Animation Time/deadCenter Comes to Life/Coming Attractions

Welcome to Thursday...

ANIMATION TIME

The Annecy International Animated Film Festival is off and running in France.  It opened on Monday and will run through the end of the week.  I note the world's largest Film Fest dedicated to animation because there are almost always some animated films, both shorts and features, that appear there and then make there way to Telluride for Labor Day.

Variety has had significant coverage of the fest so far and you can find a good deal of it here:

http://variety.com/t/annecy-film-festival/

Meanwhile, the fest's official website is here:

http://www.annecy.org/home


DEADCENTER COMES TO LIFE

Oklahoma's own film festival, deadCenter, comes to life today and continues its run through this weekend.  Both "A Trip to Italy" and "Frank" are screened today...which for my money might be the two most intriguing titles on the deadCenter slate this year.  Check the full schedule at the official website here:

http://www.deadcenterfilm.org/


COMING ATTRACTIONS

A couple of announcements that last few days that caught my eye about future projects.  Zhang Yimou, whose "Coming Home" is a film that I feel is in the conversation for screening at Telluride this year, has announced that he will be involved in a production that will focus on telling the story of the Great Wall of China.  That story was reported by The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/zhang-yimou-reveals-details-legendarys-711050


Also getting my notice was this story from The Playlist about Ariel Vromen's next project.  Vromen directed the TFF #39 entry "The Iceman".  Here's that story from The Playlist:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michael-bay-eyes-underwater-adventure-george-tillman-jr-takes-the-longest-ride-with-nicholas-sparks-more-20140318


More on Friday!

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook and Twitter (@Gort2)

Any Day Now/DeadCenter Looming

Good Thursday...


ANY DAY NOW

Three events are (or almost have to be looming) as far as the 41st Telluride Film Festival is concerned.

1) A poster artist should soon be named...though early June isn't always an absolute certainty.  Last year the artist was named on June 3rd.  In 2012, it was July 9th before we found out who it would be.  In 2011, we actually had the 38th TFF poster released for public consumption.  So, I expect that an artist announcement is probably very near.

Last year's poster:

Hey, Telluride Honchos, if you're still looking for a poster artist...or want to start thinking about one for next year...look at these samples of what my wife is currently doing.  Imagine a "SHOW" version:

OR

They're original illustrations done directly on rescued/re-purposed vintage dictionary pages.  The illustration is done on a page on which that definition appears.  Would be a cool poster...

Check this and her other work on Etsy or Pinterest:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/flyingshoes

http://www.pinterest.com/flyingshoes/

2) A guest director announcement should probably occur before June is gone.  Of course last year there was no announcement...really ever.  It was the lineup press release the day before the fest that revealed the many-headed approach that the fest took last year as a part of their 40th anniversary edition.  Since we're back to "normal" this year (no anniversary...no five day fest), I expect we'll be back to normal as regards a guest director as well.  That means we have a good chance to see that news in the next three weeks.  The 2012 announcement came on June 11th while the 2011 announcement came June 28th.

3) Will there be a "Telluride Party" in L.A. in the next week or two?  There has been, at least for the last two years.  I reported that news on June 12, 2013 and June 16, 2012 respectively.  My guess is probably yes.  Will it give us any clues about what to expect?  The jury is out about that.  Last year I got bupkes from it.  I chased the presence of James Grey as a sure indicator that "The Immigrant" would screen and tried to puzzle out the significance of the attendance of "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner.  I thought it meant we might see Weiner's film or that he might be the 40th TFF Guest Director...um...no.  None of that.

The previous year's story on the T-ride L.A. wing-ding gave some clues that panned out..I.E. "Amour" and "Rust and Bone" as well as a reference to a major studio making a play for Telluride programmers.  I have always thought that was likely Warners and that they were making the pitch for "Argo".

So three events to watch for over the next thee weeks that will have some significant baring on our TFF #41 experience.  Stay tuned.

DEADCENTER LOOMING

Oklahoma's own deadCenter Film Festival is days away from taking flight.  It opens June 11 and runs through the 15th.  Personally, if I could attend (sorry, the National Speech Tournament in Kansas City is in the way) I'd be pretty excited about screenings of "Frank" and "A Trip to Italy" both of which are scheduled for Day One.  Check out the deadCenter website and the offerings for this year's fest here:

http://www.deadcenterfilm.org/

That's all for Thursday...more tomorrow...

Follow/Like Michael's Telluride Film Blog on Facebook and Twitter @Gort2.