The national party conventions may be over, but Hollywood's version of the “race” is just beginning with the start of the fall festival season, and this year's Telluride has plenty to offer both politicians and cinephiles.
The 51st annual festival kicks off Friday in Colorado with a series of world premieres, including an abortion film produced by Hillary Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence that is for sale. Zurawski vs. Texasa comedy directed by Jason Reitman about Saturday Night Live — Sony Saturday night – and an adaptation of a play by August Wilson about intergenerational trauma directed by Malcolm Washington, the son of Denzel (Netflix' The piano lesson).
A year after the Screen Actors Guild strike robbed the festival of much of its star-studded lineup, Telluride is expected to be packed with A-list celebrities again, including Angelina Jolie, who will attend the North American premiere of Pablo Larrain’s Maryfreshly acquired by Netflix in Venice; Selena Gomez, who was there on behalf of Jacques Audiard's Cannes-winning crime musical, Netflix' Emilia Perez; and Pharrell Williams with his Morgan Neville-directed docu-biopic about Legos, Focus Features' Piece by piece.
In addition to Zurakwsi vs. Texasfor which Clinton will be in the Rocky Mountains, there will be a number of other political documents, including Carville: Winning is everything, foolMatt Tyrnauer's portrait of the democratic political activist; Petra Costas Apocalypse in the tropicsabout the takeover of Brazilian politics by the evangelicals; and The White House EffectBonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, Pedro Kos' thriller about climate politics, all top sellers that could appeal to an audience excited about this year's presidential election – if bought in time.
“Even if these films don't come out in time for the election, I want everyone to leave here saying, 'My God, I was so moved by this,'” says Telluride director Julie Huntsinger of the political titles. “I want people to be more hopeful, more enlightened and more determined about our ability to make a difference in the world.”
Some of the game titles shown for the first time also have a current relevance, including Conclave, the film about papal politics with Edward Berger in the leading role (Focus Features) and 5 Septemberan acquisition title in which Tim Fehlbaum recreates the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics from the perspective of the ABC-TV sports journalism team that covered it.
Other important premieres are Nickel BoysRaMell Ross' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about boys in a Jim Crow reformatory in Florida (Amazon MGM); The frienda drama about a woman (Naomi Watts) who inherits a Great Dane from her old mentor (Bill Murray), directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel; The endan apocalypse musical directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and starring Tilda Swinton (Neon); and Embeth Davidtz's adaptation of Alexandra Fuller's bestselling 2001 memoir Let's not go to the dogs tonight.
This year's festival also offers space for television and shows all episodes of Alfonso Cuarón's Disclaimeran upcoming psychological thriller series on AppleTV+ starring Cate Blanchett and Lauren Greenfields Social SciencesFX docuseries that follows a group of Los Angeles teenagers as they grow up online.
As every year, the festival will host three tributes in honour of Saoirse Ronan, alongside a screening of Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun (Sony Pictures Classics), which premiered at Sundance; Jacques Audiard, with Amelia Perez; and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, known for her work with Martin Scorsese.
Festivalgoers will see some familiar and unexpected faces on the streets of Telluride, including Martha Stewart, the subject of RJ Cutler’s documentary, Marthaand British pop star Robbie Williams, subject and star of Michael Gracey’s biopic Better man (Of utmost importance).
Other films that caused a sensation at Cannes will also be represented, including Sean Baker's Palme d'Or winner Anora (Neon), Mohammad Rasoulof's The seed of the holy fig (Neon) and Andrea Arnolds Birdwith Barry Keoghan (Mubi).
Guest director Kenneth Lonergan has put a number of older films on the program, including Barry Lyndon And Doctor Zhivago.
