The 44th Telluride Film Festival announced its main program Thursday morning and it includes a number of highly anticipated premieres as well as the always sought after second screenings of a few Venice Film Festival showcases.
This year’s lineup includes:
ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER (d. Rebecca Miller, U.S., 2017)
BATTLE OF THE SEXES (d. Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, U.S., 2017)
DARKEST HOUR (d. Joe Wright, U.K., 2017)
DOWNSIZING (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2017)
EATING ANIMALS (d. Christopher Quinn, U.S., 2017)
FACES PLACES (d. Agnes Varda, JR, France, 2017)
A FANTASTIC WOMAN (d. Sebastián Lelio, Chile-U.S.-Germany-Spain, 2017)
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (d. Paul McGuigan, U.K., 2017)
FIRST REFORMED (d. Paul Schrader, U.S., 2017)
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER (d. Angelina Jolie, U.S.-Cambodia, 2017)
FOXTROT (d. Samuel Maoz, Israel, 2017)
HOSTAGES (d. Rezo Gigineishvili, Georgia-Russia-Poland, 2017)
HOSTILES (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2017)
HUMAN FLOW (d. Ai Weiwei, U.S.-Germany, 2017)
THE INSULT (d. Ziad Doueiri, France-Lebanon, 2017)
LADY BIRD (d. Greta Gerwig, U.S., 2017)
LAND OF THE FREE (d. Camilla Magid, Denmark-Finland, 2017)
LEAN ON PETE (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K.-U.S., 2017)
LOVELESS (d. Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia-France-Belgium-Germany, 2017)
LOVE, CECIL (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2017)
LOVING VINCENT (d. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, U.K.-Poland, 2017)
A MAN OF INTEGRITY (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2017)
THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2017)
THE RIDER (d. Chloé Zhao, U.S., 2017)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (d. Guillermo del Toro, U.S., 2017)
TESNOTA (d. Kantemir Balagov, Russia, 2017)
THE VENERABLE W. (d. Barbet Schroeder, France-Switzerland, 2017)
THE VIETNAM WAR (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2017)
WORMWOOD (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2017)
WONDERSTRUCK (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2017)
Telluride prides itself on its “festival family” atmosphere and returning actors include Emma Stone, Ethan Hawke, Saoirse Ronan, Matt Damon and Steve Carell. Filmmakers returning with new works include Todd Haynes, Ken Burns, Errol Morris, Andrew Haigh, Alexander Payne, Greta Gerwig (previously as a screenwriter), Scott Cooper and Joe Wright.
Two documentary shorts, “Heroin(e)” (d. Elaine McMillion Sheldon, U.S., 2017) and “Long Shot” (d. Jacob LaMendola, U.S., 2017) will also play together in the main program.
READ MORE: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape Of Water’ Is Sweet, Scary Movie Magic [Venice Review]
The 2017 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, will be presented to Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale (“Hostiles”), and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Ed Lachman (“Wonderstruck”). A mainstay at the festival since 1974, previous Medallion winners include Tilda Swinton, Kate Mara, Meryl Streep, David Fincher, George Clooney, Danny Boyle, Ang Lee, Catherine Deneuve, Pedro Almodovar and Gloria Swanson, among others.
The festival’s revival program is presented by guest director Joshua Oppenheimer and includes:
EVEN DWARFS STARTED SMALL (d. Werner Herzog, West Germany, 1970)
HOTEL OF THE STARS (d. Jon Bang Carlsen, Denmark, 1981)
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (d. Charles Laughton, U.S., 1955)
SALAM CINEMA (d. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran, 1995)
TITICUT FOLLIES (d. Frederick Wiseman, U.S., 1967)
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (d. Jacques Demy, France, 1964)
Additional film revival screenings of newly restored films include include “The Baker’s Wife” (d. Marcel Pagnol, France, 1938); “The Cotton Club Encore” (d. Francis Ford Coppola, U.S., 1984/2017); “Kean, Or Disorder or Genius” (d. Aleksandr Volkoff, France, 1924), with the Mont Alto Orchestra; and
“Such is Life” (d. Carl Junghan, Czechoslovakia, 1929).
Telluride Film Festival annually celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents great movies. This year’s Special Medallion award goes to Katriel Schory, director of the Israeli Film Fund.
Telluride uses its Backlot theater for behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers (last year’s selection included the Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds doc “Bright Lights.”). This year’s selection includes:
CINEMA THROUGH THE EYE OF MAGNUM (d. Sophie Bassaler, France, 2017)
FILMWORKER (d. Tony Zierra, U.S., 2017)
HITLER’S HOLLYWOOD (d. Rüdiger Suchsland, Germany, 2017)
JAMAICA MAN (d. Michael Weatherly, U.S., 2017)
PORTRAIT OF VALESKA GERT (d. Volker Schlöndorff, Germany, 1977) + EDGE OF ALCHEMY (d. Stacey Steers, U.S., 2017)
SLIM GAILLARD’S CIVILISATION (d. Anthony Wall, U.K., 1989)
THAT SUMMER (d. Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden-U.S.-Denmark, 2017)
Along with six curated conversations with the Festival’s special guests other events include a Poster Signing with 2017 poster artist Lance Rutter; Book Signings with Loung Ung (“First They Killed My Father”), Peter Turner (“Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”), Alice Waters (“Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook”), and Willie Vlautin (“Lean on Pete”).
Additionally, there will be a special outdoor screening of Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk’s “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” with Al Gore in attendance.
It’s worth noting that eight of the last nine Best Picture winners screened at Telluride. Last year’s winner, “Moonlight,” made its world premiere in the mountains.
The 2017 Telluride Film Festival runs from Friday, September 1 through Monday, September 4. Look for complete coverage including reviews and more on The Playlist all weekend long.
So which films are the “highly anticipated premieres”?