Telluride festival

http://www.larry411.com/2013-telluride-film-festival-lineup#.UiEn3gB4eug.twitter


2013 Telluride Film Festival Lineup (and why Toronto still gets premiere bragging rights)


The Telluride Film Festival takes place in Colorado every Labor Day weekend. That much is certain. What is not certain, however, are the films which will be playing there -- at least not until the screenings are about to begin. This is an oddity in the festival world which has no equal. Attendees truly have no idea what movies they'll be seeing until they've already arrived.

Clearly, anyone who makes a decision whether or not to go to an event based on the lineup is left out in the cold. This is one festival where the tickets must be purchased and travel plans made sight unseen. This always ensures a sold-out event as the films are typically World, North American, or US Premieres of films that are high-profile prospects for Oscar season. Attendees know this and rely on faith every year that their investment will pay off as travel plans are made well ahead of time.

The downside, for those of us attending the Toronto International Film Festival, is that Telluride always take place just prior to TIFF and often books films that are "scheduled" as World, International, or North American Premieres in Toronto. This (one might think) essentially pulls the rug out from under TIFF and spoils their premiere status. On the other hand, Telluride is in reality a "private" VIP-only event which means, as I'll explain below, that it "doesn't count" against TIFF's designations.

The rules are restrictive. Unlike other festivals, individual tickets cannot be purchased in advance -- only just prior to the start of a screening. Only passes are sold ahead of time, and the cost can be prohibitive. The area is also hard to reach so transportation and lodging is at a premium. The nature of the festival and expense involved tends to restrict its attendance to industry insiders. More importantly, the films aren't announced until the day before the festival begins, long after most attendees have purchased their passes and arrived onsite. In other words, these can be considered invitation-only secret screenings not open to the general public. This arrangement usually does not allow Telluride to steal premiere status for these films so Toronto still gets to make those claims. It's a complicated formula but those are the de facto rules.

"This year’s 40th anniversary is a celebration of what Telluride Film Festival has accomplished over the past four decades, as well as what we are doing now and forty years from now," said Telluride Film Festival Executive Director Julie Huntsinger. "We are committed to presenting groundbreaking films with the world’s most preeminent talent in technologically advanced, state-of the art facilities including the brand new Werner Herzog Theatre. We look forward to continuing to explore the future in cinema through current masters of the art form and breakthrough talents."

The 40th edition begins tomorrow and runs for five days, August 29-September 2. The complete program guide (PDF) is now available. Here is the list of narrative features and documentaries in Telluride's main program, "The Show," along with the Guest Director Program selections and the Backlot lineup of behind-the-scenes entertainment profiles:

THE SHOW

• ALL IS LOST (d. J.C. Chandor, U.S., 2013)
• BEFORE THE WINTER CHILL (d. Philippe Claudel, France, 2013)
• BETHLEHEM (d. Yuval Adler, Israel, 2013)
• BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (d. Abdellatif Kechiche, France, 2013)
• BURNING BUSH (d. Agnieszka Holland, Czech Republic, 2013)
• DEATH ROW: BLAINE MILAM + ROBERT FRATTA (d. Werner Herzog, U.S., 2013)
• FIFI HOWLS FROM HAPPINESS (d. Mitra Farahani, U.S., 2013)
• THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN CAME TO EDEN (d. Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine, U.S., 2013)
• GLORIA (d. Sebastián Lelio, Chile, 2013)
• GRAVITY (d. Alfonso Cuarón, U.S./U.K., 2013)
• IDA (d. Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland, 2013)
• INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (d. Joel and Ethan Coen, U.S., 2013)
• THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (d. Ralph Fiennes, U.K., 2013)
• LABOR DAY (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2013)
• THE LUNCHBOX (d. Ritesh Batra, India, 2013)
• LA MAISON DE LA RADIO (d. Nicolas Philibert, France, 2013)
• MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2013)
• THE MISSING PICTURE (d. Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France, 2013)
• NEBRASKA (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2013)
• PALO ALTO (d. Gia Coppola, U.S., 2013)
• THE PAST (d. Asghar Farhadi, France/Italy, 2013)
• SLOW FOOD STORY (d. Stefano Sardo, Italy, 2013)
• STARRED UP (d. David Mackenzie, U.K., 2013)
• TIM’S VERMEER (d. Teller, U.S., 2013)
• TRACKS (d. John Curran, Australia, 2013)
• UNDER THE SKIN (d. Jonathan Glazer, U.K., 2013)
• THE UNKNOWN KNOWN (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2013)

GUEST DIRECTOR PROGRAM -- presented by six past Guest Directors, in honor of the festival's 40th year

Novelist Don Delillo (TFF 2006) presents LA MORTE ROUGE (d. Victor Erice, Spain, 2006) and analyzes the 26-second ZAPRUDER film; screenwriter, director Buck Henry (TFF 2005) presents the “director’s cut” of THE TERMINAL MAN (d. Mike Hodge, U.S., 1972); writer Phillip Lopate (TFF 1995) presents NAKED CHILDHOOD (d. Maurice Pialat, France, 1969) with Pialat’s short, LOVE EXISTS (France, 1960); novelist Michael Ondaatje (TFF 2010) presents short films LA JETÉE (d. Chris Marker, France, 1962) and ELEPHANT (d. Alan Clarke, U.K., 1989); film scholar, curator and author B. Ruby Rich (TFF 1996) presents ONE WAY OR ANOTHER (d. Sara Gómez, Cuba, 1974); writer Salman Rushdie (TFF 2004) presents MAHANAGAR (d. Satyajit Ray, India, 1963).

BACKLOT PROGRAM -- behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians, and filmmakers

• DIOR AND I (d. Frédéric Tcheng, U.S., 2013)
• HERE BE DRAGONS (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2013)
• JODOROWSKY’S DUNE (d. Frank Pavich, U.S./France, 2013)
• LOCATIONS: LOOKING FOR RUSTY JAMES (d. Alberto Fuguet, Chile, 2013) select screening will be followed by Francis Ford Coppola’s RUMBLE FISH (U.S., 1983)
• NATAN (d. David Cairns, Paul Duane, Ireland, 2013)
• MILIUS (d. Zak Knutson, Joey Figueroa, U.S., 2013)
• MULTIPLE VISIONS, THE CRAZY MACHINE (d. Emilio Maille, Mexico, 2012)
• MUSIDORA, THE TENTH MUSE (d. Patrick Cazals, France, 2013)
• PARTICLE FEVER (d. Mark Levinson, U.S., 2013)
• REMEMBRANCE – A SMALL MOVIE ABOUT OUUL IN THE 1950s (d. Peter Von Bagh, Finland, 2013)
• ROAD MOVIE: A PORTRAIT OF JOHN ADAMS (d. Mark Kidel, U.K., 2013)
• A STORY OF CHILDREN AND FILM (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2013)

Additional sneak previews of major new works will be announced throughout the festival. Numerous tribute programs, conversations, panels, and education programs also make up the festival's exciting calendar. All events are available in the official program guide (PDF).