The Telluride Film Festival, tucked away in a remote Colorado canyon, has long maintained its image as a sort of Brigadoon for cinephiles. But in recent years, not even the rugged mountains surrounding the picturesque town could keep Hollywood’s troubles at bay, from a global pandemic that devastated movie theaters to last year’s devastating strikes by actors and writers.
With the 51st edition of the festival set to begin Friday and run through Labor Day weekend, Telluride Film Festival Executive Director Julie Huntsinger is eager to finally return to some semblance of normalcy.
“I shouldn’t say this because I’m going to jinx it, but there’s no pending catastrophe this year,” Huntsinger says. “Within our film community, there’s not that immediate existential threat, like COVID and the strikes were. For those of us who may be a little less religious than others, this is our church. This is where we go to pull ourselves together and remember what’s good about human beings and what’s wrong and hopefully we can fix it.”
Of course, with conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza still raging and a bitter, divisive U.S. presidential election in its final stretch, even a quick glance at today’s headlines shows there’s a lot to sort out. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this year’s Telluride lineup — which includes nearly 40 feature-length and short films in its main program — is particularly politically charged, reflecting a world that remains highly edgy.
World premieres include the thriller “Conclave” from director Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”), which centers on the secret process of selecting a new pope; RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s racial injustice novel “Nickel Boys,” set in a 1960s reform school known for its abusive treatment of students; and Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” which chronicles the launch of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975. Tim Fehlbaum’s period drama “September 5,” about the kidnapping and massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Olympics, will have its North American premiere in Telluride days after debuting at the Venice Film Festival.
Over the years, Telluride has become an increasingly important stop on the awards season calendar, hosting recent best picture Oscar winners from “Moonlight” and “The Shape of Water” to “Parasite.” But with numerous feature films and documentaries tackling the hottest topics of the day (and attracting some major non-Hollywood celebrities as guests), the political debate is likely to be just as heated as the awards predictions at this year’s festival.
This year, there will be a slew of political stars at the festival to match the usual Hollywood power. Famed Democratic strategist James Carville will be on hand as the subject of Matt Tyrnauer’s biographical documentary “Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid!”, while Hillary and Chelsea Clinton will be on hand to support the documentary “Zurawski v Texas,” which focuses on the ongoing battle over reproductive rights.
“Having such well-known people involved can bring more attention to something,” Huntsinger says. “'Zurawski vs Texas' is something everyone should watch.”
Among other politically charged documentaries, Brazilian director Petra Costa follows up her Oscar-nominated “The Edge of Democracy” with “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” about the rise of Jair Bolsonaro, while Errol Morris tackles the Trump administration’s controversial family separation border policy with his new film, “Separated.” (In a category that might be called “politically related,” the festival’s Backlot program will include a screening of “The Easy Kind,” a narrative feature about a Nashville singer-songwriter from documentarian Katy Chevigny, whose husband is special prosecutor Jack Smith.)
While putting together the program this summer, at a time when the presidential campaign was in turmoil, Huntsinger says the political theme emerged organically rather than as a result of a doctrinal impulse. “For us, the absolute first criterion is quality,” he says. “Does a film grab you in the heart and soul? Is it fascinating? Is it very well made?”
That’s not to say Telluride’s programming will focus exclusively on wallowing in the world’s ills. The redemptive power of music will be a recurring theme: Documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville’s “Piece by Piece” uses Lego animation to chart the evolution of hitmaker Pharrell Williams, while British pop star Robbie Williams plays himself in the biographical drama “Better Man.”
Chilean director Pablo Larraín, who recently brought the horror film “The Count” to Telluride, will return with “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie as opera legend Maria Callas. And, in what could prove to be one of the most talked-about surprises of the festival, documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer (“The Act of Killing”) will present his first narrative feature, “The End,” an apocalyptic musical (yes, you read that right) about a wealthy family living in an underground bunker long after the end of the world.
“There are a lot of musicals and movies where the music is a big part of the movie, which I think comes from our relentless desire to uplift,” Huntsinger says. “We don’t want to live in darkness. And cinema, for me, is always a light. Even in the really difficult moments that make us cry, there’s a catharsis that comes out of it.”
Though Telluride is firmly dedicated to film, this year it will also make room for some longer works destined for the small screen. The Apple TV+ series “Disclaimer,” from director Alfonso Cuarón, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline and Sacha Baron Cohen, will be screened in its entire seven hours over two sessions, with Apple contributing pizza and breakfast burritos to keep hunger pangs at bay. Lauren Greenfield’s five-part FX docuseries “Social Studies,” a disturbing look at how social media shapes the lives of teenagers, will also be screened in its entirety.
“While we wholeheartedly believe in the theatrical experience, for decades the festival has recognized amazing achievements in things shown both on television and on the big screen,” Huntsinger says.
This year, Telluride will include special tributes to French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, whose Cannes Jury Prize-winning musical crime comedy “Emilia Perez” will screen, as well as Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker and actress Saoirse Ronan, whose new drama “The Outrun” will screen at the festival.
As in years past, Huntsinger says there will be one or two surprise screenings at this year’s festival, with rumors already running rampant with speculation that hot offerings like the Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” which has yet to formally announce a U.S. distributor or release date, and Robert Eggers’ upcoming horror film “Nosferatu” could show up unannounced.
After 18 years of programming the Telluride Film Festival alongside co-founder Tom Luddy, who passed away last year, Huntsinger says she remains hopeful about the future of film, despite the industry’s many challenges.
“Overall, there are so many entertaining and intelligent films that I feel very encouraged,” she says. “Yes, there is a lot of tumult right now and things are so fractured that it is difficult to reach a consensus. But all of us who come to Telluride have an obligation, as ambassadors, to try to get people to go to the movies.”
