The Telluride Film Festival is about to get underway in Colorado.
It’s a prestige place, and expensive, but worth it for filmmakers to mix and mingle with the well heeled public and underwritten press.
The movies are all top notch, quality stuff. But the big studios are really staying away from festivals now. They’re terrified of bad or mixed reviews doing damage to their marketing campaigns. Telluride is no exception. Social media has made being circumspect impossible.
I’d be looking forward to Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine,” Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Debut,” and Danny Boyle’s “Ink.” Two foreign films — “Fjord” and “Fatherland” — will do very well.
Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” has more hype than any nightclub. Look for ecstatic notices even if we don’t know what they’ll mean down the road.
Rebecca Hall is guest programmer. She’s chosen two of my faves: Kenneth Lonergan’s “Margaret” (I hope his version), and Peter Bogadanovich’s “What’s Up, Doc?” I’m not surprised she has such good taste! She also chose a good movie by her father, Peter Hall, with 1974’s “Akenfield.”
Of course there will be no screening of “Digger” with Tom Cruise, even though the star used to live in Telluride in a massive pile. I guess he’s not sentimental.
So, off to the races.
PS John Malkovich is going to get a king’s reception.
Tributes
Andrew Haigh (writer, director)
Sandra Hüller (actress)
John Malkovich (actor)
Main Program (Show)
A LONG WINTER (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K., 2026)
ALPHA GANG (d. David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, U.S., 2026)
AVEDON (d. Ron Howard, U.S., 2026)
BUCKING FASTARD (d. Werner Herzog, Ireland/U.S., 2026)
BURGUNDY (d. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, France, 2026)
CARL SAGAN: WE ARE MADE OF STAR STUFF (d. Nanette Burstein, U.S., 2026)
CLUB KID (d. Jordan Firstman, U.S., 2026)
THE DEBUT (d. Jesse Eisenberg, U.S., 2026)
THE DISCIPLE (d. Joanna Natasegara, U.K./U.S./Morocco, 2026)
ELSINORE (d. Simon Stone, U.K., 2026)
EVEREST: THE OTHER SIDE (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S./China/Nepal, 2026)
FATHERLAND (d. Paweł Pawlikowski, Poland/France/Germany/Italy, 2026)
FJORD (d. Cristian Mungiu, Romania/France/Norway/Sweden/Denmark, 2026)
GENTLE MONSTER (d. Marie Kreutzer, Austria/Germany/France, 2026)
THE IDIOT(S) (d. Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert, Poland/Germany, 2026)
INK (d. Danny Boyle, U.K./U.S./France, 2026)
LA BOLA NEGRA (d. Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo, Spain/France, 2026)
THE LIBERATION (d. Guy Nattiv, U.S., 2026)
MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE (d. Sofia Coppola, Italy/U.S., 2026)
THE MAN I LOVE (d. Ira Sachs, U.S., 2026)
MINOTAUR (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, France/Germany/Latvia, 2026)
MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART II – EXILE (d. Julia Loktev, U.S., 2026)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM (d. David Greaves, Liani Greaves, U.S., 2026)
THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK (d. Noah Segan, U.S., 2026)
PETE TOWNSHEND: BEHIND BLUE EYES (d. Frank Marshall, Nigel Sinclair, U.S./U.K., 2026)
REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION (d. Pegah Ahangarani, Czech Republic/Spain, 2026)
ROSE (d. Markus Schleinzer, Austria/Germany, 2026)
THE ROW (d. Bryan Fogel, U.S./Australia/Ireland, 2026)
THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM (d. Mark Cousins, Scotland/U.K., 2026)
SUMO: SPIRIT WEIGHS NOTHING (d. Erik Shirai, U.S./Japan/U.K./Denmark, 2026)
TENDER LOVING CARE (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2026)
TENZING (d. Jennifer Peedom, U.S./Australia, 2026)
THE UNKNOWN (d. Arthur Harari, France/Italy, 2026)
WILD HORSE NINE (d. Martin McDonagh, Chile/U.S., 2026)
Guest Director’s Selections (Rebecca Hall)
AKENFIELD (d. Peter Hall, U.K., 1974)
MARGARET (d. Kenneth Lonergan, U.S., 2011)
PORTRAIT OF JASON (d. Shirley Clarke, U.S., 1967)
THE SERVANT (d. Joseph Losey, U.K., 1963)
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (d. Charlie Kaufman, U.S., 2008)
WHAT’S UP, DOC? (d. Peter Bogdanovich, U.S., 1972)
