Film

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.

[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.

[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.

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.)

[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.

[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."

[click "Play" to hear Ryan Wilson's interview with Katie Karrow and four of the young people]

 

by Ryan Wilson

Speak Editor's note: If you attended the graduation of Telluride's Class of 2011, you saw the notion of American exceptionalism in action: a group of young people who excelled in the classroom and on the mountain being rewarded for their achievements with scholarships to top colleges. True, we live in a small town, but that does not mean an absence of big opportunities. Telluride teens with aspirations have lots of places to turn for support. The following story by the Wilkinson Public Library's Ryan Wilson illustrates that point.

Ever wonder what teenagers today are thinking?  On Saturday, August 27, 5:15 p.m., Program Room, Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library, a group of 11 Telluride teens open a window into their minds at the premiere of their short documentary film "Speak." 

by Jim Bedford

The-Smurfs-movie-poster-02-550x810 CrazyStupidLove The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride shows movies all year long and screens two films this coming week before the Telluride Film Festival takes over the Nugget and much of the town.

Friday through Tuesday, Aug 26-30, THE SMURFS (PG) are back and blue, very blue. With the talents of Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Katy Perry, George Lopez and Paul Reubens. Serious family fun!

Also Friday through Tuesday, Aug 26-30, CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. (PG13) brings together Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon, in a comedy about relationships.

The Telluride Film Festival takes over the Nugget from August 31 through September 8 so enjoy the SHOW! The Nugget will be back with movies every night again starting Friday, September 9.

See the Nugget website for trailers and reviews, and below for movie times.

by Jim Bedford

Captain-america-retro-movie-poster Jamie+Foxx+Horrible+Bosses The Nugget Theatre in beautiful downtown Telluride shows movies all year long and screens two new films this coming week.

Friday through Thursday, Aug 12-18, in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (PG13), during World War II, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.

Also all week, in HORRIBLE BOSSES (R), three friends (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) conspire to murder their awful bosses (including Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Aniston), something we've all wanted to do sometime. Yes, it's a comedy.

See the Nugget website for trailers and reviews, and below for movie times.