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Show For the second year in a row, a King George dominated the Telluride Film Festival. Last year, it was King George VI, whose life and stutter were immortalized in director Tom Hooper's golden "The King's Speech." This year was all about a second King George, a man who rose from a humble background, the son of a former Army dj, to rule Telluride – at least for the long Labor Day weekend. I am talking of course about actor George Clooney, a tributee at the 38th annual celluloid celebration of the art of filmmaking. (He threatened to wear the metal medallion he received at his tribute through airport security.) Virtually every other superstar in town – and there were plenty – walked in Clooney's shadow.

06 September, 2011 /

The official website of the Telluride Film Festival claims there is no better way to attend the event than as a passholder. Further, it states there is "no hassle" with a pass. True. Sorta kinda.

Here's why. Your pass entitles you to seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Even then, not so much, because passholders are not created equal.

Especially for big buzz movies in the smaller venues (the Sheridan Opera House, the Masons and The Nugget) first-come, first-served means if you are a plain vanilla passholder, your lanyard may not get you in unless you arrive super early, as much as 1 1/2 – 2 hours in advance of the scheduled screening. Even then, remember you are behind sponsors, patrons, students, and Hollywood entourages, who can show up when they wish and jump the queue. When that happens, your treasured numbered Q becomes just another piece of paper to recycle.

02 September, 2011 /

[ click "Play", Gary Meyer discusses TFF 2011 features with Susan Viebrock]

 

GaryMeyer
Co-director Gary Meyer

The people who make the popcorn seem to know what they are doing. Let's give them a hand. Apparently 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 38 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 Gary Meyer and Julie Huntsinger 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.

01 September, 2011 /
click "Play" to hear Gary Meyer talk with Susan about this year's tributees at TFF]

 

The Descendants
"The Descendants"

Every year, since the event got off the ground in 1974, The Telluride Film Festival, known locally as The SHOW, paid tribute to artists whose contributions resonate throughout the medium. Thirty-eight years ago, the first tributees were Gloria Swanson, Francis Ford Coppola, and Leni Riefenstahl.

The list of Telluride Film Festival honored actors swelled over the years to include Jack Nicholson, Gerard Depardieu, Clint Eastwood, Isabelle Huppert, Jodie Foster, Klaus Kinski, Shirley MacLaine, Toni Collette, Daniel Day Lewis, Viggo Mortensen, and part-time local (she met her husband Marc Schauer, her V.I.P host, when she was honored in 2004), Laura Linney.

01 September, 2011 /
[click "Play", Gary Meyer highlights the documentaries for TFF 2011]

 

George Harrison
George Harrison

The sun is shining bright yellow and the sky over Telluride is Colorado blue. But this weekend, people who like watching people making well-lit, larger-than-life spectacles of themselves will burrow in dark theaters. This weekend, September 2 – September 5, is the 38th annual Telluride Film Festival.

And it is not just about the full-length features. Documentaries are given equal prominence. Festival attendees applaud the shorts. (The directors and their appendages screen about 1,000 each year to make their picks.) Audiences also love some of the treasured restorations, often set to music.

01 September, 2011 /
[click "Play", Gary Meyer talks about who's coming to Telluride]

 

"Telluride is the best film festival in the world," Clint Eastwood

Glenn & Mia
"Albert Nobbs"

Once the vow of silence is lifted – now – and the world gets to know what's in store at the 38th annual Telluride Film Festival, Friday, September 2 – Monday, September 5, the fun begins and not just on the silver screen. All around town.

Only the Telluride Film Festival goes to the great expense of importing films and talent from all over the world, because Festival directors – Julie Huntsinger, Tom Luddy and Gary Meyer – believe in the importance of establishing an artistic as well as screen presence. So this weekend, actors, directors, cinematographers, editors, producers as well as critics, distributors and buffs walk side by side on the streets or stand in line blabbing about films. Everyone shows up in Telluride because the event is regarded as a jewel among film festivals, sans hype or hoopla.

01 September, 2011 /

38th_tff_poster_layers "This festival (the Telluride Film Festival) is characterized by its small size and friendly atmosphere. If there were a few key words to describe Telluride, they might include 'intimate' and 'down home,' just as easily as 'monumental' and 'important," Boulder Daily Camera


Even without a pass, the 38th annual Telluride Film Festival, 9/2 – 9/5, has something for almost everyone.

The Telluride Film Festival opens with free films sponsored by Ralph and Ricky Lauren. The five film premieres start Wednesday night, August 31, just after dark  – and a day before the cat is let out of the bag about screenings on the long weekend to come.

(Thursday at noon, when the embargo is lifted, Telluride Inside… and Out releases four different posts about this year's Festival, interviews recorded live with Festival co-director Gary Meyer about the features, the tributes, documentaries, shorts and special programs and who's coming to town.)

29 August, 2011 /

[click "Play" to hear Jesse's interview with James Anaquad-Kleinhert]

 

By Jesse James McTigue

Horses, helicopter It may be impossible to watch Wild Horses and Renegades and not be outraged.

The documentary film calls attention to the politics driving the strategic and systematic extinction of wild horses on public lands; an initiative born through the Bureau of Land Management’s cooperation with the extractive industries to access protected lands for their own purposes – primarily drilling.

The film screens at 7 pm this Wednesday, August 31st, at the Palm Theater. The evening begins with a reception at 6 pm that will include food from local restaurants, art exhibits, a silent auction and a poetry reading by Michael Blake, author of “Dances With Wolves”. The film’s director, producer and cinematographer, James Anaquad–Kleinhert will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions.

29 August, 2011 /
[click "Play", Susan chats with Sarah Rosenberg and Luis Cardenas]

 

Mountainfilm in Telluride and Aspen's Wheeler Opera House announce their third annual joint production: MountainSummit: Mountainfilm in Telluride. The event bookends the Main Event, the annual of gathering of the tribe in Telluride, which happens over Memorial weekend and opens Telluride's summer festival season with a bang: lots of conversations about preserving and protecting endanger people, places and ideas.

MountainSummit takes place Thursday,  August 25 – Sunday, August 28. Among the films to be screened are “Magic Trip,” about the 1960s travels of writer Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, Christopher Paine's “Revenge of the Electric Car,” a follow-up to Paine's 2006 documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”, and “Happy,” a multicultural examination of the universal truths about happiness, produced by Tom Shadyac ("I Am").  The event closer and what a grand finale it is: "Shakespeare High."

24 August, 2011 /