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IMG_5308 Despite its relatively small crowd size –  about 3,000 attendees versus, say,10,000 for events such as Telluride Bluegrass -  Telluride Film Festival, September 3 – September 6, brings in more sales tax revenue to both Telluride and the Mountain Village than any other single event. And it does so with minimal environmental impact.

Equally important, the Telluride Film Festival has developed a worldwide reputation as to go-to spot for the unhyped celebration of the art of filmmaking. Telluride's reputation as the place to be results in hundreds of articles across the country and beyond each year, which reinforces the brand like no other festival can.

Finally, the Telluride Film Festival itself pumps well over $1 million into the local economy in staff salaries, lodging, food and other expenses. It is an economic engine without parallel. Neither the Festival nor the greater community would be the same without the other.
31 August, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with GM Ray Farnsworth]

Parlor This week, Telluride is positively a-glitter with gems, on screen and off.

Critics often describe Telluride Film Festival, this long Labor Day weekend, September 3 – September 6, as a "gem," even a "crown jewel" among the roughly 1,700 similar events around the world.

There are real gems at local galleries too: The Telluride Gallery of Fine Art (Hollywood fav Lori Rodkin for one), Lustre (Gurhan) and Dolce (Pamela Froman and Katey Brunini, also Tinseltown queens).

The historic New Sheridan Hotel is another sparkler. The Grande Dame of the town –  the heart and soul of the social scene 118 years ago, back in the days Telluride's streets were paved with gold –  was restored to her Victorian splendor by world-famous interior designer Nina Campbell a little over a year ago. And this year, once again, the New Sheridan is the place to be and be seen over the Telluride Film Festival weekend.
30 August, 2010 /
[for Kate Sibley's conversation with Susan, click "Play"]

IMG_6722 The Telluride Film Festival is renowned as much for what it is not as what it is.

The Telluride Film Festival is not about prizes or juries or press screenings or booty or paparazzi or yachts or swag. No one wins, so everyone wins.

The Telluride Film Festival is a celebration of the art of filmmaking, not the Industry. It is also the great equalizer: everyone talks to everyone on the streets and in the lines. And it is about location: Telluride has to be one of the greatest sets in the world. The Telluride Film Festival's education initiatives also put it at the head of class among the roughly 2,000 film festivals around the globe.
30 August, 2010 /
[click "Play", Susan speaks to "Auntie Graffiti" (Jane Goren)]

Janegorencardhoriz-3 Think of Auntie Graffiti as Telluride's answer to Auntie Mame: madcap, irreverent, fun-loving, funny, and free-spirited. Her thing is traveling the world painting portraits on paper toilet seat covers, though, like Mame, she is a scandalizer, not a vandalizer.

Part-time Telluride local Auntie Graffiti has presented her bathroom art at renegade exhibitions in the toilets and WCs of renowned museums and galleries around the world. Now she returns to town with her offbeat body of work.

Sapsucker Studios, 299 South Spruce, opens the first exhibit of works by Auntie Graffiti September 2, 5 - 8 p.m., in conjunction with the Telluride Council for the Arts & Humanities' First Thursday Art Walk, a walkabout to show off Telluride's art scene, when local galleries, studios and retail shops stay open late until 8 p.m.
30 August, 2010 /

Sidebar_poster 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 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.
29 August, 2010 /

IMG_5313 "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.'" (Elise Berlin, Boulder Daily Camera)

Even without a pass, the 37th annual Telluride Film Festival, 9/3 – 9/6, has something for almost everyone.

IMG_5328 The Telluride Film Festival opens with free films sponsored by Ralph and Ricky Lauren. The four film premieres, one each night starting Wednesday, September 1, just after dark, (and a day before the cat is let out of the bag with the official announcement about screenings on the long weekend to come), takes place in the Open Air Cinema or Elks Park, just across the street from the Courthouse. (Telluride Inside... and Out will be posting details about those films on or around September 1.)

28 August, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Susan's interview with Gary Lincoff]

2010HarvestAug14Hollinbeck The Telluride Mushroom Festival, Thursday, August 26  – Sunday, August 29, bills itself as the nation's "oldest mycological conference exploring all things fungal." Which is saying a tasty mouthful since fungi have been around for a very long time. A lot longer than people, perhaps 500 million years. (The earliest known picture of a mushroom was found on a wall painting in the ruins of Pompeii.)

Fungi used to be classified as part of the plant kingdom. They become a kingdom of their own because fungi differ in biochemistry and structure from plants and cannot synthesize their own food. The mushrooms people collect are just the fruiting bodies of mycelium, a sentient cobweb-like web of cells. These "fruits" are created in order to manufacture spores for reproduction. Because so much shroom activity occurs underground in the fungal version of the world wide web, mushrooms themselves appear to pop up quite suddenly over night.
25 August, 2010 /