As best as I can tell, we got our first word about the status of the 47th Telluride Film Festival from a story posted on The Denver Post's "The Know" website. That story was posted Tuesday. The post focused on any number of film related activities in Colorado for the rest of 2020 and their status at this point in relation to the Covid-19 health crisis.
Included as a part of the story was an assessment concerning film festivals within the state including TFF #47. The relevant paragraph is here:
"The popular Film on the Rocks program at Red Rocks Amphitheatre is scheduled to go on as planned this summer, pending city restrictions, Erickson said. Separate from Denver Film, so is the 47th Telluride Film Festival, an internationally acclaimed event (scheduled for Sept. 4-7) where many Oscar-winning features make their debut, according to a spokeswoman."
So, the status at the moment for TFF #47 is a go.
The complete Denver Post/The Know story is linked here.
Complicating matters, as I have been detailing here for the past few weeks, is the decision by organizers of the Cannes Film Festival to postpone that fest. Reports have been that the Cannes soiree is likely to be re-set for late June or early July. At least that's the plan for the moment.
The reality is that what form Cannes will take for 2020, when it will happen or even if it will happen still seem to be relevant questions. And, again, not to beat the drum too much, but the Cannes/Telluride overlap of titles from year to year is substantial averaging 7.5 films shared per year which, again on average, means that Cannes titles are somewhere in the neighborhood of nearly 20% of the feature films that screen at TFF.
The point being that whatever Cannes does will have some ripple effect in as far as TFF #47 os concerned.
More to come, as I will continue monitoring for whatever information I can find for both T-ride and Cannes in the coming days.
Now...speaking of Cannes...again....
25 FILMS FOR CANNES
In the midst of uncertainty regarding the fate and form of the 73rd Cannes Film Fest, Indiewire writers (Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland, Ryan Lattanzio and Zack Sharf) posted their 25 film Cannes wish list earlier this week. Not only is is a "wish list" but it's also a list of films with very high Cannes potential.
So, as is my custom, I took a look at what the Indiewire folks were pointing at and whether some of the films they are signaling might have a shot at screening at The SHOW.
Here's what I found as TFF possibles:
Annette/dir: Leos Carax. Why? It features one of last year's TFF tribute recipients, Adam Driver as well as TFF #39 tribute recipient Marion Cotillard. It's from Amazon Studios. It has no set U.S, release date but IMDb says it is set for a Nov. 27th release in Turkey.
Bergman Island/dir: Mia Hansen Love. Why? Hansen-Love has made Telluride appearances before: Goodbye First Love, Things to Come).
The French Dispatch/dir: Wes Anderson. "Hold up there Newt" my mind hears some of you saying..."The French Dispatch is set for release on July 24th". And, yeah, that's true...for the moment. I suspect that July 24th date was set with a Cannes bow in mind in May. Now that the Cannes date has changed, I think a whole different strategy might emerge for the film. The film is under The Searchlight banner (new since the Disney folks dropped the word "Fox" from in front of Searchlight) and I could see them deciding that a new release date after some fall fest presence might be a smart play even with a Cannes that premiered the film in late June/July. It's still an unlikely TFF choice but now it's not outside of the realm of possibility.
Summer of '85/dir: Francois Ozon. Ozon has played TFF before with 2016's Frantz.
Where Is Anne Frank/dir: Ari Folman. The director of Waltz with Bashir (TFF #35) returns with this animated meditation on Anne Frank.
The Woman in the Window/dir: Joe Wright. A film that was on my TFF #46 watchlist for some time and then got dropped when its release date was changed. It could be back in the convo for TFF #47 if it does make a Cannes appearance. Certainly there are plenty of TFF connectives involved: Wright who was at TFF #44. Stars Amy Adams (TFF #43 tribute), Jennifer Jason Leigh (TFF #20 tribute and back in 2007 with Margot at the Wedding), Gary Oldman (at TFF #44 with Darkest Hour). Writer Tracy Letts (at TFF #44 with Lady Bird). Who knows?
The complete compilation of 25 films on he Indiewire wish list is linked here .
INARRITU'S RETURN?
News from Mexico is that multiple Oscar winner and frequent Telluride presence, Alejandro Inarritu os prepping his next feature film.
Inarritu hasn't directed a feature since 2015's The Revenant. His last film at TFF was 2014's Oscar winner Birdman. He has also screened Babel and Biutiful at TFF as well as being a frequent guest and attendee of the fest often in support of Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity and Roma) and Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water).
The Film Stage reports that Inarritu has begun very preliminary prep work in Mexico City.
Despite the fact that The Revenant did not make a play at TFF, you still have to believe that, if the timing were right, a new Inarritu would be a very big possibility for a TFF bow.
Here's the link to The Film Stage story.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
