Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 7 / Who's Got What-Distributors: Amazon-MGM and Searchlight / Mike Leigh...May Be Done / Today's Correction: Possible Love

 TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 7

Only five weeks until we find out with certainty what will play at TFF #53.  Here's a reminder of what MTFB was predicting last week:

1) The Debut

2) Elsinore

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Minotaur

8) Fjord

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Gentle Monster

11) Tenzig

12) Tender Loving Care

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Behemoth! Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang.

And here's your updated "Bets":

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Tenzig

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang, The Unknown, Sense and Sensibility.

WHO'S GOT WHAT-DISTRIBUTORS-AMAZON-MGM AND SEARCHLIGHT

We're continuing to look at distribution companies that have a robust presence at Telluride over the last five years.  Today we look at both Amazon-MGM and then Searchlight.

AMAZON-MGM

Here are films distributed by Amazon-MGM at Telluride the last five fests:

2021: Encounter

2022: Wildcat, Goodnight Oppy

2023: Saltburn, Cassandro

2024: Nickel Boys

2025: Man on the Run

As I looked through the films Amazon-MGM might screen at Telluride these seemed the most possible:

Madden 

Verity

I had been thinking that I Play Rocky was an outside Telluride shot but its World Premiere status at Toronto nuked that notion.

Chances:

Madden 35%

Verity 25%

SEARCHLIGHT

As for Searchlight, two films seem most "in the mix" with the reveal last Tuesday that Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! will be the New York Film Festival's Centerpiece program as a World Premiere and thus not appearing at Telluride.

Wild Horse Nine (M. McDonagh)

Sweetsick (A. Birch)

McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine seems to be Amazon-MGM's big push this fall for awards season.  That makes sense as McDonagh's last two films ( Three Billboard and Banshees of Inisherin) earned 16 nominations.  Wild Horse Nine certainly has the pedigree to be a film that fests are strongly pursuing this year.

Alice Birch's Sweetsick is reportedly in post-production with various sources suggesting either a late 2026 release or early 2027.

Chances for either of these films for a TFF #53 play:

Wild Horse Nine 50%

Sweetsick 20%

IMAGE OF ELSINORE

We got a first look from Focus Features of Andrew Scott in Elsinore which is very likely World Premiering at Telluride.  Here that is:

IMDb description:

"A powerful, deeply moving and inspiring story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London."

We found out yesterday that Elsinore will open the BFI/London Film Festival in October.

Focus has announced a Nov. 20th release date for the film.

MIKE LEIGH...MAY BE DONE

A number of sources indicate that Mike Leigh's upcoming Tender Loving Care may be his last.  TLC looks likely to screen at TFF #53.

Indiewire reported on Tuesday"

"British filmmaker Mike Leigh, one of the few directors to have won both the Venice Golden Lion and the Cannes Palme d’Or, told IndieWire that his upcoming feature, “Tender Loving Care,” may be his final film."

Leigh revealed a diagnosis of a disease that attacks a person's musculature.

The complete Indiewire article is linked here.

TODAY'S CORRECTION

In last Monday's post I referenced an a analysis from The Playlist that included some speculation that Possible Love could play Telluride.  However, Toronto lists it as a North American Premiere which, absent some premiere status snafu, would mean it will not play Telluride.

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The Corrections / The Playlist With New Telluride Predictions / The Palm Clean-Up Continues / New Bucking Fastard Clip

THE CORRECTIONS

After posting on Thursday a couple of helpful readers pointed out a couple of errors I made regarding three films in the Toronto and Venice announcements.  

Initially, I was reminded that Kore-eda's Look Back and Bernal's Hombre al Agua Venice films that could pop-up at Telluride.  In addition, a separate correction for Harari's The Unknown which Toronto lists as a Canadian Premiere so we need to think about it seriously as a TFF #53 possibility.

I have gone back to Thursday's  post and corrected it accordingly.

THE PALM CLEAN-UP CONTINUES

The Hollywood Reporter posted an update on work to restore the flooded Palm Theater prior to TFF #53.  MTFB readers will recall that The Palm was flooded by massive rains last week causing substantial damage to parts of the facility.

Here's what TFF director Julie Huntsinger had to say in that article:

“We knew about the flood the day it happened,” Telluride Film Festival chief Julie Huntsinger tells THR. “We’ve been working super closely with the school district, and we trust their representation that things will be ready in time for the festival. We know there’s work that they will have to continue to do after the festival, but we trust that the pieces will be in place for the Palm in time for Labor Day weekend.”

THR reports that the aim at the moment is to The Palm up and running two weeks before the film fest for another event scheduled there.

Sounds encouraging....keep fingers crossed TFF fans.

THE PLAYLIST WITH NEW TELLURIDE PREDICITIONS

Gregory Ellwood writing for The Playlist makes some interesting claims about Telluride in an article he put up last Thursday looking at all the info about announcements from Toronto, Venice and New York.  Among the comments he makes are:

***"Lee Chang-dong's “Possible Love,” his first film since 2018’s acclaimed drama "Burning.” It also appears set for Telluride,"

***"Also meant for Telluride are second screenings of the aforementioned “Wild Horse Nine,” Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Minatour," Christian Mungiu's "Fjord," Beth de Araújo's Sundance award-winner "Josephine," as well as Danny Boyle’s "Ink,” which is opening Venice."

***"We’re still wrapping our brains around who at Warner Bros. convinced Alejandro González Iñárritu to pass on both Venice and Telluride for “Digger.” Especially as the filmmaker has attended Telluride as part of the festival “family” many times over the years. Maybe “Digger” turns out to be a surprise Sunday screening - there’s time - and the fact that Tom Cruise has never trekked there is a great way to kick off your awards campaign, but at the moment? A big old “no.”

Takeaways from these comments:

1) That's real news regarding Possible Love, if true.  

2) Ellwood saying Wild Horse Nine is headed to TFF would be really big news.

3) Josephine is, as Ellwood mentions, a Sundance film which is usually a disqualifier for a TFF selection, but that "rule" isn't hard and fast.  (As a side-note, I also think Sundance's The Only Living Pickpocket in New York could confound that "rule" as well).

4) The whole concept of what's going on with Digger is laid out well.

The complete post from The Playlist is linked here.

https://x.com/thegregorye/status/2080405714170699856?s=43&t=j1afhDrrsGu6QHIM0TFgEQ

NEW BUCKING FASTARD CLIP

I still believe that Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard is likely going to TFF #53.  The  film's logline is very interesting per IMDB:

"Jean and Joan Holbrooke are two sisters who are so close they speak in unison, love the same man, and have the same dreams. In search of an imaginary land - where true love is possible - they start digging through an entire mountain range."

Bucking Fastard has been selected for Golden Lion competition at the Venice Film Festival.

And, as of a couple of days ago, we have a new clip from the film.  Here it is from HanWay Films and YouTube:

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Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol, 6 / Venice Announces / Palm Update

TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 6

Six weeks until TFF unveils its lineup!

Here's your sixth look at MTFB's best guess as to what could play.  

We begin with last week's list:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

A Long Winter

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: Artificial, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

And now, after the news of this past week, here's your latest Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53 ranked by likelihood):

1) The Debut

2) Elsinore

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Minotaur

8) Fjord

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Gentle Monster

11) Tenzig

12) Tender Loving Care

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Behemoth! Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang.

VENICE ANNOUNCES

As MTFB readers know, the Venice to Telluride connection is usually fairly robust with an average of nearly eight films playing both fests over the last five years.  Here are the films that feel most likely to do both fests in 2026 in light of Venice announcing its lineup early this morning:

From the Competition lineup:

Company/C. Affleck

Ink/Boyle (all but confirmed for Telluride)

Bucking Fastard/Herzog

Wild Horse Nine/McDonagh

Primetime/Oppenheim

Out of Competition

The Basics of Philosophy/Schrader

Non-Fiction:

Burgundy/Dweck and Kershaw

Musk/Gibney

Everest: The Other Side (all but confirmed for Telluride)

Remember, our next clue about what could play Venice and then Telluride comes when the former announces its schedule..  The films that play both places will need to have an early slot in Venice.

All sections of the Venice lineup are linked here.

https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2026/lineup

PALM UPDATE

After devastating floods an mudslides in Telluride last week, the first assessment of school facilities, including a seriously impacted Palm Theater, are emeging.

The Telluride Times reported that:

"Following meetings and a walk-through Monday of the Michael D. Palm Theatre and Telluride Intermediate School and Telluride Middle/High School complex, Nicole Hattler, Palm Arts’ executive director, described herself as “cautiously optimistic.”

Telluride city and school officials noted that the first priority will be getting all other affected areas in the schools up and ready for the opening of school by Aug. 18th.  Further, they note that seating is the top priority for The Palm.  

That complete article is linked here.

https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_24fa27f5-c902-452e-9879-6dd2717e1a17.html

This post was corrected on July 24th.

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Late Breaking from Toronto / The Palm Under Water / Rebecca Hall Is Your TFF #53 Guest Director / This and That /

LATE BREAKING FROM TORONTO

The Toronto Fest announced a number of titles for TFF 2026 and from their premiere designations we can infer that the following films are likely playing Telluride:

A Long Winter

Elsinore

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Fjord

Minotaur

Ink

The debut

Tender Loving Care

and others.

Not going to Telluride:

Coward (the biggest surprise to me)

All of a Sudden

Bunker

Prima Facie

Bitter Christmas

Clarissa

More to come...

THE PALM UNDER WATER

Although not strictly a story about The SHOW...it is.  Telluride endured a substantial mudslide last Friday and The Palm and the Intermediate and Middle schools were all affected.  The Palm especially.  A breach in a loading door allowed immense amounts of water and move to move into The Palm Theater.  Heres' the pic that has been most prevalent coming out of Telluride (the photo is from The Telluride Times):

That's the floor of The Palm.

How does affect the fest?  Will it affect the Fest?

More details can be found here from The Telluride Times.

https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_32546b30-de8d-4012-8929-88d83de86934.html

Stay tuned.

REBECCA HALL IS YOUR TFF#53 GUEST DIRECTOR

The Telluride Film Festival has named actress-director-writer Rebecca Hall to act as Guest Director for its 53rd edition.  Here's the scuttlebutt from Tellurideinside.com:

Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in Telluride Film Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas, unique perspectives and overlooked films to the gathering. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Hall’s film selections, along with the rest of the Festival lineup, will remain a secret until just before Opening Day.

“Rebecca Hall is a unique and brilliant person with an extraordinary basket of gifts who embodies the magical combination we look for in a Guest Director,” comments Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “Whether she is acting, writing or directing, her work reflects an uncommon curiosity, intelligence and generosity of spirit – and she is adventurous to boot! She approaches cinema with the same thoughtfulness that she brings to every creative endeavor, and we know her wonderful background and perspective will make her an inspired Guest Director. We are thrilled to welcome Rebecca to Telluride and can’t wait to experience the films that have shaped and continue to inspire her remarkable artistic journey.”

Rebecca Hall is a celebrated British-American actress, writer and director whose work spans independent films, major studio productions, television and the stage. She will next star in Adam Wingard’s A24 action thriller “Onslaught” and appears in the upcoming season of Netflix’s “Monster,” as well as “The Man I Love” and “The End of It,” both of which premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Hall recently completed production on the zombie thriller “Zero Protocol” and is set to write, direct and star in “Four Days Like Sunday.”

Hall made her directorial debut with “Passing,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to widespread critical acclaim and earned BAFTA nominations for Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. As an actor, she has received Golden Globe, BAFTA, Independent Spirit, Critics’ Choice, Gotham and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for performances in films including “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Christine,Peter Hujar’s Day, “The Town”; “The Prestige”; “The Night House”; “Godzilla vs. Kong”; and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

Her distinguished career also includes award-winning work in television and lauded performances on both the West End and Broadway.

“This will be my first time at Telluride,” says Rebecca. “But I’ve been hearing tales of this annual utopian film community for years, always alongside sentences like ‘the one filmmakers love the most.’ ‘Your favorite film festival’s favorite film festival.’ ‘The one where you get to watch more films than promote them.’ I always hoped I’d get to come with a film, so to get to bring 6 films feels like an incredible act of generosity on the part of the universe. I can’t wait to watch all of them with you.”

Past Guest Directors include Laurie Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, John Boorman, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Don DeLillo, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Buck Henry, Pico Iyer, Barry Jenkins, Edith Kramer, Rachel Kushner, Jonathan Lethem, Phillip Lopate, Guy Maddin, Errol Morris, Michael Ondaatje, Joshua Oppenheimer, Alexander Payne, B. Ruby Rich, Salman Rushdie, Peter Sellars, John Simon, Volker Schlöndorff, Stephen Sondheim, Bertrand Tavernier, Caetano Veloso and Slavoj Žižek.

THIS AND THAT

Interesting notes from the past four days:

***James Gray's Paper Tiger has been named the opening night film for the New York Film Festival and is billed as a World Premiere.  That means the film, which I have had consistently as one my Ten Best for The SHOW, will not be screening at The SHOW...unless some behind-the-scenes action turns it into a "sneak" at TFF.

***Sources say that Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning will not be ready for Venice in time.  That would mean it also won't be ready for Telluride either.  

***World of Reel reports that Joel Coen's Jack of Spades is likely not releasing until next year-so no Telluride.

***Danny Boyle's Ink has been chosen to open The Venice Film Fest,  It will screen on Sept, 2nd giving it a window to also make the TFF #53 lineup.  Additionally Ink has been acquired by Netflix which doesn't hurt its Telluride chances.

***Gold Derby hints at Telluride slots for Behemoth! and The Debut in an article about the selection of Rebecca Hall as TFF #53's Guest Director.

https://www.goldderby.com/film/2026/rebecca-hall-telluride-2026-guest-director-movie-slate-dates/

***The Toronto International Film Festival announced five titles for its latest edition.  Of note was the billing of  The Alpha Gang as an International Premiere which could indicate a play at Telluride.  The only other possible explanation I can come up with is that TIFF and Fantastic Fest overlap...barely.  TIFF runs Sept. 10-20 and Fantastic Fest run Sept. 17-24.  I suppose that Alpha Gang could play Fantastic Fest early and Toronto late and that would explain TIFF labeling the film as an International Premiere.  We'll have to wait on the film announcements from Fantastic Fest for further clarity.

IONCINEMA GUESSES FOR VENICE

Ioncinema took a shot at guessing some Venetian possibilities and also, inadvertently made some claims about Telluride possibilities in and post from Saturday.  In the article they mention four of their Venice guesses as possibly going to T-ride as well:

Behemoth!

The Debut

Wild Horse Nine

Musk

Among other titles they predict for Venice there are some that I think have some Telluride crossover chances:

Bucking Fastard

Bunker

Tender Loving Care

The Basics of Philosophy

Here Comes the Flood

We should see the Venice lineup announcement this week sometime.  Of more import following that will be the Venice schedule which can give hints as to possible Telluride films.

The link to the Ioncinema post is here.

https://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2026-venice-film-festival-projecting-the-lido-lineup

FILM DATING

Newly announced release dates for some films that could be in the mix for Telluride:

Musk Oct. 16th.

Club Kid Nov. 6th

All of a Sudden Nov. 25th.

Tender Loving Care Dec. 4th.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53-Vol.5 / Who's Got What? Distributors: Mubi / Is Behemoth! Coming? / Next Best Picture Guesses Telluride (and other fall fests)

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL.5

The countdown to TFF #53 grows shorter and shorter.  

Here's the fifth installment of MTFB's Ten Bets, the weekly guess at what films make the Telluride lineup.  We start with a reminder of last week's bets:

Artificial

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

If you read last Monday's post you'll recall that Neon has reversed course on Luca Guadagnino's Artificial and, at least for now, are avowing that the film "isn't likely to go down the standard festival route"  which Deadline points out does not preclude some festival appearance.  Heck, Deadline even says they think it will likely will be at some festival.  As a matter of fact, Deadline's language doesn't shut the door on Artificial at TFF but rather, sounds like Telluride might be the most likely landing spot:

"That doesn’t mean it won’t pop up at a festival in some form (we bet it will), but it won’t have the traditional launch with the bells and whistles of a red carpet, press conference, junkets, etc."

So, I'm moving Artificial to the list of possibles and Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter back into the Ten Bets:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

A Long Winter

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: Artificial, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

A couple of other notes... 

For Ten Bets #6 next week I'll begin to actually list the films in order of likelihood to play...

And we should get some news from Toronto which should be informative.

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: MUBI

MTFB continues its look at the film distribution companies that have had the largest profiles at the Telluride Film Festival over the past five years in an effort to, perhaps, set the table for films that could be headed to TFF #53.  Up to this point for 2026 we have examined: Netflix, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features and A24. Each of those outfits have averaged two or more films at TFF in that time span.

Today we look at Mubi, which has had nine films at Telluride since 2021 but whose footprint has increased over the last couple of years.  Additionally Mubi could potentially provide more films to TFF #53 than any other distributor.

Here's Mubi's history over the last five years:

2021: Unclenching the Fists.

2022: No films.

2023: Fallen Leaves, High & Low: John Galliano, Tehachapi.

2024: Bird.

2025: The History of Sound, King Hamlet, La Grazia, Mastermind.

And these are the films in the Mubi warehouse we think might be TFF possibilities (with their chance of making the lineup):

Coward 70%

Fatherland 65%

A Long Winter 55%

Minotaur 50%

Rose 40%

Hope 25%

NEXT BEST PICTURE GUESSES TELLIRIDE (AND OTHER FALL FESTS)

Matt Neglia and his crew at Next Best Picture have posted a massive list of films for each of the four major "fall" film fests: Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York.  Looking at his T-ride list is intriguing,  Here it is with films on the MTFB Ten Bets (and possibilities) list indicated with ***.

All Of A Sudden (Ryusuki Hamaguchi)

American Doctor (Poh Si Teng)

Artificial (Luca Guadagnino)***

Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)

Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)

Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)***

Club Kid (Jordan Firstman)***

Coward (Lukas Dhont)***

The Debut (Jesse Eisenberg)***

Elsinore (Simon Stone)***

Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)***

Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)***

Iron Boy (Louis Clichy)

Josephine (Beth de Araújo)

La Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)***

La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)

A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)***

Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)***

Mouse (Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson)

The Only Living Pick Pocket In New York (Noah Segan)

Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)

Rehearsals for a Revolution (Pegah Ahangarani)

Rose (Markus Schleinzer)

Saturn Return (Greg Kwedar)

The Unknown (Arthur Harari)

Yellow Letters (İlker Çatak)***

Couple of notes:

Films on the NBP list that are not currently a "Bet" by MTFB but are on the radar are: Behemoth!, Bitter Christmas, La Gradiva, Primetime, Rose and Saturn Return.

Josephine and The Only Living Pickpocket in New York were Sundance selections which doesn't rule them out for Telluride, but it's uncommon for a film to screen both places.

Next Best Pictures' complete set of lists is linked here.

https://nextbestpicture.com/predicting-the-2026-fall-film-festival-lineups-for-venice-telluride-tiff-nyff/

IS BEHEMOTH! COMING?

Lot's of buzz early this week with first look photos and a trailer for Tony Gilroy's Behemoth!  The film stars Pedro Pascal and is described at IMDb like this:

"Follows a musician from a family of musicians who returns to Los Angeles. A love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it."

Behemoth! is being distributed by Searchlight and there is a good deal of speculation that it will be making a fall film fest run though whether that would include Telluride is very uncertain at this point.

Here's an image from the Vanity Fair article:

In addition, Searchlight dropped a trailer on Tuesday.  Here that is from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T64gVlcc1I&t=99s

Searchlight hasn't yet announced a release date from the film.

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Who's Got What? Distributors: A24 / The Artificial Switcheroo / SPC Adds Bunker

 WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: A24

Our fifth look at frequent film distribution companies that have been represented at Telluride over the last five years lands today on A24.

Over the last five TFFs, these are the films from A24 that have screened:

2021: Red Rocket, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

2022: Aftersun, Close.

2023: Janet Planet, Occupied City, Tuesday, The Zone of Interest.

2024: No films.

2025: If I had Legs I'd Kick You, Pillion.

As you can see, A24 has had 10 films at TFF over these last fests with 2024 being the anomaly with no A24 films.

I'm tracking three films from A24 that show the most promise for a TFF berth:

The Debut, Club Kid, Primetime and Ancient History.

I honestly could see all four making the TFF #53 lineup.

Their chances:

The Debut 75%

Club Kid 65%

Primetime 50%

Ancient History 40% (added as a possible title on 8/3)

THE ARTIFICIAL SWITCHEROO

Artificial Director Luca Guadagnino

It wasn't more than about an hour after I pinched the button and published last Monday's MTFB, which included the latest "Ten Bets" that Neon messed with me.

I had re-instated Luca Guadagnino's Artificial to the Ten Bets.  An hour later news broke that:

 "Luca Guadagnino‘s much-talked about Artificial is expected to forgo a traditional fall festival rollout, we understand."

That reporting came from Deadline.com

Now, the story backed off the wholistic claim of  "traditional festival rollout" later in the article stating:

"We understand there has been interest from multiple A-list festivals, and while things can change, we hear the film isn’t likely to go down the standard festival route. That doesn’t mean it won’t pop up at a festival in some form (we bet it will), but it won’t have the traditional launch with the bells and whistles of a red carpet, press conference, junkets, etc."

Soooo, does that mean a TFF berth is still in play?  Maybe.

The complete Deadline article is linked here.

https://deadline.com/2026/07/artificial-not-getting-traditional-fall-festival-rollout-1236978281/

SPC ADDS BUNKER

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Florian Zellers' Bunker for North American distribution according to multiple sources.  The film stars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

Deadline reports that, "An Oscar campaign is being lined up with a qualifying run end of year before release in early 2027."

The IMDb description:

"Follows a married couple of 17 years. The husband is an architect who accepts a controversial project to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. This decision leads his wife to question their marriage."

Zeller's The Father reportedly would have played Telluride had Covid not nuked the fest in 2020.

The complete Deadline post is linked here.

https://deadline.com/2026/07/javier-bardem-penelope-cruz-bunker-sells-sony-classics-1236978273/

So, in retrospect, I profiled SPC's possible TFF chances on July 6th.  Bunker now gets added to he list of SPC possibilities for Telluride with an equal chance as Almodovar's Bitter Christmas to make the list.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 4 / Pause: Moves This Week... / Back to the 4th Ten Bets / Who's Got What? Distributors: Focus Features

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 4

Last week's Ten Bets list:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Artificial and The Story of Documentary Film.

PAUSE: MOVES THIS WEEK...

We'll get to the new Ten Bets after this ...

Variety reports that hot property Elsinore starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman has been acquired by Focus Features after what they report as a:

"a competitive bidding war among several studios for the Simon Stone-directed drama"

MTFB has been following the emergence of the film since last week marking it as a late breaking possibility for TFF #53.  Variety's tory on the acquisition by Focus also had something to say about that:

"Sources tell Variety that programmers at each of the fall festivals — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — are circling the title, though a premiere venue has yet to be set."

The Playlist  underscored the point reporting that:

"(Elsinore) is also a movie that, like “Artificial,” has gotten into every festival it has screened for."

The way I read that is that all four fests are eager to program the film and now it's matter of what Focus wants to do...where they wan to with the film.  It sure doesn't slow down the speculation that it might well be included for The SHOW.

Add that to the other notices last week that Artificial had been invited by "all the major fall festivals" per The Playlist.  

On top of that, Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut seems to be picking up steam with his claim that the film will debut at a fall film fest.  Don't discount that A Real Pain played Telluride nor should we ignore that Emma Stone, who we believe is a big fan of Telluride, is/was a producer for both films.  

All of this has altered the new Ten Bets from last week.  Which leads us back to...

Here's the complete story from Variety.

https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/focus-features-elsinore-andrew-scott-acquisition-1236801625/

And also from The Playlist.

https://theplaylist.net/halfway-to-oscars-2027-project-hail-mary-la-bola-negra-digger-andrew-scott-20260701/

BACK TO THE 4TH TEN BETS

Here's your latest Ten Bets for TFF #53...

Artificial

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: FOCUS FEATURES

I MTFB's continuing look at common distributors of films that make the Telluride lineup we turn for Focus Features which, over the last five years, has been the fourth most ubiquitou distributor at TFF.  They've screened 11 films at The SHOW in that time:

2021: Belfast, The Card Counter.

2022: TAR, Armageddon Time.

2023: The Holdovers, The Bikeriders

2024: Conclave, Piece by Piece.

2025: Hamnet, Bugonia, Hamlet.

11 films, six of which were nominated for Best Picture.  That's an impressive list.  So going into TFF #53 you have to think Focus will have at least two films make the grade... Here's their most likely applicants:

(The newly acquired) Elsinore, Sense and Sensibility, Hope and The Uprising.

Chances for TFF #53:

Elsinore 70%

Sense and Sensibility 40%

Hope 25%

The Uprising 20%

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Who's Got What? Distributors-Sony Pictures Classics / Whispers: Elsinore??? / The Debut of The Debut?

 WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS-SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Here's the third installment for 2026 for taking a look at distribution companies which have had a strong relationship with the Telluride Film Festival.  Today we gaze at Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) which likely has the longest connection to the fest overall.  Though SPC comes in as the third most represented distributor over the last five years with 13 films appearing, the SPC/TFF connection goes back many more fests.  SPC is always a strong bet to have a film or films at TFF.

Here's the five year track record:

2021: The Duke, Julia

2022: Living, One Fine Morning, The Return of Tanya Tucker, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams.

2023: Daddio, The Teachers' Lounge, They Shot the Piano Player.

2024: Don't Let's Go to the Dog's Tonight, The Outrun.

2025: Blue Moon, A Private Life

It's solid five year run averaging between two and three films per year,

Now, here's what's in the SPC treasure chest for a possible TFF #53 spot and my current guess about each film's probability of playing:

(If it's ready) The Statement/McCarthy  50%

Bunker 50%

Bitter Christmas/Almodovar 50%

Rehearsals for a Revolution/Ahangarani 30%

Iron Boy/Clichy 25%

[Revised 7-13-26]

WHISPERS: ELSINORE???

Andrew Scott at TFF #52 (Getty Images)

Maybe keep an eye out for Elsinore starring Andrew Scott.  The film is being shopped for U.S. distribution with a deal expected "soon".

The logline: A powerful, deeply moving and inspiring story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London.

Scott is starring as Charleson who is probably best known to Americans for playing Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire.

Anyway, World of Reel and The Playlist reported in the last few days that it could be a surprise entry at the end of this year into the Oscar race.  

An intriguing note from The Playlist story:  Ellwood claims the film has been accepted by multiple film fests writing:

"This (Elsinore) is also a movie that, like “Artificial,” has gotten into every festival it has screened for."

Of course we have no way of knowing which and how many fests are being referenced but it certainly doesn't disqualify the possibility of T-ride.

Scott, who attended TFF last year with Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, could return.  

Keep an ear to the ground regarding who picks up distribution for the film.

THE DEBUT OF THE DEBUT?

I think everyone who reads this space with any frequency has figured out that I'm really excited about Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut.  

Now comes news that the film has been confirmed by Eisenberg to be premiering at a "fall film festival".  That news comes via an interview with Screen Daily as Eisenberg is at the Karlovy Film Fest to receive its President's Award.

From Screen Daily/Screen International's X account:

Sooo...not a lock for Telluride, but not ruling it out either.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53 Vol. 3 / Who's Got What: Distributors-Neon / Dating News

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53 VOL. 3

Here's the new update of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #53.  First, last week's bets:

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter and The Story of Documentary Film.

Now a look at this week's Ten Bets and Other Possibilities:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Artificial and The Story of Documentary Film.

WHO'S GOT WHAT: DISTRIBUTORS-NEON

I'm continuing my look at distributors who have a significant presence at Telluride over the past five years.  Last Monday we started with Netflix, which has been the most ubiquitous in the half decade.  Today we look at Neon...the 2nd most "present" outfit since 2021 with 15 films over that span:

2021: Flee, Petite Maman, Spencer, Three Minutes...a Lengthening.

2022: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Broker.

2023: Anatomy of a Fall, La Chimera, Perfect Days, The Royal Hotel.

2024: Anora, The End, The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

2025: It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value.

And the Neon larder is stacked with primarily Cannes Fest films and a new addition just this week:

All of a Sudden (Hamaguchi)

Clarissa (Erisi/Erisi)

Fjord (Mungiu)

Hope (Hong-Jin)

Paper Tiger (Gray)

A Place in Hell (Dumont)

Sheep in the Box (Kore-eda)

The Unknown (Hariri)

And the late breaking addition (and non-Cannes film) Luca Guadagnino's Artificial.  Neon picked this up after Amazon-MGM decided they would not release it.  Artificial had been a film I have been keeping an eye on re: TFF #53 but Amazon-MGM had made noise that it was going to premiere at South by Southwest and release in 2027 which moved it right off the MTFB watch list.

Neon has already made it clear they intend to place the film square in the middle of the upcoming Oscar season and there is a good deal of buzz that it will be submitted for Venice.  All this puts it back on the table as a TFF #53 potential selection. So much so, in fact, you'll note that it has already made the list of "Other Possibilities" in this week's "Ten Bets".

As to the other eight Neon possibles and their chances?  

Paper Tiger 70%

Fjord 50%

Clarissa 50%

All of a Sudden 40%

Hope 25%

A Place in Hell 25%

Artificial??? Say 45% for right now.

[Revised 7-13-26]

We'll look at Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) on Monday.

DATING NEWS

There have been a number of notices for release dates for some films that could be under considration for TFF:

Sense and Sensibility: Sept. 25.

Fjord: Oct. 9.

Saturn Return: Oct. 9.

Klara and the Sun: Oct. 23.

Wild Horse Nine: Nov. 6.

Minotaur: Nov. 20.

Clarissa Dec. 25.

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Who's Got What? Distributors: Netflix / Venetian Speculation: The Hollywood Reporter

WHO'S GOT WHAT?  DISTRIBUTORS: NETFLIX

Each summer it has become the habit here at MTFB to take a look at the film distribution companies that have the largest presence at TFF historically and scan their list of films for potential titles that could end up in the San Juans come Labor Day.

This year, I calibrated the last five TFFs to determine which companies on which to focus.  Here's the number of films that each of the eight most frequent distributors over hat time have screened at Telluride:

Netflix 24

Neon 15

Sony Pictures Classics 13

Focus Features 11

A24 10

Mubi 9

Amazon-MGM 7

Searchlight 5

Not all of these distributors can be expected every year but commonly are.

So, we start the 2025 parade of distributors with the outfit that has been to TFF the most over the most half decade and that's Netflix with 24 films.

2021:The Power of the Dog, The Hand of God, The Lost Daughter, Procession.

2022: Bardo, Sr. The Wonder, lady Chatterley's Lover.

2023: Nyad, Rustin, El Conde.

2024: Emilia Perez, Maria, Martha, The Piano Lesson, Will and Harper, Apocalypse in the Tropics.

2025: Frankenstein, Jay Kelly, The Ballad of a Small Player, The Secret Agent, Cover-Up, Nouvellle Vague, The New Yorker at 100.

24 films over these last five years (13 in the last two) but this year seems like Netflix may not be as present.  It feels like the streamer just doesn't have the depth of potential films as they may have had in the past.

For awhile I thought they might release Narnia: The Magician's Nephew for the holiday season and that it might actually be a Telluride possibility because of the film's director, Greta Gerwig, who has had, along with her husband Noah Baumbach, a fairly substantial relationship with TFF.  But it has been dated for theatrical release on Feb. 12, 2027 which suggests that there's not a chance it goes to Telluride (and realistically, there wasn't much chance outside my head).

Then there's Greg Kwedar's Saturn Return (Train Dreams, Sing Sing) which is on Variety's "first look" at 2026-27 Oscar predictions BUT is listed at IMDb as being under Netflix's control for VOD and has only a very non-specific "2026" listed as its release date.  Kwedar, along with producing partner Clint Bentley are on a roll.  The cast includes Rachel Brosnahan and Will Poulter.

Additionally, Fernando Meirelles could return to Telluride with Here Comes the Flood.  It has an ambiguous "2026" release and some big name stars: Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson and Daisy Edgar-Jones.  Meirelles was at Telluride in 2019 with The Two Popes... that followed a long absence after his previous TFF experience in 2002 with City of God.

Netflix has a couple of films that played Cannes that are also likely in play: Gentle Monster and La Bola Negra (The Black Ball).

Marie Kreuzter's Gentle Monster had a tough time at Cannes with a middling critical response at best and no prize from being with the Palme d'Or competition.

And finally, what is probably Netflix's most likely Telluride player: La Bola Negra (The Black Ball).  A critical success (85 on Metacritic) and co-winners for Best Director at Cannes. Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo shred the prize for direction with Fatherland's Pawel Pawlikowski.

So here are your chances per MTFB for each film of making the TFF #53 lineup:

The Black Ball 70%

Saturn Return 50%

Gentle Monster 40%

Here Comes the Flood 30%

***Netflix added Ink on July 18th

It's also very likely that Netflix will have other titles not listed here that do make the TFF #53 lineup.

Coming up on Monday...Neon...and they are loaded.

VENETIAN SPECULATION

The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets, unleashed speculation about what films could be announced for the Venice Film Festival.  Frequent readers of MTFB know that the Venice to Telluride connection is very powerful and I expect this year to be no different with 6-8 titles making an early play at Venice and then screening a day or two later at T-ride.  

The key to puzzling that out is a two step process.  See what's been selected and then wait to find out when a film is scheduled to play in Venice.  If your film plays withing the first 3-4 days in Italy...there's a decent chance it will also play in Colorado.

So here's a selection of potential Venetian titles that could jump the pond using The Hollywood Reporter's list from just over a week ago,  THR has listed 40 title in alphabetical order...so I will too with director and U.S. distributor where possible:

A Long Winter (Haigh/Mubi)

Behemoth! (T. Gilroy/Searchlight)

Being Heumann (Heder/Apple)

Bucking Fastard (Herzog/???)

Bunker (Zeller/???)

Here Comes the Flood (Meirelles/Netflix)

Ink (Boyle/???)

I Play Rocky (Farrelly/Amazon-MGM)

Untitled Jesse Eisenberg [The Debut] (Eisenberg/A24)

Look Back (Kore-eda/GKIDS)

Musk Gibney/Bleecker Street)

Primetime (Oppenheim/A24)

Saturn Return (Kwedar/Netflix)

Tender Loving Care (Leigh/Bleecker Street)

The Basics of Philosophy (Schrader/???)

The Social Reckoning (Sorkin/Columbia)

The Statement (McCarthy/SPC)

Wild Horse Nine (McDonagh/

Interestingly, the THR mentions Telluride as a possible stop for films on their list:

A Long Winter

Being Heumann

Ink

The Social Reckoning

and Paul Greengrass's The Uprising...which, as you can see, isn't on my list above.

The other thing that's interesting is that the list includes Alejandro Inarritu's Digger, which, as far as I know, is still on record from Warners as having no fall fest plans...interesting.

The complete THR list of 40 films is linked here.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/venice-2026-buzz-dune3-digger-mike-leigh-werner-herzog/the-statement-director-tom-mccarthy/

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A Legend of TFF Passes / Ten Bets for TFF #53 Vol. 2 / Trailers!

 A LEGEND OF TFF PASSES

Jim Bedford passed away on Saturday, June 20th, 2026.  He was 81.  

Bedford, "BF" to his friends, was a giant part of the Telluride Film Festival from the very beginning listed as the Fest's Telluride "coordinator" right below the founders of the fest in the 1974 program for TFF #1.

The only reason I know that is that I have a duplicated copy of that first year's program courtesy of Mr. Bedford.  I also have an original copy of every Telluride program  since then, again courtesy of Mr. Bedford.

He seemed to be a fan of the blog,  particularly the "history of the fest pages" that you can look at by clicking the links at the bottom of the masthead/MTFB logo at the top of this page.  All of the work that I did to put that together a few years back that covers 1974-2005 comes from those programs.

Mr. Bedford and I  had exchanged some emails over the years so we, weren't strangers, but I had never met him face-to-face until a couple of years ago.  That came about as a result of an invitation from him for me to join in a annual meet-up held during each festival.  The purpose of the meeting each year is to raise a glass to all the folks who had been a part of the TFF family, particularly on the technical side of the fest, who had passed since the previous year's fest.

I was very deeply moved that I was asked to be any part of this ceremony.  I still am.

I was fortunate enough to be asked back again last year and actually got to spend some time with "BF" (He'll always be Mr. Bedford to me.  Too much respect for what the man did...and that's not even mentioning the legacy of KOTO radio in Telluride).  He was very encouraging about this space.  

Mr. Bedford's last program credit for TFF came in 2010 with the 37th Fest.

I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that without Jim Bedford there might not be a Telluride Film Festival. 

So here's to Jim Bedford.  He was kind and thoughtful and loved the SHOW.

TEN BETS  FOR TFF #53: VOL. 2

Here's the first update of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #53'  First, last week's bets:

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

A Long Winter

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

This week we add in a couple of films and move a couple to the "Other possibilities" list:

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter and The Story of Documentary Film.

We'll have an updated list again next Thursday.

TRAILERS!

THE DEBUT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clyzHmBx43E

SHEEP IN THE BOX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mlc8TAPNw

KLARA AND THE SUN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwmEqQv82M

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