“Cocksucker Blues” is being shown at the Telluride Film Festival. Robert Frank’s 1972 film of the Rolling Stones back on tour after Altamont, with groupies, sex and hedonism, has mostly been unseen by the public. (I remember watching it in Marshall Chess’s apartment in the summer of 1981 on a Betamax machine. Hot stuff.)

Now, of course, it will seem tame after the internet and Cinemax.

The Stones still don’t want it seen, as the drug use is still pretty shocking. Mick snorts coke, a groupie injects heroin. It’s fun for the whole family !

“Cocksucker Blues” was last shown as part of a Rolling Stones film retrospective at MoMA in 2012. But under a court order, it’s not allowed to be shown more than four times a year, and Frank has to be present. That may be tough since he’s 90 and lives in Switzerland. But hey, you never know…

The rest of Telluride as follows:

·       CAROL (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2015)

·       AMAZING GRACE (d. Sydney Pollack, U.S., 1972/2015)

·       ANOMALISA (d. Charlie Kaufman, U.S., 2015)

·       BEAST OF NO NATION (d. Cary Fukunaga, U.S., 2015)

·       HE NAMED ME MALALA (d. Davis Guggenheim, U.S., 2015)

·       STEVE JOBS (d. Danny Boyle, U.S., 2015)

·       IXCANUL (d. Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala, 2015)

·       BITTER LAKE (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2015)

·       ROOM (d. Lenny Abrahamson, England, 2015)

·       BLACK MASS (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2015)

·       SUFFRAGETTE (d. Sarah Gavron, U.K., 2015)

·       SPOTLIGHT (d. Tom McCarthy, U.S., 2015)

·       RAMS (d. Grímur Hákonarson, Iceland, 2015)

·       MOM AND ME (d. Ken Wardrop, Ireland, 2015)

·       VIVA (d. Paddy Breathnach, Ireland, 2015)

·       TAJ MAJAL (d. Nicolas Saada, France-India, 2015)

·       SITI (d. Eddie Cahyono, Indonesia, 2015)

·       HEART OF THE DOG (d. Laurie Anderson, U.S. 2014)

·       45 YEARS (d. Andrew Haigh, England, 2015)

·       SON OF SAUL (d. Lázló Nemes, Hungary, 2015)

·       ONLY THE DEAD (d. Michael Ware, Bill Guttentag, U.S.- Australia, 2015)

·       TAXI (d. Jafar Panahi, Iran, 2015)

·       HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT (d. Kent Jones, U.S., 2015)

·       TIME TO CHOOSE (d. Charles Ferguson, U.S., 2015)

·       MARGUERITE (d. Xavier Giannoli, France, 2015)

·       TIKKUN (d. Avishai Sivan, Israel, 2015)

·       WINTER ON FIRE: UKRAINE’S FIGHT FOR FREEDOM (d. Evgeny Afineevsky, Russia-Ukraine, 2015)

Additional Sneak Previews may play outside the main program and will be announced through the Telluride Film Festival website over the course of the four-day weekend. Visit the TFF website for updates: www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

The 2015 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, go to filmmaker Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) who will present his latest film, STEVE JOBS; documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis (THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES) who will present his latest work, BITTER LAKE; and actress Rooney Mara (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) who will present CAROL. Films will be shown following the on-stage interview and medallion presentation.

“We are thrilled to present such an exhilarating, diverse program for the 42^nd Telluride Film Festival,” said executive director Julie Huntsinger. “This year was an abundance of riches, particularly within the documentary category, and we feel privileged to celebrate these films and their artists with our audience in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.”

Guest Director Rachel Kushner, who serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s program, presents the following revival programs:

·       THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (d. Jean Eustache, France, 1973)

·       MES PETITES AMOUREUSES (d. Jean Eustache, France, 1974)

·       WAKE IN FRIGHT (d. Ted Kotcheff, Australia, 1971)

·       COCKSUCKER BLUES (d. Robert Frank, U.S., 1979)

·        A DAY IN THE COUNTRY (d. Jean Renoir, France, 1936) + UNCLE YANCO (d. Agnès Varda, France, 1967)

·       THE MATTEI AFFAIR (d. Francesco Rosi, Italy, 1972)

Additional film revival programs include DIE NIBELUNGEN (d. Fritz Lang, Germany, 1924) presented by Pordenone Silent Film Festival; L’INHUMAINE (d. Marcel L’Herbier, France, 1924) with the Alloy Orchestra; RETOUR DE FLAMME, a collection of short films curated by Serge Bromberg; and RESTORING NAPOLEON with Georges Mourier who is currently overseeing the six-and-half-hour restoration of the film for Cinémathèque Francaise.

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers, will screen the following nine programs:

·       CINEMA: A PUBLIC AFFAIR (d. Tatiana Brandrup, Russia, 2015)

·       THE CENTURY OF THE SELF (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2002)

·       INGRID BERGMAN – IN HER OWN WORDS (d. Stig Björkman, Sweden, 2015)

·       IN THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT OAKS (d. George Mourier, France, 2005)

·       PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2015)

·       SEMBENE! (d. Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman, U.S.-Senegal, 2015)

·       DREAMING AGAINST THE WORLD (d. Tim Sternberg, Francisco Bello, U.S., 2015) + TYRUS (Pamela Tom, U.S., 2015)