Fall festivals supply the nutrients for a rich diet of films for the next six months, all the way until Oscar night. Venice launched Wednesday with Francis Coppola paying tribute to his friend Werner Herzog. On Thursday, Telluride revealed its lineup, which plays over the Labor Day weekend. (And, yes, the German maverick will fly to Telluride, as always.)
He’s among the Telluride regulars who return for the summer-camp vibe in the mountains of Colorado. Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy usually throw a party. So does Muppet scion Lisa Henson. Oprah Winfrey is coming this year, even without a film, as are filmmakers Rian Johnson and Jason Reitman. (Herzog does have a film: documentary “Ghost Elephants,” shot in Namibia and Angola.)
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“Our community is a real community,” said festival director Julie Huntsinger in a phone interview with IndieWire. “And I want everybody to hang out together and have fun and watch.”
This year, Huntsinger wants to avoid the scheduling snafus that led so many loyal badge holders ($780 each) standing in line for hours without seeing the big films. Distributors like to see how movies play for Telluride’s cross-section of the national arthouse audience, passing word of mouth from line to line.
One clue that something special was happening last year with Sean Baker’s Palme D’Or-winner “Anora” was the huge number of turnaways when the film was booked in small venues (patron passes, which cost $4,900, get in first). “Anora” eventually won five Oscars, including Best Picture. “Nobody saw that coming, I promise you, to the extent that it was popular,” said Huntsinger. “It’s a crapshoot, what people will go crazy for.”
Huntsinger and her programmers cherry-pick titles from Sundance, Berlin, and especially Cannes. And well before Telluride co-founder Tom Luddy’s death in 2023, Huntsinger has been flying solo and booking a strong lineup of highbrow awards contenders, classics, and idiosyncratic discoveries.
“We have exactly what we wanted,” she said. “Everything that plays in Cannes is fair game. We’ll contact people and say, ‘Oh, we’d very much like to show it.’ And I don’t think we’ve ever been turned down.”
When it comes to new titles, though, the competition is fierce, even if Huntsinger pretends that Telluride doesn’t truck in “world premieres,” and landing the celebrities who go with them. That requires distributors like Netflix to pony up for a private jet to fly George Clooney, Laura Dern, and Adam Sandler from Venice to Telluride for Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” a profile of an aging actor looking at himself in the mirror.
Also making the trek from Venice are Yorgos Lanthimos and his regulars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, returning to the festival for Focus Features’ “Bugonia.” “It’s [Lanthimos’] usual, ‘Oh, my God. What was he thinking?,’” said Huntsinger. “This time, he has kicked the living shit out of Emma Stone. What more will he ask her to do? But it’s a fantastic ride. Jesse Plemons will be the talk of everything.”
On the other hand, Kathryn Bigelow’s Netflix film “A House of Dynamite” will not travel from Venice to Telluride. And so far, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” starring Oscar Isaac as the scientist and Jacob Elordi as the monster, has not been announced. But there’s always a “secret screening” or two as the festival runs its course.
Some titles on Telluride’s top-secret lineup circulate in advance — inevitable as other festivals reveal their premieres and publicists organize their schedules. Prominent showings include Netflix’s “Ballad of a Small Player” (Edward Berger’s return after “Conclave”) starring Colin Farrell as a sad-sack gambler, and Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of the bestselling tearjerker “Hamnet” (Focus), starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare.
“Ballad of a Small Player” proves Berger’s virtuosity, said Huntsinger. “It is true that Edward can direct anything, his versatility is so underrated. This is unusual and dreamy and almost like a bit of a Wong Kar-Wai feel. But he never feels derivative or copycat.”
“Hamnet” represents something of a homecoming: It was born out of a walk in the woods at Telluride 2022 with Zhao and Mescal when he was there for “Aftersun.”
“The film is a meditation on loss from a feminine perspective,” said Huntsinger. “It shifts the story around Shakespeare to focus on his wife, but it doesn’t diminish anybody in the process. Chloé’s working with Paul and Jesse. They’re like a beautiful instrument, all three of them working together.”
Other first-time showings include “Crazy Heart” director Scott Cooper’s “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” (20th Century Studios). “It delivers,” said Huntsinger. “It’s one of those movies that, on paper, sounds good, although musical performances can be iffy. But [Timothee] Chalamet knocked it out of the park with ‘A Complete Unknown.’ Jeremy Allen White does the same, it’s all his voice. It’s not a singing-performance heavy film with the giant concert scenes. This is [Scott Cooper’s] best movie.”
Huntsinger usually offers a few unexpected gems, like last year’s “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” (Sony Pictures Classics), which launched major new auteur Embeth Davidtz. This year’s surprises include “Tuner,” the feature-directing debut of “Navalny” Oscar-winner Daniel Roher, starring Dustin Hoffman. (Its sound designer is “The Zone of Interest” Oscar-winner Johnnie Burn.) Huntsinger also made room for a last-minute submission from Ondi Timoner with her short film about losing a home to the Altadena fires, “All the Walls Came Down.”
Telluride launches Oscar conversations and reminds everyone of Cannes gems in the awards hunt. These include three prize-winners from Neon: “It Was Just an Accident” (director Jafar Panahi will accept a special tribute), “The Secret Agent,” starring Best Actor Cannes winner Wagner Moura, and Norwegian Oscar entry “Sentimental Value,” starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Rensve.
Skarsgård’s son Alexander stars in risque entry, “Pillion” (A24), which debuted in Un Certain Regard. MUBI brings two films starring Josh O’Connor with Oliver Hermanus’ “The History of Sound” and Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind.” Also showing is Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut “Urchin” (1-2 Special), starring Un Certain Regard actor-winner Frank Dillane. Some missing titles, like Neon’s “Sirat,” will turn up on the schedules at Toronto and NYFF.
Not screening at Telluride, or any of the fall festivals, is MUBI’s $24-million Cannes pickup “Die, My Love” from Lynne Ramsay, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. It earned mixed reviews at Cannes and might continue to do so. MUBI plans a wide release on November 7.
Also not in the festival lineups is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Leonardo DiCaprio-starring “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros., September 26). Anderson doesn’t like attending festivals.
Dickinson and Mescal will attend Telluride even though they’re shooting one of Sam Mendes’ Beatles movies (Dickinson is Paul McCartney; Mescal is John Lennon). The actual McCartney is on tour, so he will not be there to support Morgan Neville’s Wings documentary “Man on the Run” (Amazon/MGM). Related: McCartney’s former roommate, swinging ’60s music producer Peter Asher, is the subject of Telluride documentary “Everywhere Man: The Life and Times of Peter Asher.” (McCartney once dated Peter’s sister, Jane.)
Sundance hit “If I Had Legs I Could Kick You” could reignite Oscar talk around Rose Byrne’s incendiary performance as a frayed mother with a special-needs child. And Berlin breakout “Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics) marks not only two festival entries from Richard Linklater, who also directed Cannes’ “Nouvelle Vague” (Netflix), but the Austin director’s first visit to Telluride.
“Blue Moon” stars Telluride tributee Ethan Hawke as alcoholic songwriter Lorenz Hart, sadly watching his former partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) celebrate the opening night of “Oklahoma!” at Sardi’s. (Scott took home the Berlin Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.) Hawke will also be at Telluride to support his Merle Haggard documentary, “Highway 99: A Double Album.”
Telluride continue to support documentaries, which are often neglected at festivals like Cannes. (Ironically, Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux directed a documentary, “Lumière, le Cinéma,” which is among the 15 in the main SHOW.) “Sometimes they’re better than the scripted films that are out nowadays,” said Huntsinger.
Telluride docs include “Summer Tour” (Grateful Dead & Co.); “Ask E. Jean,” Ivy Meeropol’s portrait of E. Jean Carroll, who is now 82; Laura Poitras’ “Cover-Up,” a profile of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh; Nick Hooker’s “Karl,” about Karl Lagerfeld, and “Lost in the Jungle” from Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, a search-and-rescue mission about Colombian children who survived a plane crash. “It is a thriller,” said Huntsinger. “Even though you know the ending.”
There’s a plethora of films from the U.K., from Plan B’s adaptation of bestselling memoir “H is for Hawke” starring Claire Foy and an Eurasian goshawk (it’s already screening for distributors), to Riz Ahmed’s South Asian take on “Hamlet.” “That country, that culture, they support filmmaking,” said Huntsinger. “Every aspect of it.” She’s grateful, as the American supply of films feels diminished, “with our cupboard being a little bare right now.”
After Venice and Telluride come the larger amplifier festivals Toronto and New York and a series of regional festivals from the Hamptons and Middleburg to SCAD. Oscar campaigners will relentlessly bang the drums through March. But Telluride gets the beat started.
The 52nd edition of the Telluride Film Festival will include 60 features, revivals, and shorts from 30 countries. It runs August 29 – September 1. Check out the full lineup below.
The SHOW:
“A Private Life” (d. Rebecca Zlotowski, France, 2025)
“Ask E. Jean” (d. Ivy Meeropol, U.S., 2025)
“Ballad of a Small Player” (d. Edward Berger, Hong Kong/Macau, 2025)
“Blue Moon” (d. Richard Linklater, U.S./Ireland, 2025)
“Bugonia” (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.K., 2025)
“Cover-Up” (d. Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, U.S., 2025)
“Everywhere Man: The Lives and Times of Peter Asher” (d. Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, U.S./U.K., 2025)
“Ghost Elephants” (d. Werner Herzog, Angola/Namibia/U.S., 2025)
“H Is for Hawk” (d. Philippa Lowthorpe, U.K./U.S., 2025)
“Hamlet” (d. Aneil Karia, U.K., 2025)
“Hamnet” (d. Chloé Zhao, U.K., 2025)
“Highway 99 a Double Album” (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2025)
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (d. Mary Bronstein, U.S., 2025)
“It Was Just an Accident” (d. Jafar Panahi, Iran/France/Luxembourg, 2025)
“Jay Kelly” (d. Noah Baumbach, Italy/U.K./U.S., 2025)
“Karl” (d. Nick Hooker, U.K., 2025)
“La Grazia” (d. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2025)
“Lost in the Jungle” (d. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Juan Camilo Cruz, U.S./Colombia, 2025)
“Lumière, le Cinéma” (d. Thierry Frémaux, France, 2024)
“Man on the Run” (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2025)
“Nouvelle Vague” (d. Richard Linklater, France, 2025)
“Pillion” (d. Harry Lighton, U.K., 2025)
“Sentimental Value” (d. Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Denmark/Germany, 2025)
“Shifty” (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2025)
“Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2025)
“Summer Tour” (d. Mischa Richter, U.S., 2025)
“The American Revolution” (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, David Schmidt, U.S., 2025)
“The Bend in the River” (d. Robb Moss, U.S., 2025)
“The Cycle of Love” (d. Orlando von Einsiedel, U.K./India/Sweden, 2025)
“The History of Sound” (d. Oliver Hermanus, U.S., 2025)
“The Mastermind” (d. Kelly Reichardt, U.S., 2025)
“The New Yorker at 100” (d. Marshall Curry, U.S., 2025)
“The Reserve” (d. Pablo Pérez Lombardini, Mexico/Qatar, 2025)
“The Secret Agent” (d. Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany, 2025)
“This Is Not a Drill” (d. Oren Jacoby, U.S., 2025)
“Tuner” (d. Daniel Roher, U.S./Canada, 2025)
“Urchin” (d. Harris Dickinson, U.K., 2025)
The following short films will screen in the main program:
“Last Days on Lake Trinity” (d. Charlotte Cooley, U.S., 2025)
“Sallie’s Ashes” (d. Brennan Robideaux, U.S., 2025)
“Song of My City” (d. David C. Roberts, U.S., 2025)
“All the Empty Rooms” (d. Joshua Seftel, U.S., 2025)
“All the Walls Came Down” (d. Ondi Timoner, U.S., 2025)
Guest Curator Ezra Edelman’s selection of films:
“All the President’s Men” (d. Alan J. Pakula, U.S., 1976)
“Malcolm X” (d. Spike Lee, U.S., 1992)
“Network” (d. Sidney Lumet, U.S., 1976)
“Rashomon” (d. Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1950)
“The Insider” (d. Michael Mann, U.S., 1999)
The Backlot:
“All I Had Was Nothingness” (d. Guillaume Ribot, France, 2025)
“Carol & Joy” (d. Nathan Silver, U.S., 2025)
“Chaplin: Spirit of the Tramp” (d. Carmen Chaplin, Spain/U.K./Netherlands, 2024)
“Earth to Michael” (d. Nico López-Alegría, ZZ, U.S., 2025)
“Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire” (d. Oren Rudavsky, U.S., 2024)
“King Hamlet” (d. Elvira Lind, U.S./Denmark, 2025)
“Megadoc” (d. Mike Figgis, U.S./U.K., 2025)
“Shooting” (d. Netalie Braun, Israel, 2025)
“The Golden Spurtle” (d. Constantine Costi, U.K./Australia, 2025)
“Their Eyes” (d. Nicolas Gourault, France, 2025)
Special Screenings and Festivities:
“Cave of Forgotten Dreams 3D 2025: Restoration and Recreation” (d. Werner Herzog, France/Canada/U.S./U.K./Germany, 2010)
“Learning to Fly” (d. Max Lowe, U.S./France/Switzerland/Italy/China/Hong Kong, 2025)
“The New Yorker at 100: A Gallery Exhibition”
“Steal This Story, Please!” (d. Carl Dean, Tia Lessin, U.S., 2025)
4K restoration of “The Gold Rush” (d. Charles Chaplin, U.S., 1925)
Festival Poster Signing with Daniel Clowes
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