Telluride Film Festival Announces 2010 Line-Up

One of the many things that makes the Telluride Film Festival more interesting than most other film festivals is that it doesn't announce the line-up until 24 hours before the film festival begins. And even then the festival usually packs a few unannounced surprise premieres. This year's line-up is kind of a let down. A large portion of the 24 feature films were selected from this year's Cannes Film Festival, which was filled with disappointment. The Cannes selections include Mike Leigh's Another Year, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Biutiful (which I did like quite a bit), Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods and Men, Charles Ferguson's documentary Inside Job,  Stephen Frears' Tamara Drewe and the 11-language six-hour biopic of legendary terrorist Carlos.

The high profile premieres of the fest seem to be Peter Weir's war drama The Way Back, and Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go, which I'm very excited about. The documentary titles seem to be more impressive than the features — aside from the previously mentioned Inside Job, the doc line-up includes Errol Morris' Tabloid,, Martin Scorsese's A Letter to Elia, Werner Herzog's Happy People: A Year in the Taiga and Ken Burns' The Tenth Inning, a four-hour "sequel" to the 1994 PBS series Baseball.

But everyone is talking about the films not included on the schedule. Danny Boyle's 127 Hours and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan were both rumored to be at the festival, but weren't part of the announced line-up. They could, of course, be screened as some of the surprise selections at this year's fest. We do know that Danny Boyle is scheduled to be in town to present a screening of his family film Millions. Could this just be a bait-and-switch for 127 Hours? It's very possible. Filmmakers like Sofia Coppola and David Fincher who have premiered movies/footage in previous years are not included in the line-up, despite having applicable films to promote (Somewhere and The Social Network).

I will be in Telluride for the festival, so check back Friday-Monday to see my video blogs and reviews. See the full line-up after the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 2, 2010

37th TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2010 FESTIVAL LINEUP

Twenty-four new feature films to preview in Festival's main program, the 'SHOW'

Claudia Cardinale, Colin Firth and Peter Weir

to receive Silver Medallion Awards

Special revival programs selected by Guest Director Michael Ondaatje

Telluride, CO – Telluride Film Festival (September 3-6, 2010), presented by the National Film Preserve is proud to announce its 2010 Festival program. Twenty-four new feature films presented by their creators in the Festival's main program; six programs curated by 2010 Festival Guest Director Michael Ondaatje; twenty-five new short films; plus thirteen documentaries screening in the Backlot program. Celebrating works from over twenty countries, Telluride Film Festival opens Friday, September 3 and runs through Monday, September 6, 2010.

THE 'SHOW'

37th Telluride Film Festival is pleased to present the following new feature films to play in the 'SHOW':

· A LETTER TO ELIA (d. Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, U.S., 2010)

· ANOTHER YEAR (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2010)

· BIUTIFUL (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexico, 2010)

· CARLOS (d. Olivier Assayas, France, 2010)

· CHICO AND RITA (d. Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Spain-Cuba, 2010)

· THE FIRST GRADER (d. Justin Chadwick, U.K., 2010)

· THE FIRST MOVIE (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2009)

· HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA (d. Dmitry Vasyukov with Werner Herzog, Germany, 2010)

· IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE (d. Florin Serban, Romania, 2010)

· THE ILLUSIONIST (d. Sylvain Chomet, U.K., France, 2010)

· INCENDIES (d. Denis Villeneuve, Canada, 2010)

· INSIDE JOB (d. Charles Ferguson, U.S., 2010)

· THE KINGS SPEECH (d. Tom Hooper, U.K., 2010)

· LE QUATTRO VOLTE (d. Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, 2010)

· NEVER LET ME GO (d. Mark Romanek, U.K./U.S., 2010)

· OF GODS AND MEN (d. Xavier Beauvois, France, 2010)

· OKA! AMERIKEE (d. Lavinia Currier, U.S.-Central African Republic, 2010)

· POETRY (d. Lee Chang-dong, Korea, 2010)

· PRECIOUS LIFE (d. Shlomi Eldar, Israel, 2010)

· THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER (d. Bertrand Tavernier, France, 2010)

· TABLOID (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2010)

· TAMARA DREWE (d. Stephen Frears, U.K., 2010)

· THE TENTH INNING (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, U.S., 2010)

· THE WAY BACK (d. Peter Weir, U.K., 2010)

In keeping with Festival tradition, additional "Sneak Previews" are expected to surprise attendees over the weekend. Sneaks will be announced on the Telluride Film Festival webpage throughout the weekend at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

MEDALLION AWARDS

TFF is proud to honor the following three recipients with its Silver Medallion awards, given to recognize an artist's significant contribution to the world of cinema:

· CLAUDIA CARDINALE – Italian film star Claudia Cardinale (8 ½, THE LEOPARD, THE PINK PANTHER) will receive the Silver Medallion followed by an onstage interview conducted by Hilton Als (Saturday) and Davia Nelson (Sunday). The program will include a screening of Valerio Zurlini's GIRL WITH A SUITCASE (Italy, 1961).

· COLIN FIRTH – Telluride audiences will be the first to see British actor Colin Firth's performance in THE KINGS SPEECH. The film will be preceded by a survey of Firth's career (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, A SINGLE MAN), the presentation of the Silver Medallion and an onstage interview with Davia Nelson (Sunday) and Todd McCarthy (Monday).

· PETER WEIR – Filmmaker Peter Weir (WITNESS, THE TRUMAN SHOW, MASTER AND COMMANDER) will be presented with the Silver Medallion followed by an onstage interview with Leonard Maltin (Friday) and Scott Foundas (Saturday). A screening of Weir's lost classic THE PLUMBER (Australia, 1976) and his latest film, THE WAY BACK, will screen during the Festival.

UCLA Film & Television Archive will receive this year's Special Medallion award, which honors a hero of cinema – an organization or individual – that preserves, honors and presents great movies. Festival guests will be treated to a special program put together by Archive director Jan-Christopher Horak entitled: TREASURES FROM UCLA. Two films from the Archive will play elsewhere in the program: the 1927 film CHICAGO, recently discovered in Cecil B. DeMille's vaults and restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, will screen with a live, original score performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra; and Stanton Kaye's 1968 film, BRANDY IN THE WILDERNESS, a scheduled restoration by UCLA.

For the first time, Telluride Film Festival is presenting digital in all its venues. Dolby's Digital Cinema server is being used throughout the four-day festival in its three largest venues. Dolby is facilitating a program of 3D featuring rare works from the 1890s through 2010 in RETOUR DE FLAMME IN 3D, curated and performed by Serge Bromberg with live piano and stories. Dolby 3D Digital Cinema technology, in conjunction with BARCO digital cinema projectors provides TFF with an efficient and flexible solution designed to deliver a superior 3D experience. Dolby, together with Cinedigm, Barco and Boston Light and Sound, has moved TFF forward into a completely state of the art film festival.

GUEST DIRECTOR PROGRAMS

Previously announced Guest Director Michael Ondaatje http://telluridefilmfestival.org/press/releases presents six films spanning the last four decades of the 20th century:

· THE ASCENT (d. Larisa Shepitko, U.S.S.R., 1977, archive print)

· CONFIDENCE (d. István Szabó, Hungary, 1980, archive print)

· FAT CITY (d. John Huston, U.S., 1972, archive print) followed by an interview with author Leonard Gardner

· HERE'S YOUR LIFE (d. Jan Troell, Sweden, 1966, restoration print from the Swedish Institute)

· THE HUSTLER (d. Robert Rossen, U.S., 1961, archive print)

· MOTHER DAO, THE TURTLELIKE (d. Vincent Monnikendam, Netherlands, 1995, archive print)

ADDITIONAL FILM REVIVALS

· ROTAIE (d. Mario Camerini, Italy, 1930) – Pordenone Presents with live music performance by Judith Rosenberg.

· MOANA: A STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS (d. Robert Flaherty, U.S., 1926) – With the 1970s soundtrack Flaherty's daughter Monica created to honor her father's original intentions and a restored print by his great-grandson Sami van Ingen. With special guest documentarian Richard Leacock who worked with Flaherty.

BACKLOT

Backlot, Telluride's intimate screening room with behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers will screen the following documentary programs:

· BERGMAN: featuring two films by Stig Björkman ...BUT FILM IS MY MISTRESS (Sweden, 2010) and IMAGES FROM THE PLAYGROUND (Sweden, 2009)

· CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF (d. Craig McCall, U.K., 2010)

· CHEKHOV FOR CHILDREN (d. Sasha Waters Freyer, U.S., 2010)

· DANIEL SCHMID: LE CHAT QUI PENSE (d. Pascal Hoffmann, Benny Jaberg, Germany, 2010)

· DOCUMENTARIST (d. Harutyun Khachatryan, Armenia, 2003)

· HURRICANE KALATOZOV (d. Patrick Cazals, France, 2010)

· THE MAGNIFICENT TATI (d. Michael House, U.K.-U.S.-France, 2009)

· MOGULS AND MOVIE STARS (d.Jon Wilkman, U.S., 2010, two episodes, TCM television documentary series)

· MUSIC MAKERS OF THE BLUE RIDGE (d. David Hoffman, U.S., 1965)

· ON "BEING THERE" WITH RICHARD LEACOCK (d. Jane Weiner, U.S., 2010)

· PYGMIES IN PARIS (d. Mark Kidel, U.K., 1992)

· THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ION B. (d. Alexander Nanau, Romania, 2010)

SHORT FILMS

SHOWcase for Shorts features seven short films chosen to precede select feature films. Filmmakers of Tomorrow includes three shorts programs: Great Expectations, Calling Cards and Student Prints, from eighteen emerging filmmakers.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Student Symposium provides 50 graduate and undergraduate college students a weekend-long immersion in cinema. The City Lights Project offers fifteen high school students and five teachers from three divergent schools the opportunity to participate in a concentrated program of screenings and discussions.

TALKING HEADS

Seven Conversations between Festival guests and the audience about cinema and culture, and three outdoor Seminars featuring a panel of Festival guests, offer a rare opportunity for film lovers to interact with directors, actors and writers. These programs are free and open to the public.

ADDITIONAL FESTIVITIES

· Spotlight on Harutyun Khachatryan – Screening two of the Armenian director's works, BORDER and RETURN OF THE POET. DOCUMENTARIST also plays in the Backlot program.

· Ralph Eggleston Poster Signing – Previously announced 37th TFF poster artist (http://telluridefilmfestival.org/press/releases) in person.

· Pix-Art: The Creations of Ralph Eggleston – Personal artwork from the Pixar and TFF poster artist.

· Michael Ondaatje Booksigning – Signing copies of The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing.

· Kazuo Ishiguro Booksigning – Signing his novel Never Let Me Go, adapted for Mark Romanek's film.

· Serge Bromberg and Mont Alto Orchestra signing – Signing DVDs of silent classics.

· Millions –Danny Boyle will present his 2005 family film to the Telluride audience.

The Festival's program will be posted in its entirety on Friday, September 3. Please visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org