Late Breaking: Venice Is On (Says a Government Official) / Still Up in the Air / The Best of the 2000's / Telluride and the World of Reel Lists

LATE BREAKING: VENICE IS ON (SAYS A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL)

Multiple outlets reported that Venice is still planning to run Sept. 2-12.  The news came late yesterday from the Governor of the the Venetian region who is also on the board of the Biennale. Deadline.com's Nancy Tartiglione reported:

"The governor of Italy’s Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said today that the Venice Film Festival will go ahead as scheduled in September. Dates are September 2-12 for the Lido event which would mark the first major film industry gathering not recently postponed or canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic."

Reporting on the news is linked here from:

Deadline

Variety

The Hollywood Reporter



STILL UP IN THE AIR

In 2009 the 36th Telluride Film Festival screened Jason Reitman's Up in the Air for the first time anywhere.  It's the story of a man, played by George Clooney, unsure about the choices he has made along the way to constructing his life hence at least one reason for the title.

Now in 2020...with a global pandemic changing the world on a daily basis we're all with George...up in the air.  That might also be a fair description about were the film community is in terms of film fests that act as the starting place for the fall film frenzy...Venice, Toronto, New York and, of course Telluride.  

I have had a number of TFF patrons reach out to ask me what I know...which is zip...or what I think.  I have some ideas but am hesitant to speculate in print as those ideas are wholly uninformed.  I have no insider info.

This much is true...we still don't really know how any of these fests are going to construct themselves as yet nor do we know when we will know.  Our first indication of some sign of what is to come may happen when Cannes reveals its list of films that it would have programmed had Cannes occurred this past two weeks (in a normal world this space would have been assessing the 2020 Palme d'Or winner in today's post).  That is supposed to be revealed in "early June".  Perhaps there will be some more details at that time regarding how the cooperation with other fests that Cannes' head Thierry Fremaux has referenced might be structured...

Until then...or more likely even later...we're all still Up in the Air.

Indiewire's Anne Thompson and Eric Kohn discussed some of these issues with Toronto Artistic Director Cameron Bailey in this week's edition of their podcast: Screen Talk linked here.

THE BEST OF THE 2000'S

(photo from CNN)

You might have noticed a week ago in my post, that I had included a rundown of a poll conducted by Jordan Ruimy's World of Rell website about the best films of the 1990's.  Jordan was kind enough to include me as one of the approximately 180 folks that were a part of that poll.  You may have also noticed that that I mentioned that Jordan polled us about the 2000's as well.

Well, those results are in!

The top ten films from the collective:

1) Mulholland Drive (David Lynch) 

2) There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson) 

3) Zodiac (David Fincher) 

4) In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai) 

5) No Country For Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen) 

6) Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron)

7) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)  

8) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki) 

9) Yi Yi: A One and A Two (Edward Yang) 

10) Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola) 

From the list of ten are four of the five films that I put on my list (in alphabetical order):

Children of Men (6)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (-)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (7)

No Country for Old Men (5)

There Will Be Blood (2)

Last week I matched four of five with one of the other participants but this week the best I could do was matching three of five with several of the other participants including Mr. Ruimy himself!

Matt Fagerholm/RogerEbert.com

Ann Hornaday/The Washington Post

Don Kaye/Den of Geek

Richard Lawson/Vanity Fair

Marcos Levy/Freelance

Jordan Ruimy/World of Reel

Peter Travers/Rolling Stone

Glenn Whipp/The Los Angeles Times

The complete article with the 50 best films of the 2000's is linked here.

The rundown of each person polled and their individual choices is here.

TELLURIDE AND THE WORLD OF REEL LISTS

You won't be stunned to see this entry.  Now that Jordan has completed the compilation of data for 

both the 1990's and the 2000's, here's my rundown of TFF films that made each of the lists.

From the 1990's:

14) Beau Travail  (which actually screened at Telluride in 2012)

22) The Piano

31) Blue

32) Breaking the Waves

33) The Long Day Closes

Here's the link once again for World of Reel's Best of the 1990's

From the 2000's:

2) There Will Be Blood (scenes screened in 2007)

3) Zodiac 

8) Spirited Away

9) Yi Yi

10) Lost in Translation

14) 4 Months, Three Weeks. Two Days

16) Brokeback Mountain

22) City of God

25) Talk to Her

26) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

29) Dogville

31) Cache

39) Amelie

45) The White Ribbon

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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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A Return for Inarritu? / The Best of the 90's / New Rules for Docs at the Oscars

A RETURN FOR INARRITU?

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a stalwart fan of the Telluride Film Festival.  He's been there a lot beginning in 2006 with Babel (it was my first year at TFF too) and following it with Biutiful in 2010 and Birdman in 2014.  He's also been in town for the fest as a supporter for both Alonzo Cuaron and Guillermo Del Toro and, I believe, has attended once or twice just to attend.

Now comes news that he is working on a restoration of his first feature film, the Oscar nominated Amores Perros from 2000.  Indiewire's Zack Sharf reports that the film maker has plans to screen it at the Morelia Film Fest in Mexico in October and a massive public screening in Mexico City in December.

One has to wonder, and I do, if the possibility exists that the new restoration might be rolled out over Labor Day weekend in Telluride.  Sharf reports that Inarritu has already been working on the project for months and the October target for the Morelia screening suggests that there is at least a theoretical possibility that it could be ready for a Telluride bow.

It would make for an intriguing addition to the TFF #47 slate.

Check out the entire story from Indiewire here.


THE BEST OF THE 90'S

Jordan Ruimy at his website World of Reel completed and posted an enormous poll of industry folks: film makers, critiques, pundits etc.  Somehow, I was invited and was more than happy to respond.  We (some 175 of us or thereabouts) were asked to submit five titles, in no particular order, that we regarded as the best films of the 1990's.  That post went up last Thursday.

My list of five: Goodfellas, L.A. Confidential, Magnolia, Pulp Fiction and Schindler's List.

When all was said and done, all five of the films from my list landed in the Top 20 of Ruimy's over all poll.  Mine, in the order the finished:  Goodfellas at #1.  Pulp Fiction at #2.  Magnolia at #7.  Schindler's List at #13 and L.A. Confidential at #18.

Ruimy's complete list of the Top 40 films of the 1990's is linked here.

The individual rundown of every one who was a respondent and their lists is linked here.

No one matched my choices 5 for 5.  I was 4 of 5 with The A.V. Club's Jesse Hassenger.  Our only disconnect was my inclusion of L.A. Confidential.  Hassenger had Fargo instead...which is a worthy choice.

There nine folks that I was 3 for 5 with including Telluride freinds Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter and Mark Johnson/Awards Circuit.  Also Peter Howell from The Toronto Sun who had always been kind to answer my questions about the Toronto Film Fest.

Other notable participants included: David Ansen/Newsweek, Alex Billington/First Showing, film director Jim Cummings (Thunder Road), David Ehrlich/Indiewire, Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist, David Fear/Rolling Stone, Dave Karger/TCM, Eric Kohn/Indiewire, Eric Lavalee/Ioncinema, film director Rod Lurie (Straw Dogs), Scott Menzel /We Live Entertainment, Steve Pond/The Wrap, Claudia Puig/USA Today, Jeff Sneider/Collider, Glenn Whipp/The Los Angeles Times.

Jordan has also polled us on the best films of the 2000's ane I expect we'll see that poll very soon.


NEW RULES FOR DOCS AT THE OSCARS

Poster for last year's Best Doc Oscar winner: American Factory

Much as they did at the end of April, for feature films, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has re-worked the rules for Oscar eligibility for documentary films to reflect the challenges film makers are experiencing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Basically, AMPAS has made it easier, for this year only, to qualify a documentary for Oscar consideration including screening at specific film fests, though Telluride is not on the list of those fests published by The Hollywood Reporter.

The whole of the THR article about the new rules is linked here.


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Whispers from Vulture / Cannes Reveries and Analysis / Coppola On the Rocks / HN Updates Oscar Predix

WHISPERS FROM VULTURE

Nate Jones posted yesterday on Vulture.com a piece entitled "How Each Major Film Festival Is Responding to the Coronavirus.  Included in his assessment is Telluride along with Cannes, Venice, Toronto and New York.

The Telluride segment doesn't really offer much new save for this sentence:


"However, organizers tell Vulture they are proceeding as if the festival will happen. Otherwise, the only news out of Telluride came in mid-April, when the fest proposed extending its schedule by an extra day"

The key words being: "they (TFF) are proceeding as if the festival will happen"

No clues as to which "organizers" are the source of the claim but it's encouraging.

The Vulture article is linked here.


CANNES REVERIES AND ANALYSIS

The 73rd Cannes Film Festival was to have been going by today.  The original schedule had envisioned an opening night film on Tuesday night and as you know that did not happen.  As the original start date has come and gone a variety of outlets have offered memories and retrospectives about past Cannes as well as a number of assessments of Cannes place in the film universe.

I'm passing along a link to a couple of those here.

The first is a look at Cannes and its past from the perspective of three Indiewire veterans who all have  wealth of experience to draw on.  Anne Thompson, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich (all of which have been kind enough over the years to participate in my annual round-up of industry veterans at the end of TFF) offer up their reminiscences of their personal experiences in southern France as well as a look at Cannes' past and potential future influence on the film industry.

Take a look at their stories here.

Meanwhile, Deadline has published the highlights of a France TV interview with Cannes President Pierre Lescrue.  Nancy Tartaglione's post went up yesterday.

Lescrue revealed that Cannes would be naming films that would have been selected would include roughly 50 titles.  Previous reports had established that the announcement of those titles will come sometime in early June.

It's my belief that some of those titles that would have played Cannes will be among the films that also play TFF and it will be interesting to parse that announcement for clues and possibilities.

The Deadline story is linked here.


COPPOLA ON THE ROCKS

photo via Empire Online

One of the films that may well be on that list next month is Sofia Coppola's latest collaboration with Bill Murray.  Her film, On the Rocks, she says, is done.  That information leads one to believe that it certainly is a possible title for the Cannes list and then some presentation among the fall fests that are currently still planning on occurring in some fashion including, perhaps, T-ride.

Coppola's last Bill Murray film was, of course, Lost in Translation which played Telluride with Coppola in attendance back in 2003.

Coppola is featured in an article this week (along with Kirsten Dunst) in Empire Online.

You can check that here.


HN UPDATES OSCAR PREDIX

In an exercise of faith or chutzpah or wishful thinking, Hollywood News' Joey Magidson has updated his Oscar predictions for the month of May.  Consequently, in the same spirit, I have mined those predictions for Telluride possibles.

Among his top ten Best Picture picks are TFF potentials: Nomadland, Ammonite and Stillwater.  Also in his top ten are Mank and The Trail of the Chicago 7 both of which could be Telluride players if they're finished.

In his second tier of Best Picture picks are other "Maybes" for Telluride: The French Dispatch, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Annette and On the Rocks.

Magidson's complete rundown of Oscar predictions are linked here.



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Cannes Will Announce / Eyeballing Oscar 2020 / Paul Schrader Has an Idea

CANNES WILL ANNOUNCE

Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Fremaux revealed a lot about the immediate future of that fest this weekend in an interview for Screen Daily.

Variety hit the high points in a story that they posted yesterday. 

If the past is any guide, some of the decisions Fremaux and crew make will make ripples in the Telluride lineup.  As I have often mentioned, over the years I have been a Telluride attendee the two fests average of sharing 7-8 titles each outing.  Of course, the pandemic make all historic guideposts moot. 

Nevertheless, at this point I am proceeding with the assumption that past guideposts are worth referencing until otherwise disproven.  So with that, here are the big takeaways from the Fremaux interview:

1) Cannes will announce a lineup of films that would have been selected in early June (more below).
2) Cannes officials are still speaking with Venice officials with the notion of some sort of combined effort in September.
3) Fremaux says that "Cannes" films will likely be screened at a number of fests.  He gives a list (more below).

Fremuax's revelation that there will be a 73rd Cannes lineup announcement will give us a list of films to work from which, in a normal year, we would have heard on April 16th.  Assuming that it's by-and-large the films that would have played at a physical version of Cannes, I'm going to work from it to try and assess which of those films might have been crossovers. 

Using Cannes prize winners as a barometer, which I factor in, won't be a guidepost this year as Fremaux also revealed that films will not be adjudicated.  Further, it seems that the list that will be revealed will not categorize films by the section they would have been invited to be a part of (Palme d'Or competition, Un Certain Regard, etc.)

Fremaux does list fests that he suggests will be a part of the Cannes films screening process,  From the Screen International interview:

"We’ll go to Toronto, Deauville, Angoulême, San Sebastian, New York, Busan in Korea and even the Lumière festival in Lyon"

You'll note that Telluride is missing from that list but that may just be Fremaux respecting Telluride's secrecy.  I'd be gob-smacked if there are no Cannes 2020 titles playing as a part of TFF #47.

Also, the notion of "co-presenting" with Venice doesn't necessarily preclude a film from playing T-ride either. 

Couple of other notes: we heard this week that Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta and Andrew Dominik's Blonde have been officially moved to 2021 for release indicating that those two films are almost certainly off the table for fall film fests and this year's Oscars.  It may signal that those two films might be around for a 2021 edition of Cannes.

Also, a quick reminder here that Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch has been dated for release in France on Oct. 14 and in the U.S. on Oct. 16.  That could signal that the film might play at the Cannes/Venice combo and other of the fall fests including New York (and to that extent, Telluride).


I have linked the Variety story here.

And the complete interview from Screen Daily is linked here.


EYEBALLING OSCAR 2020

Indiewire's Zack Sharf cast a glance at what films might be Oscar contenders in the new reality of the Covid-19 pandemic in a post published on May 8th.  Usually, films that seem Oscar-y get a look from me as I try to puzzle out what might be worth keeping an eye on as possible players for The SHOW so this kind of article catches my eye.  That's especially true in light of the uncharted seas we're sailing right now.

So, here are some of the points Sharf makes with a thought or two from me.

Sharf leads off with Sundance films that he thinks could be players.  Almost  uniformly a Sundance play means that we can check it off the list for T-ride.  There are rare examples of films playing both Sundance and TFF: An Education, Manchester by the Sea and The Report but these are not normal times.  Sharf lists these Sundance narrative feature titles as Oscar possibles:

Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Minari
Promising Young Woman
The 40 Year Old Version
The Father

Never Rarely Sometimes Always made it into theaters for three days which could be enough to keep it out of TFF consideration.  Still, only three days?

The other four films?  If TFF programmers consider Sundance films, maybe.  Personally, I'd like to see Minari make it to the San Juans as it was largely filmed in my home state of Oklahoma.  I even had a good friend acting as the schooling tutor on set (Hello Rose Mary Baker!).

Sharf then runs down what were thought to be probable Cannes titles that have/had some Oscar potential including:

The French Dispatch
Nomadland
Annette
Memoria

Other Cannes' "titles" he lists seem to be unlikely TFF choices (ex: Soul)

I a section about Netflix films, Sharf reminds us that Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods will drop on the streamer on June 17th.

Other Netflix titles that might be in the mix for TFF and/or Oscar:

Mank
Hillbilly Elegy
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
The Prom
Rebecca

In the remaining bulk of the post Sharf mentions many films that are still nominally scheduled for release before the end of the year.  Of note,as a Telluride-star-gazer:

The French Dispatch
Dune
The Trail of the Chicago 7
Stillwater
On the Rocks
The Woman in the Window
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Ammonite.

Sharf's complete article is linked here.



PAUL SCHRADER HAS AN IDEA

(Photo of Paul Schrader from Claudio Onorati/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock and Indiewire)

Oscar nominee Paul Schrader has his own ideas about dealing with the current state of the world of film and film festivals in particular.  His thoughts largely center around a Netflix and/or Amazon sponsored festival of festivals.

Schrader shared his concept with Indiewire's Eric Kohn recently.

Schrader explains:

"You have to have all the power players involved. If you have Netflix with its deep pockets, and the major festival curators to come up with a list of films at all levels of competition, and if you get an all-star jury of maybe two dozen actors, artists, and critics, you have an event. You have something Netflix can advertise as the Netflix fall festival of festivals. That would grab people’s attention."

Schader and Kohn also the hurdles that would have to be overcome in their back-and-forth.  It's intriguing.

Take a look at the entire interview here at Indiewire.


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Venice to Take the Pulse / Indiewire Lists Oscar Possibles / Vonnegut Doc

VENICE TO TAKE THE PULSE

Elsa Keslassy writing for Variety reports this week that the Venice Film Fest is surveying a broad swath of people and entities that have been and potentially would be players for that fest that is currently slated to run from Sept. 2-12.

Writing in a story that was posted Tuesday, Keslassy says:

"The letter, which was signed by Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera and issued on Monday, is meant to gauge how many filmmakers, talent and producers are willing to turn up at the fest before a decision is taken at the end of the month on whether to maintain or cancel this year’s edition."

The article quotes Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera as saying in the letter:

“We all know that, most probably, any festival will not be able to take place exactly like it was in the past. We will have to deal with a number of limitations and security measures: reduction of the number of screened films and a similar decrease of attendance from press, industry and audience."

A couple of other notes from the story worth mentioning are that Venice may be softening an earlier line that suggested that no part of the fest would be conducted online and that Barnera is expected to get feedback by May 10th.

Venice's survey might serve as a template for others of the fall film fests to consider as they move forward in their attempts to go forward.

The complete Variety article is here.



INDIEWIRE LISTS OSCAR POSSIBLES

Julia Garner in The Assistant

On the heels of an L.A. Times list of potential Oscar eligible films that I linked in Monday's post, Indiewire's Zack Sharf posted a list for consideration yesterday in a piece called "The 20 Best Movies Eligible for Oscars Right Now".

Sharf uses his crystal ball to assess films that would meet the new criteria established for this year's Academy Awards .

It has some interesting titles including a couple that played TFF #46.  Those are: The Assistant and First Cow.

There are a few Sundance titles that under normal circumstances I would flatly rule out but these times are not normal circumstances.  So...maybe?????  Crip Camp, Miss Americana and Spaceship Earth.

Check out Sharf's entire list here.


VONNEGUT DOC

Those that know me well know that I'm a ridiculous fan f Kurt Vonnegut and his literary canon (looking at you Chris Schneider).  Yesterday, Whyaduck Productions and 9.14 Pictures dropped a trailer for a new documentary about the author and, as you might expect, I was thrilled.  The title: Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time...other Vonnegut fans will appreciate the Slaughterhouse-Five reference in the film's title.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

The film does not yet seem to have a distributor as yet nor a release date.  So...hear my plea...Program this for TFF #47.  Also, some distrib...pick this up.

The director, Robert Weide, has significant ties to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.  He was Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 1998 for Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth.  That also earned a Primetime Emmy Award for his direction.  Additionally,  He won a DGA award for direction for Curb in 2012 and another for the HBO program: Palestinian Chicken.  He also won a PGA award for and a Primetime Emmy producing Curb in 2000.  He also was very involved with the PBS docu-series American Masters.  The guy has some hardware.

Vonnegut appeared for a speaking engagement in Oklahoma City in February 2003 and I actually took a personal day to be there.  I was lucky enough to run into a couple of former students and if you ever saw Vonnegut do his lecture, you know that he talks lovingly about teachers.  It was more than special.

Vonnegut died a bit more than four years later.


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L.A. Times Looks at Films That Could Still Be in Play / Annecy Proceeds Online

L.A. TIMES LOOKS AT FILMS THAT COULD STILL BE IN PLAY

Frances McDormand in Nomadland (via Indiewire)

Earlier this week The Los Angeles Times' Glenn Whipp assessed the field of films that he thinks could still be in the sites of FIlm Fests and in Oscar play.  Whipp essentially comes down to three pieces of information about each of the 29 films that make it into his story: Distributor, production status and whether the film currently has a scheduled release date.

So, let's take a look at Whipp's list and talk about what titles based on his information and assessments might be festival bound...and, more specifically, Telluride-possible.

First...films that don't seem probable for Telluride:

Two Sundance films on the list meaning, if tradition holds, that no Telluride play would be in the cards: Florian Zeller's The Father starring Anthony Hopkins and Lee Issac Chung's Minari.

Then there are a dozen films from the Whipp list that have never really felt like Telluride films.  They're films that I don't feel as if they ever planned a fall film fest appearance.

Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (Netflex/locked/unscheduled)

Denis Villeneuve's Dune (Warner Bors./post-prod/Dec. 18)

Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch (Searchlight/locked/Oct. 16)***

Ridley Scott's The Last Duel (20th Century/production suspended)

George C. Wolfe's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Netflix/post-prod/unscheduled)

Paul Greengrass' News of the World (Universal/post-prod/Dec. 25)

Ryan Murphy's The Prom (Netflix/post-prod/unscheduled)

Liesl Tommy's Respect (MGM, post-prod/Dec. 25)

Docter and Powers' Soul (Disney/post-prod/Nov. 20)

Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir: Part II (A24/post-prod/unscheduled)

Christopher Nolan's Tenet (Warner Bros./locked/July 17)

Steven Spielberg's West Side Story (20th Century/post-prod/Dec. 18)

That said...within an unclear pandemic universe...who knows?  Maybe some of these films end up playing at a festival.

The next categorization are films that are locked that feel like they could be Telluride and/or other fall film fest entrants:

Francis Lee's Ammonite (Neon/unscheduled)

Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix/unscheduled)

Edoardo Ponti's The Life Ahead (Netflix/unscheduled)

Chloe Zhao's Nomadland (Searchlight/unscheduled- a note here, the article actually says its production status is uncertain...my feeling is that it's likely complete)

Then there are the films listed as being in post-production that, should they be completed in time, seem like Telluride and fall film fest possibles (included here is the post-production start date according to IMDb):

Leos Carax's Annette (Amazon/post-11-22-19/unscheduled)

Michael Showalter's The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Searchlight/post 12-23-19/unscheduled)

Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix/post-IMDb says the film is complete/unscheduled)

David Fincher's Mank (Netflix/post-2-3-20/unscheduled)***

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria (Neon/post-10-13-19/unscheduled)

George Clooney's The Midnight Sky (Netflix/post-1-2-20/unscheduled)

Sofia Coppola's On the Rocks (A24/post-7-4-19)

Glen Keane's Over the Moon (Netflix/post-1-2-20/unscheduled)

Tom McCarthy's Stillwater (Focus Features/post-1-2-20/unscheduled)

Aaron Sorkin's Trail of the Chicago 7 (Paramount/post-12-17-19/unscheduled)***

Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window (20th Century/post-10-29-18/unscheduled...though it has been dated for release a couple of times)

***I have read somewhere that both Mank and Trial of Chicago 7 will likely not be ready for any of the fall fests.

Additionally, you'd have to expect that films that went into post after the start of 2020 are suspect simply because those films would only have been in post for a few weeks before the shutdown happened: The Midnight Sky, Over the Moon, Stillwater.  

Even The Eyes of Tammy Faye with a Dec. 2019 post-production start date seem iffy to me.

Finally, for fun, let's factor in in directors who have been to Telluride in some capacity (director, writer or star) from these last two groups: Kaufman, Zhao, Fincher, Clooney, Coppola, McCarthy, Sorkin, Wright and I'll take a stab at five of these films making a Telluride lineup for 2020:

1) Nomadland

2) I'm Thinking of Ending Things

3) On the Rocks

4) Hillbilly Elegy

5) Ammonite

Whipp's complete article with his commentary is linked here.

ANNECY PROCEEDS ONLINE

The Annecy Animation Film Fest, the largest animated film festival on the planet announced a few weeks back that this year's event had been cancelled but the fest will move forward with a completely online version of the event.  The online fest will run June 15-20.

The details were reported by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang for Variety last Thursday.

Over the years, several films that have played the Annecy Fest have gone onto to play over the Labor Day weekend in Telluride.  Examples that come to mind include: Loving Vincent and Chico and Rita.

The Variety story includes claims by the fest organizers that many of its customary players will be back for the virtual event.

May 18th is the date for the fest to announce its competition lineup.

The full story is 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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Oscar and Film Fests in a Pandemic Part One / Meanwhile: And Then Part Two / New York Film Fest Planning to Play

OSCAR AND FILM FESTS IN A PANDEMIC PART ONE

Two posts within a day of each other from Indiewire this week aimed to provide some insight and analysis about the fall film season and the relation of the fall lineup of major film fests that have tended to kick off Oscar season over the past 12-15 years.

The first came late enough Wednesday that I didn't have a good chance to get it read and digested for inclusion in my Thursday post.

Anne Thompson's article entitled "Oscars 2021: Awards Season Will Be Very Different, and Festivals Will Take a Backseat" talked specifically about Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York.  Included is  this take from an Oscar campaign veteran that signals that some version of each of those four fests seems likely:

“Cooperation will be the spirit of the whole season,” said one veteran Oscar campaigner. “People are in that mood. We are supporting filmmakers and storytellers, not competing with each other. They toiled on these projects. We need to get them into the world, but not put anybody in jeopardy.”

Specifically with regard to Telluride Thompson writes:

"However, distributors are waiting to see how demanding festival directors Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger will be in terms of sending talent. Virtual participation is far more likely — and if fewer talent attends, and media follows, how eager will studios be to program their films? Most likely, distributors will wind up screening movies curated by the tastemakers at Telluride for media in L.A. and N.Y. under safer conditions in rooms sparsely filled by media and awards voters. “Telluride films will be ones you pay attention to,” said one awards campaigner."

As an additional note that suggests that Telluride is continues to plan an in-person experience, there was some Twitter chatter this week that students for the Student Symposium had been notified that they had been selected to participate.

Thompson's complete post is linked here.


MEANWHILE: AND THEN PART TWO

The day after Thompson's musings were published Indiewire posted Noel Cowan's piece called: "How Film Festivals Can Navigate the Risks and Rewards of Reopening — Analysis".

Cowan delineates four categories of festival "types" as a descriptor for fest organizers thinking as the calendar moves toward the first of May: Absolutists, Conservatives, Optimists and Radicals.

In the article Cowan suggests that his take on circumstantial evidence is that:

"The fall festivals have, so far, been falling decisively into the “optimist” category, with Venice announcing business as more or less usual. There are also strong signs that Telluride and Toronto intend to take place, featuring a significant number of live events."

Cowan defines the "Optimist" category in this fashion:

"Optimists see a rapid evolution of society into risk-takers and the risk-adverse and see film festivals geared chiefly to “risk takers.” Festivals would end the most egregious examples of social non-distancing — red carpets, fan meet-and-greets, packed hotel lobbies, and round table junkets — and enforce rules at the door. Face masks might be obligatory, everyone gets a squirt of hand sanitizer, but, in principle, everyone coming to see a film will be under no illusion they are not taking a chance."

The complete post is linked here


NEW YORK FILM FEST PLANNING TO PLAY

And then there's this...Charles Barfield writing for The Playlist tells us that it seems that the New York Film Festival is on record as still being committed to festing beginning on Sept. 25th. 

That's important to Telluride attendees as the announcement and premiere status at New York has become a helpful tool in sussing out what films will play at Telluride first before landing in NYC.

A note of caution, however, with the pandemic altering plans across the board that method, which has been very accurate as a TFF bellwether may not be as solid as it has been in the past few years.  As with most things in the film and festival worlds right now, even that is up in the air.

Barfield's article is here.


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Telluride News Coming This Week? / Venice Festival Dipsy-Do / 21st Century Films and Telluride

TELLURIDE NEWS COMING THIS WEEK?

Deadline's Andreas Wiseman wrote an article posted Tuesday that discusses the potential of five different fall film fests occurring in a Covid-19 world.  Telluride is one of the five fests that gets assessed.  The article drops this tantalizing bit of info:

"Telluride (September 4 – 7/8): A spokesperson for the picturesque and famously press-shy Telluride Film Festival has told us that they are “hoping to have some information this week” regarding the event’s status and planning in light of the Coronavirus. The Oscar-bellwether was expected to expand to five days this year after the Town Council approved an additional day earlier this month. Colorado has recorded close to 10,000 positive cases of COVID-19 and 422 deaths. The state garnered international headlines this week when healthcare workers blocked anti-lockdown protests."

The most intriguing part of that assessment is the "spokesperson's..."hoping to have some information this week".

Additionally, Deadline mentions the extra fifth day reportedly approved by the Telluride Town Council last week.

What's confusing?  The Deadline author lists the dates for the fest as Sept.4-7/8 meaning that their assumption is that Telluride is tacking the fifth day onto the end of the fest rather than, as I had assumed, the Thursday before the fest as TFF did in 2013 for its 40th iteration.

Further confusing the date situation is that the original reporting from the Telluride Watch/Daily Planet cites the added date as Sept. 1 which would be the Tuesday before the traditional and originally schedule Friday start.  From The Daily Planet last week:

Sooo....

The complete Deadline article is linked here.

VENICE FESTIVAL DIPSY-DO

Just a day after an interview with Venice Biennale President Roberto Cicutto (the film fest's parent organization) said that no collaboration with Cannes was planned, came another interview with festival's artistic director, Alberto Barbera that suggests just the opposite.  

The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Roxborough in a post that went up on Tuesday afternoon that Barbera had some strong thoughts about a Cannes partnership with Venice.  From the post:

"The Venice International Film Festival has "a concrete will" to collaborate with Cannes this year, in what Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera says would be a "sign of solidarity towards the cinema world" during the coronavirus crisis."

"ANSA quoted Barbera as saying he had not excluded the possibility of "a real collaboration with the Cannes Film Festival, which would be a sign of solidarity towards the cinema world, which is now more than ever in difficulty."  Barbera said he was in talks with Frémaux and that there was a "concrete will" on both sides to find a solution."


The story suggests that Venice, at least at this point, continues to stay the course on its planned dates of Sept. 2-12.

The full THR story is here.



21ST CENTURY FILMS AND TELLURIDE

I missed this back a few weeks ago when Empire Online published their list of the 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century (so far).  Empire says in the introductory paragraphs that the list (originally published on Jan. 8th) that they combined the thoughts of their team with thousands of responses from their readers in compiling the list.

So, as you might expect...I had to see how many and at what spots within the 100 that Telluride films popped up.  Here's what I discovered...19 TFF films made the list.  Here they are presented with their position and the year that they screened at TFF:

95- A Prophet (09)
90- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (00)
83- Frances Ha (12)
72- Birdman (14)
63- Under the Skin (13)
60- Carol (15)
54- Brokeback Mountain (05)
46- Inside Llewyn Davis (13)
44- Roma (18)
36- Lady Bird (17)
35- Arrival (16)
34- Zodiac (08)
31- Amelie (01)
24- La La Land (16)
23- City of God (02)
15- Spirited Away (02)
11- There Will Be Blood (scenes screened as part of Daniel Day Lewis tribute 07)
10- Lost in Translation (03)
5- Moonlight (16)

Notes: 
*The #1 film on the list: George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road.

*You could make a case for 2016 being TFF's strongest year with three films making this list: #5 Moonlight, #24 La La Land and #35 Arrival.

* TFF 2002 landed two films on the list: #15 Spirited Away and #23 City of God.  TFF 2013 also has two films making the grade: #46 Inside Llewyn Davis and #63 Under the Skin.

*Ang Lee is the only director to land two TFF films on the list: #54 Brokeback Mountain and #90 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

*The Noah Baumbach/Greta Gerwig team scores with #83 Frances Ha (Baumbach directed and co-wrote with Gerwig who stars in it) and #36 Lady Bird (written and directed by Gerwig.  Baumbach gets a "Special Thanks" mention in the credits).


Check out the complete list of 100 films from Empire Online linked here.



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Buchanan's Take / No New News on Cannes but Now Venice...LATE BREAKING-VENICE STILL A GO / SPC Acquires Julia / My Invite to Opine

BUCHANAN'S TAKE

On Wednesday last week the New York Times' Kyle Buchanan published a rumination on the world of film and what it might look like over the next year taking is season by season.  It's focused, of course, on what Covid-19 could mean for the film industry.

The article entitled "The Future That Hollywood Feared Is Happening Now".

The section about Fall focuses on the film fest scene.  He backtracks to the cancellation of SXSW and then assess the unlikelihood that Cannes will happen before arriving at some analysis regarding Venice first and then Telluride and Toronto.

From the article:

"Subsequent festivals in Telluride, Colo., and Toronto are considered even more important to launching year-end films. Still, some experts have warned of a potential coronavirus resurgence in the fall, and many may balk at going even if protective measures are taken and capacity is reduced. And if it looks like the 2020 awards season may be compromised, many prestige films could opt to sit out this festival year entirely."

Further on in the article, in the Winter section, Buchanan suggests that changing Oscar plans could also impact release strategies for some of the year's most eagerly awaited titles that would, under normal circumstances, be potential fest players.

Buchanan writes:

"Another possibility that’s been floated is extending Oscar eligibility so that the next show will include films released in both 2020 and 2021, something the academy has not done since several double-decker ceremonies in the 1930s. If academy bigwigs embrace that scenario, major Oscar contenders like this December’s “West Side Story” are in danger of becoming old news by the time voters fill out their ballots, and even Netflix might be tempted to push year-end awards films like David Fincher’s “Mank” and Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy” into 2021."

The upshot here is that there remains a tremendous amount of uncertain and that how this will all play out is a giant Jenga puzzle.

The complete Buchanan article is linked here.


NO NEW NEWS ON CANNES BUT NOW VENICE?

Like every other film fest on the calendar between now and the end of 2020, the Venice Film Fest has to make a decision as to how and if they will go forward.  Screen Daily tackled that issue last Friday with an article written by Gabriele Niola.

Perhaps the most daunting consideration that Venice is contending with is the severity with which Italy has been ravaged by the ongoing pandemic.  In that context, Niola reports that Venice head Alberto Barbera has ruled out a Virtual Venice and that films that have been submitted are under evaluation for inclusion.

Niola also throw some cold water on a notion that was floated last week: the idea of a Cannes/Vencie collaboration.  Niola writes:

"...although his relationship with Cannes delegate general Thierry Fremaux is reportedly a good one – the two have long shared advice and information and are in touch these weeks more than ever – the possibility of a joint festival between the two in the autumn is understood to be very unlikely."

The article also reports that the timeline for an ultimate decision regarding Venice will come  at the end of May or beginning of June.  So it seems we have at least six more weeks or so of speculation regarding what will or won't happen on the Lido.

The complete Screen Daily article is linked here.

LATE BREAKING...VENICE SPOKES PERSON SAYS IT'S STILL ON

A number of reports from an interview in Italy with Roberto Cicutto, President of the Venice Biennale that says Venice is still set to occur from Sept. 2-12 and that a Cannes collaboration is not likely.

From Variety.


SPC ACQUIRES JULIA

In news that should make Telluride watchers sit up and take notice was the announcement this week that Sony Pictures Classics had acquired distribution rights for the upcoming Julia Child documentary from Julie Cohen and Betsy West the duo behind the Oscar nominated doc about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg-RBG.

The deal includes SPC's first joint effort with CNN.

The project is not currently completed and is slated for a 2021 release according to IMDb.  That suggests that if it is a Telluride play that it most probably would be looking at TFF #48.

Deadline has the story here.


MY INVITE TO OPINE

I was fortunate enough to be asked by Jordan Ruimy who runs the world of Reel website to join one of his latest projects.  WOR will publishing a large poll of film peeps about the best films of the 1990's and the 2000's soon.  Jordan os asking each respondent to chose their five best films of each decade.

Here's the announcement from WOR:

As you can see, the '90's list will go up at the end of this month with the survey of the 2000's scheduled in early May,

My thanks to Jordan for the invitation.  For those that may be curious, here are the choices I sent Jordan over the weekend:

The 1990's: Goodfellas, L.A. Confidential, Magnolia, Pulp Fiction, Schindler's List. (Others I considered: Fargo, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line and The Usual Suspects)

The 2000's: Children of Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood. (Others: The Hours, Almost Famous, Memento, The Lives of Others, The White Ribbon).

I'll pass it along when the survey goes up at World of Reel.

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