sitting with those "kids" was special.

All of that is to mention that it looks like the Robert B. Weide/Don Argott doc about Vonnegut will likely be released sometime next summer.  The doc has been four decades in the making.  The film has been acquired by IFC Films.  No specific date has been set as yet.

Here's the brand new teaser for the film via YouTube:

Rolling Stone highlighted the news this past week in the article linked here.

Also, if you're so inclined, here's the link to the Daily Oklahoman story about Vonnegut's lecture I attended back in 2003.

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Oscar Update: Best Actor / TFF #47 Films Score at Montclair / Concrete Cowboy Rides to Netflix / Odds and Ends: Chicago 7 and Midnight Sky

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Sept. 24th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (1)

2) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (-)

3) Gary Oldman/Mank (2)

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Tom Hanks/News of the World (3)

6) Riz Ahmed/The Sound of Metal (-)

7) Steven Yeun/Minari (-)

8) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (8)

9) Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon (7)

10) Colin Firth/Supernova (-)

Others: Bill Murray/On the Rocks, Daniel Kaluuya or LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah.

TFF #47 FILMS SCORE AT MONTCLAIR

Chloe Zhao'e Nomadland and Mohammad Rasoulof's  There Is No Evil were awarded major prizes at the conclusion of the Montclair Film Festival.  The winners were announced Mnday at the conclusion of the ninth annual event.

Nomadland was named winner of the audience award for a fiction feature and There Is No Evil won the jury award for non-fiction feature.

Complete coverage of all of the winners from the Montclair fest can be found linked here from Variety.

CONCRETE COWBOY RIDES TO NETFLIX

Ricky Staub's Concrete Cowboy, a selection of the "would have been" 47th Telluride Film Festival, has been acquired by Netflix.  Concrete Cowboy stars Idris Elba and was screened as a part of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Variety reports that the film will be released by Netflix at some point in 2021.

The IMDb description of the film is as follows:

"A teenager discovers the world of urban horseback riding when he moves in with his estranged father in North Philadelphia."

The Variety story about the acquisition is linked here.

ODDS AND ENDS

Here are a few other tidbits that I found interesting...

1)The Hollywood Reporter reports that the entire cast of Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 will be campaigned as Supporting Actors:  The link to the THR story is here.

For my money look at Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Mark Rylance and Frank Langella.

2) ShowBiz 411 reports that MGM has re-dated Leisl Tommy's Respect, which stars Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, for August 13, 2021 which means two things.  First, the move bumps the film and Hudson out of this year's Oscar race and second...the August date guarantees that the film will NOT be a part of a TFF #48 (if that's what it's referenced as) lineup.  I had Hudson at #3 in the Best Actress predictions in last Monday's post.

Here's the ShowBiz 411 story.

3) Trailer drops for George Clooney's Midnight Sky from Netflix.  Here it is via YouTube:

The film is scheduled for release on Netflix on Dec. 23rd.

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Oscar 2020 First Attempt-Best Actor / Looks at The Way I See It and The Truffle Hunters /The Bee Gees Go to HBO

OSCAR 2020 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ACTOR

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Actor with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Anthony Hopkins/The Father

2) Gary Oldman/Mank

3) Tom Hanks/News of the World***

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods

5) Bill Murray/On the Rocks

6) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah***

7) Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon***

8) Ben Affleck/The Way Back

9) Matt Damon/Stillwater***

10) Michael Fassbender/Next Goal Wins***

LOOKS AT THE WAY I SEE IT AND THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS

This week we got new footage from two TFF #47 documentaries.  Initially, we were treated to the a first clip from Dawn Porter's The Way I See It which focuses on Pete Souza who spent time as the Chief Official White House photographer for Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Here's that clip from YouTube:

If you have trouble viewing this video, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evHHCHocAqQ

Also, ahead of its play at the Zurich film festival, we have a new clip from Greg Kersahe and Michael Dweck's The Truffle Hunters.  Also from YouTube:

As with the above clip, if you have trouble viewing here's the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS1AWDp7ftE

THE BEE GEES GO TO HBO

We got word this week that Frank Marshall's documentary focusing on The Brothers Gibb has been acquired by HBO.  The Bees Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart was announced as an official TFF #47 selection back at the end of July and now mxdwn.com reports that HBO Documentary Films now has plans to screen the doc on this fall on HBO Max and their flagship platform.

The mxdwn.com article form Sept. 26th is linked here.

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Nomadland Tops TIFF / Oscar 2021-First Attempt-Best Director / At the Drive-In

 NOMADLAND TOPS TIFF

TFF #47 selection Nomadland won the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award as that festival came to a conclusion over the weekend.  The film, directed and written by Chloe Zhao and starring two time Oscar winner Frances McDormand, has been a significant critical success as it was also this year's Golden Lion winner for the Venice Film Festival.

Past TIFF People's Choice Award winners have gone on to be serious players during Oscar season and often times have included films from The SHOW,  Here's a rundown of the past few years of TIFF People's winners and runners-up with TFF films in BOLD:

2007: Winner: Eastern Promises, RU: JUNO 

2008: Winner: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, RU: More Than a Game

2009: Winner: Precious, RU: Mao's Last Dancer

2010: Winner: THE KING'S SPEECH, RU: THE FIRST GRADER

2011: Winner: Where Do We Go now, RU: Starbuck

2012: Winner: Silver Linings Playbook, RU: ARGO

2013: Winner: 12 YEARS A SLAVE, RU: Philomena

2014: Winner: THE IMITATION GAME, RU: Learning to Drive

2015: Winner: ROOM, RU: Angry Indian Goddesses

2016: Winner: LA LA LAND, RU: Lion

2017: Winner: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, RU: I. Tonya

2018: Winner: Green Book, RU: If Beale Street Could Talk

2019: Winner: Jojo Rabbit, RU: MARRIAGE STORY

2020: Winner: NOMADLAND, RU: One Night in Miami

I have linked coverage of the TIFF awards here from Next Best Picture as well as The Hollywood News.

OSCAR 2021-FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST DIRECTOR

Last week, I started aiming this boat toward Oscar season with my first take on predicting films for Best Picture nominations.  Today we move to the Best Direction category with a reminder that it's a weird year and no one is entirely certain which films will actually screen before the deadline that The Academy moved to-Feb, 28, 2021.  Consequently, this first list will have some film's marked with an * meaning that, at least for the moment, I'm thinking that that film could have its release after Feb, 28th. TFF #47 films are in Bold

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

2) David Fincher/Mank

3) Steven Spielberg/West Side Story*

4) Denis Villenueve/Dune*

5) Paul Greengrass/News of the World*

6) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods

7) Regina King/One Night in Miami

8) Christopher Nolan/Tenet

9) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7

10) Ron Howard/Hillbilly Elegy*

Other possibles: Francis Lee/Ammonite, Elizabeth Hittman/Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Florian Zeller/The Father, Wes ANderson/The French Dispatch*, Tom McCarthy/Stillwater*.

AT THE DRIVE-IN

As you almost certainly know, Telluride #47 appeared, much like Brigadoon, seemingly from out of nowhere to provide drive-in screening s recently of two of its 29 TFF #47 selections.

On Sept. 2nd, partnering with the Mill Valley Film Festival, Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes' voting rights documentary: All In: The Fight for Democracy screened at the West Wind Solano Twin Drive-In in Concord, CA.  One of the patrons who attended is a friend of the blog and shared a photo or two of the evening:

Then on Sept. 11th, TFF screened Chloe Zhao's Nomadland turning the venerable Rose Bowl into a drive-in theater.  Director Zhao and star Frances McDormand were on hand.  Eagle-eyed friend of the blog, Jim Brooks forwarded a YouTube video that was posted by the film's distributor, Searchlight, on Sept. 14.  I have linked that here for your perusal:

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Oscar 2021-First Attempt at Best Picture / Trailer for The Father / Rosi Talks Notturno / McDormand's Side Hustle?

OSCAR 2021-FIRST ATTEMPT AT BEST PICTURE

Well...here we are.  Normally (and I am really tired of writing the word "normally") I'd be collating rating data from TFF attendees and industry professionals as we rated the films that had been screened at the 47th Telluride Film Festival.

Also, normally, I'd be gathering thoughts about making the turn into Oscar season for this space.  Traditionally, after TFF is done this space becomes a tracker, of sorts, for TFF films that become part of the Oscar conversation-and that's still going to be true.  It's just going to be different for a variety of reasons.

1) We have a list of TFF #47 films that none of us saw in Telluride.  That list, however, is going to count for my approach this year.  They are the TFF #47 films I'll be paying attention to.

2) It's a significantly longer Oscar season this time around.  The Academy added two months to the eligibility period as a response to the effects of Covid-19 on the film industry meaning that the window to screen a film so that it would be Oscar eligible went from Dec. 31 to Feb. 28.  It also moved the ceremony to the end of April.  There has been a bit of scuttlebutt that The Academy might further adjust their calendar but at the moment my expectation is that they'll stick with the current dates irrespective of any other considerations such as...

3) The release schedule is...um...fluid.  Frankly, I doubt that the "moveable feast" of what gets released when is over.  The big test case of releasing Christopher Nolan's Tenet to underwhelming box office in its first week and Warners decision to keep the box office numbers under wrap for its second week will probably mean more release date shuffling.  That makes Oscar eligibility for some big films a moving target.

So, I'm going to do the best I can here...but...wow...it's a challenge.

That said...here's my first stab at predicting the Best Picture Oscar for 2020 (and part of 21) with a couple of caveats and comments about the unique circumstances.  TFF #47 films are listed in Bold.

BEST PICTURE

1) Nomadland (Zhao)
2) Mank (Fincher)
3) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Sorkin)
4) West Side Story (Spielberg)
5) Da Five Bloods (S. Lee)
6) News of the World (Greengrass)
7) Ammonite (F. Lee)
8) The French Dispatch (Anderson)
9) Dune (Villeneuve)
10) Hillbilly Elegy (Howard)

That said...I believe fully 4-5 of these films may end up being moved out of the screening eligibility window: West Side Story, News of the World, The French Dispatch, Dune and maybe Hillbilly Elegy.

I can easily envision that any or all of these might hold off for a Cannes premiere or a summer 2021 release or even being held as long as November-December 2021.

So, I'm going list five more films that either have already fit into the new Oscar eligibility window or probably will:

11) The Father (Zeller)
12) Tenet (Nolan)
13) One Night in Miami (King)
14) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Wolfe)
15) Minari (Chung)


TRAILER FOR THE FATHER


From Sony Pictures Classics we have this new trailer for The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.  Both are getting serious Oscar buzz for their performances.  Here's the new trailer from YouTube:

ROSI TALKS NOTTURNO

Alex Ritman, writing for The Hollywood Reporter has a new interview with the director of the documentary Notturno.  Gianfranco Rosi's doc about the Middle East has been a choice of a number of film fests in addition to Telluride with inclusions by Toronto, Venice and New York as well.

Here's that interview from The Hollywood Reporter.


MC DORMAND'S SIDE HUSTLE?

Marta Balaga reports that Frances McDormand was so successful in creating her character for the upcoming Nomadland that a Target store in one of the Nebraska communities in which the film was shooting offered McDormand a job.

McDormand plays a character that becomes a "nomad" in America during the Great Recession.

Balaga's story was in Variety and is linked here.



MLK/FBI HAS DISTRIBUTION

Deadline reports that IFC Films has acquired Sam Pollard's MLK/FBI for U.S. distribution.  That story appeared on Tuesday.  Deadline additionally reported that IFC will release the film on Jan. 15, 2021.

The film focuses on the FBI's surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960's as the civil rights icon's influence grew.

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Toronto Announces First Titles / Film Fests Reacting to Oscar Date Change / The Distribs: Focus Features

TORONTO ANNOUNCES FIRST TITLES

The Toronto International Film Festival announced a number of titles yesterday that they are planning to include as a part of a pared back TIFF.  Numerous reports yesterday indicate that TIFF will program approximately 50 films this year.  That contrasts with the common inclusion of 275-300 titles that are customarily a part of the TIFF lineup.

AMong titles announced yesterday were Francis Lee's Ammonite, Thomas Vinterberg's Another Round and Naomi Kawase's True Mothers-three films which I have had on the TFF #47 list of possibles for some time (I've been particularly high on chances that Ammonite might be a TFF choice).

While major publications have not labeled the World Premieres, a couple of the films have been referenced that way.  Indiewire tweeted that Idris Elba starrer Concrete Cowboys will be World Premiering at TIFF and The Danish Film Institute said the same about Another Round.  If that is the case, then that all but removes those titles from TFF #47 consideration.  Further, it implies that entire list of films announced by TIFF are probably World Premieres as well. Halle Berry's directing debut Bruised is also on the list of announced TIFF films.

Other interesting notes:  TIFF will have an initial five days of on-site socially distanced presentations and past that will largely be online.  Other titles will be announced as the summer progresses.

Coverage is here from Variety and Indiewire.




FALL FILM FESTS REACTING TO OSCAR DATE CHANGE

Last week Anne Thompson wrote a piece for Indiewire with her take on how the fall film fests are reacting to the recent announcement that the Oscars ceremony will take place in late April of 2021, a full two months later than their originally announced date.

Among the items of interest mentioned in the piece are:

Telluride is said to be releasing practical plans by mid-July.  Additionally, there are still hurdles for the fest to get through between now and Labor Day.  Thompson writes:

"The Telluride Film Festival is proceeding as though the festival is happening, with practical plans to be revealed by mid-July. But the festival will be dependent on whether the state of Colorado allows theaters to open in time. If not, the county will need to obtain a variance from the state to show films in theaters."

A side note of interest is that Thompson reports that the Toronto International Film Fest is supposed to announce some of their plans within the next few days:

"September’s Toronto festival, which is determined to meet any eventuality and will announce its plans before the end of June."

The third interesting tidbit is in regards to Sony Pictures Classics as they make plans within a shifting landscape.  From the article:

“We kind of plan and prepare,” said Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, who is juggling his release schedule and waiting to see who shows up for “Tenet” on July 31. “And be ready to tonally change the plan if more variables show up. We’ll send our films everywhere we can. We don’t know.”

Which sounds to me like we can probably plan on seeing some SPC projects at Telluride in some form.  I took a look at the current SPC slate in my post on June11th.


Here's Thompson's Indiewire story



THE DISTRIBS: FOCUS FEATURES

Today's look at distributors and what they might submit for TFF #47 focuses on Focus Features.  I have some confidence that Focus has some interest in submitting films for Telluride this year even amidst the pandemic.

So that begs the question...what would they bring?  Their two biggest current projects are Tom McCarthy's Stillwater and Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho.  Stillwater's still set for release on Nov. 6th while Soho has been set for release on April 23rd.  Those release dates suggest that Stillwater is much more likely as a Focus entry for TFF #47 than Soho.  Adding to our calculation is the fact that McCarthy's Spotlight began its run to Oscar glory in 2015 at Venice followed immediately by an appearance at TFF # 42.

Focus has three other films that I believe have at least some limited possibility of making a play at Telluride: Marilyn Agrelo's Sesame Street documentary Street Gang, Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominated actress Robin Wright's feature directorial debut-Land (I think I remember Wright being at TFF in 2007) and Eddie Huang's Boogie.


Chances:

Stillwater  50%
Land 35%
Street Gang 25%
Boogie 15%
Last Night in Soho 5%

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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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Oscars to Move Today??? / The Distribs: Sony Pictures Classics

OSCARS TO MOVE TODAY???

The Board of Governors for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be meeting virtually later today.  They are widely believed to decide that they will move the dates for the Oscar ceremony from its current date of Feb. 28th.

Some speculation has it that the ceremony could be pushed to March or even as late as April.  We should know something more after the Board meeting today.

AMPAS has already made the decision to alter the eligibility rules to allow films that did not screen ina theater but had a release date scheduled to be eligible for the Oscar. 

Should the organization make the decision to change dates, that also raises questions about whether there might be other tweaking regarding eligibilty and release dates.  Additionally, one wonders if an Oscar date change will create a domino effect among other awards programs and the guild awards.

And, of course, you have to wonder what effect, if any, an Oscar date change might have on Telluride and the other fall film fests.

Indiewire's Anne Thompson took on a number of these issues in an article published on Tuesday which I have linked here.



THE DISTRIBS: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Over the past couple of decades of the Telluride Film Festival no distributor has had more features scheduled than Sony Pictures Classics.  Here's the run for the last several years:

2019: The Climb, Lyrebird, Pain and Glory (3)
2018: The White Crow (1)
2017: A Fantastic Woman, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Foxtrot, Loveless, The Rider (5)
2016: The Eagle Huntress, Maudie, Norman, Toni Erdmann (4)
2015: Son of Saul (1)
2014: Foxcatcher, Leviathan, Red Army, Mr. Turner, Wild Tales, Salt of the Earth and Merchants of Doubt (7)
2013: The Invisible Woman, The Lunchbox, The Past, Tim's Vermeer and Jodorowsky's Dune (5)
2012: The Gatekeepers, At Any Price, Rust and Bone, No, Wadjda, Amour (6)
2011: A Dangerous Method, In Darkness, Footnote, A Separation (4)
2010: Incendies, Of Gods and Men, Tamara Drewe, Another Year, The Illusionist, Inside Job (6)
2009: The Last Station, The White Ribbon, Coco Before Chanel, A Prophet, An Education (5)
2008: Waltz with Bashir, I've Loved You So Long, O'Horten (3)
2007: Brick Lane, When Did You Last See Your Father, Persepolis, The Band's Visit, The Counterfeiters, Steep! (6)
2006: Jindabyne, The Lives of Others, Volver, The Italian (4)
2005: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Cache, The Child (4)
2004: Being Julia, House of Flying Daggers, Bad Education, Merchant of Venice, Up and Down, Yes (6)
2003: The Fog of War, My Life Without Me, The Triplets of Belleville, Young Adam (4)

That's 74 films over a 17 year span for an average of 4.4 films per year.

At this point SPC looks to have only a couple of films that could be in consideration for TFF #47. 

The most likely seems to be Zachary Furher's documentary John Prine: Hello in There.  I suggest that it's the most likely only because it's post-production date is listed by IMDb as Feb. 2019.  You have to figure that it's done.

SPC's other title is Azazel Jacob's French Exit starring Michelle Pfeiffer.  It's much mire iffy as it went into post-production very late in the game (Dec. 10, 2019) with respect to the Covid-19 lockdown. 

Though SPC only has these two titles in the pipe, they could very easily acquire a property or two that they then turnaround and submit to Telluride for possible inclusion so keep an eye open for news along those lines.

Chances...

Prine 40%
French Exit 20%
Some new acquisition 30%

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Oscar's Uncertainty / IFC Films Acquires Berlin Title / Animated Lineup at Annecy

OSCAR'S UNCERTAINTY

As of this moment the 2021 Oscar telecast os still set for Feb. 28th but a Variety story Tuesday suggested that there is some notion within the Academy that the ceremony might need to be postponed.

Mark Malkin wrote:

"The 93rd Oscars aren’t until February, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering postponing the big night, according to multiple sources.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, say definitive plans are far from being concrete at this juncture. The telecast is currently set for Feb. 28, 2021, on ABC.

“It’s likely they’ll be postponed,” one of the sources familiar with the matter told Variety."

There seemed to be a lot of pushback on Twitter to the notion from a number of industry outlets.  Nevertheless, the story underscores the lack of certainty within the film business as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One other notable tidbit from the Malkin story:

"It’s unclear if postponing the Oscars will also mean that the Academy will allow films released after the year-end deadline to qualify for the 2021 Oscars."

The complete story is here.

In a semi related story, the Directors and Producers Guilds have adjusted their eligibility criteria to more closely correspond with decisions made earlier by the Academy.  Variety also has that story here.


IFC FILMS ACQUIRES BERLIN TITLE

Margaret Qualley in My Salinger Year (via IMDb).

IFC Films  has acquired Phillippe Falardeau's My Salinger Year for U.S. distribution.  Normally this kind of news would land the film smack in the middle of my Telluride speculation.  It's a distributor with some TFF history and a film from the Berlin fest (it was the opening film) which always seems to land a TFF spot or two.  It stars the red hot Margaret Qualley and Sigourney Weaver (who would make a tempting tribute candidate).

But...who knows in the current climate.

The Hollywood Reporter has the story linked here.

My Salinger Year's IMDb page is here.


ANIMATED LINEUP AT ANNECY

The Annecy Animated Film Fest which has chosen to present as an online fest has announced its lineup according to The Hollywood Reporter.  As mentioned before, Annecy films occasionally find their way onto the T-ride lineup and that could still be true regardless of ANnecy's decision to go online.

You can find the announced films in competition and contretemp competition linked here .


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Oscar Charts a New Path / Another Take on Fall Film Fests and Covid-19 / Locarno Says No to 2020

OSCAR CHARTS A NEW PATH

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences met virtually Tuesday and established some new temporary guidelines for the Academy Awards in a Covid-19 era.

The most consequential change is that films that are streaming but did not have a traditional theatrical release can be eligible for Oscar consideration if they had a theatrical date scheduled for 2020.  So, for example, Sundance hit Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always is now Oscar eligible even though it hasn't had a theatrical run and went directly to VOD.

The decision to allow consideration of films that meet the new criteria could have some effect on calculations about films that might normally looking to plays at Telluride, Toronto, Venice (and whatever accomodation is made for Cannes) and New York.  Both the studios and the fests have a new wrinkle to contemplate in an already complex and unprecedented situation.

And, of course, from my perspective, the next several months on this blog will be difficult.  This decision adds one more layer of difficulty in trying to figure out what films play where.

Other major changes from the Academy meeting were the decision to combine Sound Editing and Sound Mixing into a single Oscar category and a change in voting rules for the International Features Oscar.  And finally, it appears that the Academy is committed to an Oscar ceremony for 2020 but is unsure that the currently scheduled date of Fe. 28, 2021 might be arbitrary,

Here's the complete low down on the AMPAS meeting from The Hollywood Reporter.


ANOTHER TAKE ON FALL FILM FESTS AND COVID-19

Rebecca Keegan writing at The Hollywood Reporter this week ran down her assessment of where we are currently with regard to TFF, TIFF, Venice and New York as the Covid-19 pandemic grinds on.

She includes a couple of interesting tidbits that probably should factor into our thinking about what may happen in September and October.

One paragraph that jumped out at me was this:

"Of the four marquee festivals typically used to launch fall films — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — all say they intend to exist in some form this year, and each is exploring different avenues and conferring with each other on safety protocols. Rivals who typically compete to snare the best films are instead now swapping ideas and commiserating about their unprecedented challenges."

That interests me though it doesn't necessarily surprise.  The notion that these four fests are "conferring"  and "swapping ideas" is what intrigues.

Also of note is this paragraph:

"Hollywood’s shut-down has impacted work on high-profile projects that would have been festival fare, like Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley for Fox Searchlight and David Fincher’s Mank for Netflix, making them unlikely to be finished in time for a Telluride or Venice bow, even if the festivals proceed."

That sets off some alarm bells for me as both of those films have been in my thinking as potential Telluride players this year.

Keegan also re-states the notion that the studios themselves are in a constant state of limbo in terms of release strategies that remain uncertain and in flux.

With so many variables still in play...making plans and predictions seems nigh on impossible.

Keegan's article is linked here.


LOCARNO SAYS NO TO 2020

Variety reported yesterday that the 73rd Locarno Film Fest in Switzerland has decided to cancel.  The fest also chose not to attempt an online version but rather will institute an initiative to support independent cinema.

Locarno artistic director Lili Hinstin is quoted in the article explaining the new initiative:

“directors whose movies have been blocked by the pandemic and are therefore suffering economic damage,”


The complete article by Nick Vivarelli for Variety is here..

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