Telluride peeks at Oscar
Telluride fest offers early peek at Oscar hopefuls
SepT 1, 2006
The 33rd Telluride Film Festival, which gets under way Friday, will spotlight such Oscar hopefuls as Douglas McGrath's "Infamous," the second Truman Capote biopic in two years; Todd Field's "Little Children," the director's follow-up to "In the Bedroom"; Kevin Macdonald's "The Last King of Scotland," starring Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin; and Steven Shainberg's Diane Arbus biopic "Fur," starring Nicole Kidman.
Festival directors Bill Pence and Tom Luddy, who always keep the details of their four days of programming under wraps until the last possible minute, unveiled this year's lineup Thursday.
Like last year's edition, which debuted eventual Oscar winners "Capote," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Walk the Line," this year's program boasts a bevy of "unofficial" world premieres. Movies including "Fur," "Infamous" and "Scotland" are holding their official premieres at festivals in Venice, Toronto and Rome, but Luddy has developed cordial relationships with programmers at the other fests, allowing him to preview the pics. However, he did steer clear of such films as "The Black Dahlia" and "The Queen," which are opening in Venice and the New York Film Festival, respectively.
This year's Telluride lineup is heavy on literary dramas from the studios' specialty divisions. Pence and Luddy chose to program Warner Independent Pictures' "Infamous," even though it covers the same territory as last year's "Capote." The new film, written and directed by McGrath, stars Toby Jones as Capote and Daniel Craig, about to make his debut as James Bond, as death row prisoner Perry Smith. It also will unspool in Venice and Toronto.
"Nobody knew what this film was going to be," Luddy said. "It was a wonderful surprise. It's different enough. There are a lot more interesting performances in this film. Daniel Craig is tremendous." In an early review, the Independent's David Thomson, who will be honored at Telluride, called "Infamous" "the best new film I've seen this year. ... It's a good deal more unsettling than the version on show in last year's film, 'Capote.' "
New Line Cinema will unveil "Little Children," Field's adaptation of Tom Perotta's novel. The movie, which stars Kate Winslet as a woman in love with Jennifer Connelly's stay-at-home husband Patrick Wilson, will then play Toronto and New York.
Other films that will go on to Toronto after Telluride are Miramax Films' bittersweet relationship comedy "Venus," written by Hanif Kureishi, directed by Roger Michell and starring Peter O'Toole as an aging actor, and Fox Searchlight's "The Last King of Scotland," directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September"). The film is adapted from Giles Foden's novel about the vicious African dictator Idi Amin.
Director Shainberg will accompany Picturehouse's "Fur" to Telluride before it also moves on to Toronto and the new RomaCinemaFest. Luddy said, the film, backed by Edward R. Pressman and "Brokeback Mountain" producer Bill Pohlad, is "full of surprises."
Telluride's programming often goes down to the wire, and Luddy promises several last-minute surprises. One rumored late-breaking sneak screening is Focus Feature's heart-tugger "Catch a Fire," directed by Philip Noyce and starring Derek Luke as a revolutionary in apartheid South Africa. Mira Nair was quietly heading to Telluride on Thursday to present her new film, "The Namesake," from Fox Searchlight, which also will present another surprise, Nicholas Hytner's "The History Boys."
Films that played this year's Festival de Cannes that will make the trek to Telluride include Pedro Almodovar's "Volver," which will screen as part of a tribute to Penelope Cruz, although the director will not accompany the film that Sony Pictures Classics will release this fall; Paramount Vantage's "Babel," directed by Alejandro Inarritu and starring Brad Pitt, which is picking up serious Oscar buzz; SPC's recently acquired "Jindabyne," which will be accompanied by past Telluride tributee Laura Linney; Cornelieu Poremboiu's "12:08 East of Bucharest," a Tartan release and winner of the Camera d'Or; video artist Julia Loktev's experimental feature debut "Day Night Day Night," which is seeking distribution; and Rachid Bouchareb's "Indigenes," the story of Arab volunteer soldiers in World War II and winner of the Cannes best male ensemble award, which the Weinstein Co. is distributing.
SPC also will screen the German hit "The Lives of Others," which could become Germany's entry for the foreign-language film Academy Award, along with the Berlin fest winner "The Italian," directed by Russia's Andrei Kravchuk.
In addition to Cruz, tributes will be paid to Academy Award-winning editor Walter Murch, who will be profiled in the debuting docu "Murch," and director Rolf de Heer, whose Cannes prizewinner "Ten Canoes" was the first film ever shot entirely in Australian aboriginal language. Murch, who is bringing a 20-minute reel of clips from his work at Zoetrope Films, will do several Q&As at the fest, Luddy said.
In the documentary category, the fest directors had to choose from about 20 possible selections. "There are three or four that I regret we didn't have room for," Luddy said. Among those that made the cut is "Ghosts of the City Soleil," directed by Asger Leth, which captures the life-and-death struggle of urban warfare in Aristide's Haiti. "It's unbelievable, Shakespearean in some ways," Luddy said.
Others include IFC Films' "Deep Water," a round-the-world sailboat racing adventure directed by Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell. Comparing it to Macdonald's "Touching the Void," Luddy said, "It's the story of an enormously difficult physical challenge."
Lionsgate's "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," directed by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld, presents new material about the Nixon administration's attempts to kick the controversial Beatle out of the country. Longtime Telluride favorite Peter Bogdanovich will appear not only as a member of the "Infamous" acting ensemble but as the director of an updated version of his classic documentary "Directed by John Ford," featuring new interviews with Martin Scorsese, Walter Hill, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood.
Also delivering classic Hollywood stories will be author Michael Korda ("Charmed Lives"), who will discuss his legendary uncle's impact on Hollywood after a screening of the documentary "The Golden Age of Alexander Korda."
French director and theorist Jean-Pierre Gorin, serving as this year's guest director, will screen a rare 70mm print of Jacques Tati's "Playtime," as well as the Japanese classic "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On" and three films by French filmmaker Jean Gremillion, who is little-known stateside.
Historian and columnist Thomson is the recipient of this year's Special Medallion in recognition of dedication to the continuance of film as art. Author of "The Biographical Dictionary of Film," Thomson will sign copies of his new book about Nicole Kidman, which Knopf is publishing next week, at Telluride's Main Street bookstore.
At a special ceremony Friday night, the festival will change the name of the Mini Theatre to the Pierre, in honor of frequent Telluride programmer Pierre Rissient. The critic will screen two new short films from past festival visitors: Eugene Green's "Signs" and Lucian Pintilie's "No Third Copy."
Luddy and Pence have programmed four silent films this year, including a restored print of the Australian "The Sentimental Bloke," Paolo Cherchi Usai's experimental "Passio" and an encore performance of the rarely viewed George Eastman House print of "Lonesome" with live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra.
Festival directors Bill Pence and Tom Luddy, who always keep the details of their four days of programming under wraps until the last possible minute, unveiled this year's lineup Thursday.
Like last year's edition, which debuted eventual Oscar winners "Capote," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Walk the Line," this year's program boasts a bevy of "unofficial" world premieres. Movies including "Fur," "Infamous" and "Scotland" are holding their official premieres at festivals in Venice, Toronto and Rome, but Luddy has developed cordial relationships with programmers at the other fests, allowing him to preview the pics. However, he did steer clear of such films as "The Black Dahlia" and "The Queen," which are opening in Venice and the New York Film Festival, respectively.
This year's Telluride lineup is heavy on literary dramas from the studios' specialty divisions. Pence and Luddy chose to program Warner Independent Pictures' "Infamous," even though it covers the same territory as last year's "Capote." The new film, written and directed by McGrath, stars Toby Jones as Capote and Daniel Craig, about to make his debut as James Bond, as death row prisoner Perry Smith. It also will unspool in Venice and Toronto.
"Nobody knew what this film was going to be," Luddy said. "It was a wonderful surprise. It's different enough. There are a lot more interesting performances in this film. Daniel Craig is tremendous." In an early review, the Independent's David Thomson, who will be honored at Telluride, called "Infamous" "the best new film I've seen this year. ... It's a good deal more unsettling than the version on show in last year's film, 'Capote.' "
New Line Cinema will unveil "Little Children," Field's adaptation of Tom Perotta's novel. The movie, which stars Kate Winslet as a woman in love with Jennifer Connelly's stay-at-home husband Patrick Wilson, will then play Toronto and New York.
Other films that will go on to Toronto after Telluride are Miramax Films' bittersweet relationship comedy "Venus," written by Hanif Kureishi, directed by Roger Michell and starring Peter O'Toole as an aging actor, and Fox Searchlight's "The Last King of Scotland," directed by Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Kevin Macdonald ("One Day in September"). The film is adapted from Giles Foden's novel about the vicious African dictator Idi Amin.
Director Shainberg will accompany Picturehouse's "Fur" to Telluride before it also moves on to Toronto and the new RomaCinemaFest. Luddy said, the film, backed by Edward R. Pressman and "Brokeback Mountain" producer Bill Pohlad, is "full of surprises."
Telluride's programming often goes down to the wire, and Luddy promises several last-minute surprises. One rumored late-breaking sneak screening is Focus Feature's heart-tugger "Catch a Fire," directed by Philip Noyce and starring Derek Luke as a revolutionary in apartheid South Africa. Mira Nair was quietly heading to Telluride on Thursday to present her new film, "The Namesake," from Fox Searchlight, which also will present another surprise, Nicholas Hytner's "The History Boys."
Films that played this year's Festival de Cannes that will make the trek to Telluride include Pedro Almodovar's "Volver," which will screen as part of a tribute to Penelope Cruz, although the director will not accompany the film that Sony Pictures Classics will release this fall; Paramount Vantage's "Babel," directed by Alejandro Inarritu and starring Brad Pitt, which is picking up serious Oscar buzz; SPC's recently acquired "Jindabyne," which will be accompanied by past Telluride tributee Laura Linney; Cornelieu Poremboiu's "12:08 East of Bucharest," a Tartan release and winner of the Camera d'Or; video artist Julia Loktev's experimental feature debut "Day Night Day Night," which is seeking distribution; and Rachid Bouchareb's "Indigenes," the story of Arab volunteer soldiers in World War II and winner of the Cannes best male ensemble award, which the Weinstein Co. is distributing.
SPC also will screen the German hit "The Lives of Others," which could become Germany's entry for the foreign-language film Academy Award, along with the Berlin fest winner "The Italian," directed by Russia's Andrei Kravchuk.
In addition to Cruz, tributes will be paid to Academy Award-winning editor Walter Murch, who will be profiled in the debuting docu "Murch," and director Rolf de Heer, whose Cannes prizewinner "Ten Canoes" was the first film ever shot entirely in Australian aboriginal language. Murch, who is bringing a 20-minute reel of clips from his work at Zoetrope Films, will do several Q&As at the fest, Luddy said.
In the documentary category, the fest directors had to choose from about 20 possible selections. "There are three or four that I regret we didn't have room for," Luddy said. Among those that made the cut is "Ghosts of the City Soleil," directed by Asger Leth, which captures the life-and-death struggle of urban warfare in Aristide's Haiti. "It's unbelievable, Shakespearean in some ways," Luddy said.
Others include IFC Films' "Deep Water," a round-the-world sailboat racing adventure directed by Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell. Comparing it to Macdonald's "Touching the Void," Luddy said, "It's the story of an enormously difficult physical challenge."
Lionsgate's "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," directed by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld, presents new material about the Nixon administration's attempts to kick the controversial Beatle out of the country. Longtime Telluride favorite Peter Bogdanovich will appear not only as a member of the "Infamous" acting ensemble but as the director of an updated version of his classic documentary "Directed by John Ford," featuring new interviews with Martin Scorsese, Walter Hill, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood.
Also delivering classic Hollywood stories will be author Michael Korda ("Charmed Lives"), who will discuss his legendary uncle's impact on Hollywood after a screening of the documentary "The Golden Age of Alexander Korda."
French director and theorist Jean-Pierre Gorin, serving as this year's guest director, will screen a rare 70mm print of Jacques Tati's "Playtime," as well as the Japanese classic "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On" and three films by French filmmaker Jean Gremillion, who is little-known stateside.
Historian and columnist Thomson is the recipient of this year's Special Medallion in recognition of dedication to the continuance of film as art. Author of "The Biographical Dictionary of Film," Thomson will sign copies of his new book about Nicole Kidman, which Knopf is publishing next week, at Telluride's Main Street bookstore.
At a special ceremony Friday night, the festival will change the name of the Mini Theatre to the Pierre, in honor of frequent Telluride programmer Pierre Rissient. The critic will screen two new short films from past festival visitors: Eugene Green's "Signs" and Lucian Pintilie's "No Third Copy."
Luddy and Pence have programmed four silent films this year, including a restored print of the Australian "The Sentimental Bloke," Paolo Cherchi Usai's experimental "Passio" and an encore performance of the rarely viewed George Eastman House print of "Lonesome" with live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra.
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