41st Annual Telluride Film Festival Announces Program Line-Up

28 Aug 41st Annual Telluride Film Festival Announces Program Line-Up

41st edition plays host to 25 new feature films in its main program. Tribute programs honoring Volker Schlöndorff, Hilary Swank and the 35^th Anniversary of “Apocalypse Now.”

The people who make the popcorn seem to know what they are doing. Let’s give them a hand. And so do the people who put together the Telluride Film Festival.

Let’s find out more.

The Telluride Film Festival built its acclaim as buzzmeister extraordinaire over 41 years by celebrating the art, not the business, of filmmaking. From the get-go, Festival founders and directors emeriti Bill and Stella Pence and current director Tom Luddy, also co-founder, plus Julie Huntsinger and Gary Meyer, now Senior Curator, became renowned for turning their backs on The Industry, Hollywood shorthand for special effects, mind-numbing plots, testosterone-fueled blood and gore fests, blockbusters, crowd-pleasing franchises, bad guesses, and good luck. Telluride, on the other hand, puts the spotlight on intelligent storytelling and superior filmmaking to create a rich stew that is a seductive mix of past and present, foreign and domestic, obscure and accessible, dark and light, long and short, features and documentaries.

Let the record speak for itself. Here’s a short list of Oscar winners launched in Telluride: from 2010 alone, “The King’s Speech,” “Black Swan” and “Inside Job.” In other years: “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Last King of Scotland,” “Capote,” “Walk the Line,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Crying Game.,” “Argo” and “12 Years A Slave.”

The 2014 Telluride Film Festival should be no different from the 40 film celebrations that came before, which is to say very different from all other film events (except perhaps Pordenonne). Forty-one years ago, there was no Montreal or Sundance. And today, Telluride remains the sole festival in the world to acknowledge the past as the basic grammar upon which the language of present and future movie expression is based.

Still from “Birdman”

Only Telluride goes to the great expense of importing film and talent from places near and far because the Festival directors believe an artistic as well as a screen presence is an important point of differentiation.

Among the world’s film festivals – and there are about 1,700 similar events – “The SHOW” is in a league of its own: bulletproof.

And notoriously close-mouthed.

Still from “Rosewater”

In Telluride, the full list of films, filmmakers and tributes are not released until the first day of the long Labor Day weekend gathering. Except, well, in these days of social media, rumors happen in real time and go viral. And there have been lots of rumors, many based on the fall out from Toronto’s demand filmmakers choose between their festival and Telluride.

But here’s where the noise dies down, replaced by the truth and nothing but.

Today, right now in fact, the cat is out of the bag.

Feel the charge? Hear the buzz? The excitement is primal, palpable. Over the long Labor Day weekend, voyeurism is not kinky or a crime. It is de rigueur, a way of life.

When the curtain goes up on the 41st annual Telluride Film Festival, we the people who like to watch, get to burrow into large theaters and observe other people making well-lit, larger-than-life spectacles of themselves.

Below are the director’s picks for films, tributes and special programs for the 41st annual gathering of the men and women in black (mostly).

“Wild,” with Reese Witherspoon, is premiering at the Telluride Film Festival. Credit: Anne Marie Fox/Fox Searchlight Pictures

From TFF’s Shannon Mitchell:

The Telluride Film Festival, presented by the National Film Preserve, today announced its official program selections for the 41st edition of Telluride Film Festival.

TFF’s annual celebration of artistic excellence brings together cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers and artists to discover the best in world cinema in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. TFF will screen 85 feature films, short films and revivals representing 28 countries, along with special artist Tributes, Conversations, Panels, Education Programs and Festivities.

Telluride Film Festival takes place Friday, August 29 – Monday, September 1, 2014.

41st Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following 25 new feature films to play in its main program:

• THE 50 YEAR ARGUMENT (d. Martin Scorsese, David Tedeschi, U.K.-U.S., 2014)
• ’71 (d. Yann Demange, U.K., 2014)
• 99 HOMES (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2014)
• BIRDMAN (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu, U.S., 2014)
• DANCING ARABS (d. Eran Riklis, Israel-Germany-France, 2014)
• THE DECENT ONE (d. Vanessa Lapa, Australia-Israel-Germany, 2014)
• DIPLOMACY (d. Volker Schlöndorff, France-Germany, 2014)
• FOXCATCHER (d. Bennett Miller, U.S., 2014)
• THE GATE (d. Régis Wargnier, France-Belgium-Cambodia, 2014)
• THE HOMESMAN (d. Tommy Lee Jones, U.S., 2014)
• THE IMITATION GAME (d. Morten Tyldum, U.K.-U.S., 2014)
• LEVIATHAN (d. Andrey Zvgagintsev, Russia, 2014)
• THE LOOK OF SILENCE (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark-Indonesia-Norway-Finalnd-U.S., 2014)
• MADAME BOVARY (d. Sophie Barthes, U.K.-Belgium, 2014)
• MERCHANTS OF DOUBT (d. Robert Kenner, U.S., 2014)
• MOMMY (d. Xavier Dolan, Canada, 2014)
• MR. TURNER (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2014)
• THE PRICE OF FAME (d. Xavier Beauvois, France, 2014)
• RED ARMY (d. Gabe Polsky, U.S.-Russia, 2014)
• ROSEWATER (d. Jon Stewart, U.S., 2014)
• THE SALT OF THE EARTH (d. Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Brazil-Italy-France, 2014)
• TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER (d. Nick Broomfield, U.K.-U.S, 2014)
• TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (d. Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium-Italy-France, 2014)
• WILD (d. Jean-Marc Valleé, U.S., 2014)
• WILD TALES (d. Damián Szifrón, Argentina-Spain, 2014)

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

The 2014 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, go to German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff who will present his latest work DIPLOMACY as part of the Tribute program, his 1992 collaboration with Billy Wilder, BILLY, HOW DID YOU DO IT? and his 1970 film BAAL starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder, both of which will play elsewhere in the program; Two-time Academy award-winning actress Hilary Swank (BOYS DON’T CRY, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) who stars in TFF selection, THE HOMESMAN; and in celebration of its 35^th Anniversary, Francis Ford Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW – screened from a new DCP of the original theatrical cut – including guests Coppola, screenwriter John Milius, producer-casting director Fred Roos, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and editor-sound designer Walter Murch.

Guest Directors Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan, who serve as key collaborators in the Festival’s program, present the following six films:

• CALIFORNIA SPLIT (d. Robert Altman, U.S., 1974)
• IL GRIDO (d. Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1957)
• M (d. Joseph Losey, U.S., 1951)
• A MAN’S CASTLE (d. Frank Borzage, U.S., 1933)
• THE ROAD TO GLORY (d. Howard Hawks, U.S., 1936)
• WICKED WOMAN (d. Russell Rouse, U.S., 1953)

Additional film revivals include CHILDREN OF NO IMPORTANCE (d. Gerhard Lamprecht, Germany, 1926) and TOO MUCH JOHNSON (d. Orson Welles, U.S., 1938) both presented by the Pordenone Silent Film Festival with live accompaniment by Donald Sosin; a collection of short films by Carroll Ballard forming the program, CARROLL BALLARD: SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY; and WHERE EAGLES DARE (d. Brian G. Hutton, U.S., 1968) from a print courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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

• BERTOLUCCI ON BERTOLUCCI (d. Walter Fasano, Luca Guadagnino, Italy, 2013)
• FORBIDDEN FILMS (d. Felix Moeller, Germany, 2014)
• HOW TO SMELL A ROSE (d. Les Blank, Gina Leibrecht, U.S.-France, 2014)
• I STOP TIME (d. Gunilla Bresky, Sweden-Russia, 2014)
• KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON (d. Alan Hicks, U.S., 2014)
• MAGICIAN (d. Chuck Workman, U.S., 2014)
• NIGHT WILL FALL (d. André Singer, U.K.-U.S.-Israel, 2014)
• SEYMOUR (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2014)
• SOCIALISM (d. Peter von Bagh, Finland, 2014)

“When we finish putting together the program there is a moment of absolute joy,” said Telluride Film Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “We never know what the film world will bring us when we set out each year, but with incredible gratitude to the filmmakers and artists and satisfaction in knowing we have screened everything imaginable, we are once again thrilled to present the absolute best in new American and world cinema and treasured films from the past. We hope our audience will be as inspired as we are. “ 

Telluride Film Festival annually celebrates heroes of cinema who preserve, honor and present great movies. The 2014 Special Medallion award goes to Cineteca di Bologna and Gian Luca Farinelli for the significant role played in film restoration and preservation of film culture. JOYFUL LAUGHTER, Mario Monicelli’s masterpiece from 1960 is a recent example of Bologna’s restorative work and will screen as part of the program.

Telluride Film Festival’s SHOWcase for Shorts features fourteen short films chosen to precede select feature films; Filmmakers of Tomorrow includes three programs: Student Prints, Great Expectations, and Calling Cards from eighteen emerging filmmakers.

Telluride Film Festival’s Education Programs present students the opportunity to experience film as an art and expand participants’ worldview through film screenings and filmmaker discussions. The Student Symposium provides 54 graduate and undergraduate college students a weekend-long immersion in cinema. The City Lights Project, now in its 15th year, brings 21 high school students and seven teachers from four divergent schools the opportunity to participate in a concentrated program of screenings and discussions. FilmLAB offers a master-class program for UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television graduate filmmaking students. The Roger Ebert/TFF University Seminars give university professors and students the opportunity to travel to the Festival each year to participate in special programming and to attend screenings throughout the weekend.

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. Six Conversations take place between Festival guests and the audience about cinema and culture, and three outdoor Noon Seminars feature a panel of Festival guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public.

Various Festivities will take place throughout the Festival including Book Signings with Cheryl Strayed (Wild), Maziar Bahari (Then They Came for Me), Sayed Kashua (Dancing Arabs), Werner Herzog (A Guide for the Perplexed), and Ted Hope (Hope for Film); Quincy Jones presents: Justin Kauflin in Concert, music from KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON; and Behind the Scenes: Feast and Lava where makers of Disney’s FEAST and Pixar’s LAVA share their inspiration behind and creation of two memorable animation films.

Corporate support at Telluride Film Festival plays an essential role in the life of the Festival and underscores the Festival’s commitment to quality, adventure and distinction in the art of cinema. TFF is privileged to collaborate with some of the world’s most renowned consumer and entertainment brands, including Turner Classic Movies, EY, Audible.com, Film Finances, Inc., Meyer Sound, Bombardier Business Aircraft,  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Universal Studios; and excited to welcome new partners Blu Homes, Peter G. Dodge Foundation, Vimeo, Speck– each of which are aligned with a unique feature of the festival. Equally, Telluride Film Festival is extremely proud of its committed relationships with UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Americas Film Conservancy, London Hotels: NYC & West Hollywood, Dolby, Teatulia, Telluride Alpine Lodging, New Sheridan Hotel, The Hollywood Reporter, Cinedigm, Boston Light and Sound, Land Rover North America, Canon, Dell, Novo Coffee and Time Warner Cable Business Class.

Huntsinger comments, “We simply could not present Telluride Film Festival without the generous support of our sponsors, who believe in what we do and back us meaningfully and repeatedly.”

The 41st Telluride Film Festival’s program will be posted in its entirety on Thursday, August 28, 2014. Visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org to download the Program Guide.

Film stills and Festival images available upon request. Email shannon@telluridefilmfestival.org for more information.

About Telluride Film Festival:

The prestigious Telluride Film Festival ranks among the world’s best film festivals and is an annual gathering for film industry insiders, cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers and critics. TFF is considered a major launching ground for the fall season’s most talked-about films. Founded in 1974, Telluride Film Festival, presented in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado, is a four-day international educational event celebrating the art of film. Telluride Film Festival’s long-standing commitment is to join filmmakers and film connoisseurs together to experience great cinema. The exciting schedule, kept secret until Opening Day, consists of over two dozen filmmakers presenting their newest works, special Guest Director programs, three major Tributes to guest artists, special events and remarkable treasures from the past. Telluride Film Festival is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit educational program. Festival headquarters are in Berkeley, CA.

About the Sponsors:

Telluride Film Festival is supported by Turner Classic Movies, EY, Audible.com, Peter G. Dodge Foundation, Film Finances, Inc., Blu Homes, Meyer Sound, Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, Bombardier Business Aircraft, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Universal Studios, Telluride Foundation, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Américas Film Conservancy, The London Hotels: NYC & West Hollywood, Dolby, Teatulia Organic Teas, Vimeo, Speck, Shopkeep POS, Telluride Alpine Lodging, New Sheridan Hotel, The Hollywood Reporter, Cinedigm, Boston Light and Sound, among others.