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
After a week long art show and five days in NYC, MTFB is back...and tired. Here's the latest after a week away.
NEW BUGONIA DATE KEEPS TFF POSSIBLE
Focus Features announced this past week that they were bumping the release dates for Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugoina up a bit. Focus now says a limited release will happen on Oct. 24th and then the nationwide rollout will begin a week later.
Jordan Ruimy at World of Reel writes that a Venice premiere is likely and the question for us becomes does it follow the same path as did The Favourite and Poor Things both of which did the Venice/Telluride two step. What could make a difference is that Both The Favourite and Poor Things came from (Fox) Searchlight and Bugonia is being distributed by Focus. It could be said that Searchlight and Focus have had similar presences at Telluride over the years. Compare the last five years for each:
(Fox) Searchlight:
2024: A Real Pain
2023: All of Us Strangers, Poor Things
2022: Empire of Light
2021: The French Dispatch
2020: No Fest but...would have screened Nomadland
2019: A Hidden Life
Focus Features:
2024: Conclave, Piece by Piece
2023: The Holdovers
2022: TAR, Armageddon Time
2021: Belfast, The Card Counter
2020: No Fest but... would have screened The Way I See It
2019: No film.
So Searchlight has screened six films and would have had a seventh had Covid not interrupted. Meanwhile, Focus screened seven and would have had an eighth in 2020.
As an additional side note...Emma Stone. At Telluride for La La Land in 2016, Battle of the Sexes in 2017 and Tributed in 2018 with The Favourite.
So, you know, maybe.
AND WHO WON'T BE AT TFF #52
That would be Alexander Payne as he will President of the Golden Lion jury for this year's Venice Film Festival.
Payne has been a frequent visitor to Telluride even in years when he doesn't have a film to screen there. He's been a Guest Director (2009) and attended an additional eight years sometimes with a film sometimes not.. Payne last attended for the 50th Festival in 2023.
The Venice Fest runs from August 27th-Sept. 6th. TFF #52 runs Aug. 29th- Sept. 1st so Payne's duties as Jury President will mean he can't be in Telluride.
VIEWS FROM CANNES
Images from some of the films playing at Cannes that also seem to have some TFF possibility have been showing up online. Here are some of those:
TRAILER FOR YOUNG MOTHERS
PHOTO FROM THE HISTORY OF SOUND
PHOTO FROM THE MASTERMIND
More on Thursday...
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Early this morning Thierry Fremaux announced the lineup for this year's Cannes Film Festival. Here are the films announced for the various sections:
In Competition:
The History of Sound/Hermanus
A Simple Accident/Panahi
The Mastermind/Reichardt
Young Mothers/Dardenne Brothers
Un Certain Regard:
Eleanor the Great/Johansson
Special Screenings:
The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol/Chomet
Cannes Premiere:
The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele/Serebrennikov
Orwell/Peck
Splitsville/Covino
The Wave/Lelio
As always, we look to Cannes for clues about films that could have their North American Premiere at Telluride on Labor day weekend. From the above it feels like, sight unseen, that these films have a chance to be at TFF #52:
Meanwhile, some films that had been speculated were not announced this morning including:
After the Hunt/Guadagnino
The Chronology of Water/Stewart
Die, My Love/Ramsay
Hamnet/Zhao
The Love That Remains/Palmason
Orphan/Nemes
The Way of the Wind/Malick
Remember, though, Cannes is notorious for adding films to their schedule after their opening announcement.
Of course what happens at Cannes does affect what may or may not be selected. I pay close attention to how critics react to films at Cannes, and to some extent the awards results at the end of the fest to calibrate what may come down the pike.
*****Late Breaking...Despite having not been officially announced by Cannes this morning, Spike Lee revealed via social media that his Highest 2 Lowest will premiere there Out of Competition.
COULD THESE THREE FILMS PLAY TFF #52?
(Rooney Mara and Kate Mara filming Bucking Fastard for Werner Herzog)
Could Werner Herzog finish his new film quickly enough for a TFF #52 debut? World of Reel reports that filming is currently underway in Dublin, Ireland. Herzog has been known to be able to move quickly in the past. So, maybe?
World of Reel also reports that Kathryn Bigelow's first feature in eight years is aiming for a fall fest debut. The article mentions Telluride as a possible landing place.
And finally, I have been hesitant to consider Bennie Safdie's The Smashing Machine as a TFF #52 possibility but The Film Stage reports that the film has an Oct. 3rd release date which would fit in nicely after a TFF screening.
EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com
X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2
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