Continuing a trend among film festivals this year, the 53rd Telluride Film Festival, which kicks off Friday and runs through Labor Day, will apparently not be featuring any big major studio releases, and instead is revealing a heavily stacked indie lineup of World Premieres, North American debuts, and at least eight films first seen on the Croisette in May. The closest we are getting to studio output this year will be one movie each from Telluride regulars Focus Features and Searchlight, the specialty divisions respectively of Universal and Disney which will be on hand to launch domestic awards season campaigns for their hopefuls.
Making its World Premiere in the Rockies will be Focus’ anticipated Elsinore starring Andrew Scott playing Scottish actor Ian Charleson facing the fight of his life against AIDS as he prepares to play Hamlet at the National Theatre in London. Olivia Colman co-stars.
Searchlight’s big Oscar hope Wild Horse Nine starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, will jet straight from today’s Venice World Premiere to Colorado for the North American unveiling of writer/director Martin McDonagh’s (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Banshees Of Inisherin) latest, a film expected to put Malkovich right in the heart of the Oscar Best Actor race. He will have competition from John Turturro delivering a career performance in Sundance debut, The Only Living Pickpocket In New York from another studio specialty division, and longtime Telluride regular, Sony Pictures Classics which is bringing the film to this festival as well before launching an Oscar campaign.
World Premieres also include Jesse Eisenberg’s latest filmmaking achievement, The Debut from A24 and starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti; Mike Leigh’s latest – and possibly – final film, Tender Loving Care; Andrew Haigh’s A Long Winter (Haigh also will be honored at the festival); Oscar winner Guy Nattiv’s thriller, The Liberation with Carrie Coon; Tenzing, the mountain climbing story of Edmund Hillary who became the first person to reach the peak of Mt. Everest; Alpha Gang with a starry cast including Chris Pine, Cate Blanchett, and Lea Seydoux; and the story behind the writing of Russian literary giant Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot starring Johnny Flynn and Aimee Lou Wood.
In addition to Wild Horse Nine, other movies due into Telluride straight from their Venice premieres are Danny Boyle’s terrific Ink; Telluride regular Werner Herzog (who has his own theater at the festival named for him) with his Bucking Fastard with Kate and Rooney Mara playing sisters who talk in unison (!); plus a number of documentaries including Burgundy; Everest: The Other Side; My Undesirable Friends Part II; and Sumo.
Telluride also always is a first stop for the North American premieres of several Cannes Festival debuts and that is no different this year with a lineup from the South Of France including Club Kid; La Bola Negra; Palme d’Or winner Fjord; Minotaur; Gentle Monster; The Unknown ( the latter two both starring Lea Seydoux); The Man I Love; and Fatherland which is one of two black and white films starring Sandra Huller, the other being Berlin premiere Rose which won her the Best Leading Performance Silver Bear. Huller will also be on hand to receive a top honor from Telluride this year.
The festival will, as always, be presenting a long list of documentaries including such Cannes premieres as Ron Howard’s Avedon; Rehearsal For A Revolution; and the very fine Maverick: The Epic Adventures Of David Lean; as well as Sundance premieres Once Upon A Time In Harlem; and the Wu-Tung Clan film, The Disciple. Docu World Premieres include Nat Geo’s Carl Sagan: We Are Made Of Star Stuff; Zero Intention Of Living Quietly; the Jane Campion-produced The Natural State; Frank Marshall and Nigel Sinclair’s Pete Townshend: Behind Blue Eyes; and the story of the National Theatre, Into The Breach which counts Kenneth Branagh as a producer and host of an extraordinary British roundtable including Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman and Judi Dench, among others.
In addition to the above, the festival is promising a tba title that won’t be announced in advance. Don’t get your hopes up. It isn’t Digger or Dune 3. Like other major studios, Warner Bros. has recently discovered a festival debut isn’t a requirement for Oscar success after winning 30 nominations earlier this year between Sinners, One Battle After Another, and Weapons with 11 wins for the trio which all skipped the fest circuit.
I will be on the ground covering reviews and developments all weekend. Here is the full Telluride lineup:
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