The Circuit

On paper, Sundance and Telluride read like sister fests.  Both are set in old mining towns turned posh ski resorts, both covet their preems, and both can be termed the most extreme kind of film festival -- though on opposite ends.  Telluride works to keep the experience unchanging from year to year.  Sundance has both embraced its popularity and fought against it.

At the International Film Festival Summit in Vegas on Monday, Variety's Anne Thompson sat down with Sundance senior programmer Trevor Groth and Telluride co-director Gary Meyer for a panel titled "The Art and Philosophy of Curating a Film Festival."  The two programmers compared their events to a conference room full of anxious, note-taking festival directors. 

• Groth, a former Sundance intern who rose the ranks, said the competition element of Sundance has its pros and cons. "I think Robert Redford would be happy not to have a film competition," said Groth. "But the competition attracted foreign films that wanted to compete."

"The biggest discussion we have is whether to slot a film in the Competition or [non-competition] Spectrum program," said Groth.  "Small films that take chances work better outside the pressure of competition."  Groth singled out "The Blair Witch Project" as one that was almost slotted into the dramatic comp.  It instead played in the better-fitting Midnight section, where it stood out and was quickly picked up.

• While Telluride has no competition, Meyer spoke on the remarkable run of award winning films that they've unspooled.  "'Capote,' 'Brokeback Mountain,' and 'Walk the Line' really transformed Telluride,'" he said, into a true awards season opener.

But while they scored again with the world preem of "Slumdog Millionaire" the 2008 fest saw little award product:  "The WGA strike hurt.  A lot of films just weren't finished."

• At both fests this year, industry execs grumbled about the lack or product while cinestes praised both fests as having gone "back to its roots."  "Every few years we get that comment," said Groth, particularly when not much has sold.

• Meyer reflected on a time in Telluride's history when they almost became Sundance.  "Before Sundance became the market it is, years ago Hollywood execs and agents tried to push their way into Telluride," said Meyer.  The town, as it is famous for, pushed them right back out.  "So the industry went to Park City instead.  Thank god for that."

Photo by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE.

Paul Schrader's "Adam Resurrected" will be released by Bleiberg Entertainment in New York and Los Angeles.  Founded by "Adam" producer Ehud Bleiberg, the company's DIY effort is intended to highlight star Jeff Goldblum in an Oscar qualifying run.

Based on Yoram Kaniuk's novel, Goldblum plays a gifted, haunted Holocaust survivor at an Israeli rehab center.

Unhappy with the offers he received after the pic's Toronto fest screening, Bleiberg and the film's co-producer, German-based 3L Filmproduktion, have raised significant coin for the Oscar campaign. 

"We are doing a regular campaign.  Ads, DVDs, special screenings.  The same thing everybody else is doing but with our own resources," said Bleiberg. "Why would we screen the film at Telluride and Toronto and release it a year later?"

Bleiberg said they've always believed in Jeff Goldblum's perf in the film, stating he turned down a $3 million investment to replace the thesp.  At the Mill Valley Film Festival, the producer said George Lucas approached him after a screening, encouraging him to release the film for an awards run.

Bleiberg said a release outside of LA and NY would depend on the Oscar prospects.

"Adam Resurrected" preemed at Telluride Film Festival and will unspool at AFI FEST on November 8.

Art film distrib Janus and the Criterion Collection have nabbed North American theatrical and home vid rights to Götz Spielmann's "Revanche," ahead of its AFI FEST unspooling on November 1. 

In an unusual move, Janus will release the pic to theaters in March 2009 followed by a DVD rollout via sister company Criterion.

Spielmann's dramatic thriller preemed at the 2008 Berlin Intl. Film Festival and is Austria's foreign film Oscar entry.

Though well known for its massive classic film library, Janus hasn't released a first-run film in 30 years.  Janus topper Peter Becker saw "Revanche" at the 2008 Telluride film fest and began discussions with Spielmann.

"It was a completely unusual gesture because acquiring first-run films is not something we're going to be doing on an ongoing basis," said Becker. "There are lots of good people out there acquiring movies. This came from a groundswell of support from my staff."

"It's one of the most visually commanding films," he continued. "Speilmann directs with such strength.  I think there will be broad appeal for this film."

Becker said his staff are well positioned to release the new pic through existing relationships with arthouses that rely on Janus for their repertory calendar.  They distribute approximately 10 films a year.

Founded in 1956, U.S. cinephiles know the ubiquitous Janus Films logo as their introduction to such foreign helmers as Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Federico Fellini, and Akira Kurosawa. 

"Revanche" screens at AFI FEST on November 1 and 2.  Screening info here.

Peter Debruge contributed to this story.

Radiohead kindly provided the track for this time lapse of Telluride.

Few fests can boast about their real estate holdings like Toronto, which will open its Bell Lightbox in 2010. 

The five-story building in Toronto's arts district will house five screens, two galleries, three learning studios, a library and a store.  Some press have been invited to hard-hat tours this year by Noah Cowan, former co-director of the fest who will be the Box's artistic director. 

How did the fest land such a sweet Box?

According to the Lightbox site, the land at King and John streets was sold "at well below market value" to the festival group (TIFFG) by the King and John Festival Corp.  KJFC is a joint venture between the Daniels Corp (fancy condos) and the Reitman Family (headed by filmmaker Ivan Reitman). 

The $129 million Box is being funded with help from Bell and the Canadian and Ontario governments.

But like any indie filmmaker, KJFC hopes that fest laurels will help sell its own thing. 

While TIFFG will own its 150,000 square foot Box, KJFC will erect a 42-story Festival Tower on top of it, where it will pimp high-end condos -- "one part condo. one part film festival." 

KJFC will also own the junk in the trunk (the building's shops and parking garage).

We'll soon see if the steam from Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" screening in Telluride carries over the border to Toronto.  Todd McCarthy's rave is here. 

Anne Thompson got some time with Boyle in Telluride:

Sunday's day-long rain finally broke to sun on Monday morning, as Telluriders stumbled to the kiosk to get the day's schedule of films.  Monday's screening are left open in order to slot the most popular films of the lineup.

Along with "I've Loved You So Long," Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" is easily the fest's most talked about and commercial film.  The rags-to-riches story of a "slumdog" who may or may not win millions on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," had a standing-room only screening yesterday.  As Boyle introduced the film (pictured), staff packed the Galaxy theater with badgers, who doubled up against the walls, finding any place to sit or at least lean against.  Some remarked it's easily Fox Searchlight's next hit, though other notable fest guests bristled at the film's cliches of Indian life. 

Other films today reflect more of the fest's hits include "I've Loved You So Long," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Flame and Citron," "Hunger," and Bent Hamer's "O'Horten." 

Matteo Garrone ("Gomorrah"),  Gotz Spielman ("Revanche"), and Ole Christion Madsen ("Flame and Citron") at the IFC dinner.  Screenwriter Larry Gross commented the photo should be captioned "Three directors of three films about violent men."


"Firaaq" director Nandita Das intros her film the Opera House with supporter Salman Rushdie.

Miramax prexy Daniel Battsek with "Happy-Go-Lucky" director Mike Leigh. 

Anne Thompson has the first day wrap here, which included Fincher's tribute and a screening of his "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button":

According to Paramount production exec Brad Weston, the movie has been cut by another five minutes down to "a little over two and half hours," he said. It's about to be locked. After years of stalled development the movie was greenlit by new Paramount chief Brad Grey after previous management teams had balked at its cost, revived because Grey was looking for a vehicle for Brad Pitt. Fincher, who has given Pitt some of his juiciest roles, had just the thing. The movie could go either way--toward Oscar season glory or inflated noble failure. That's the risk everyone takes with a all-in bet like this. Certainly there's never been anything like it.

As expected, sneak screenings of Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Flash of Genius" were announced today.  A nasty rumor of a possible "Revolutionary Road" sneak was put down.  It's still not finished.

At the Opera House, Telluride toppers Gary Meyer, Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger picked through the program for a crowd of sponsors and patrons. 

"Flame and Citron," just nabbed by IFC, was a title Luddy found by going through the box office reports of other countries.  The high grosser from Denmark caught their eye.

"It could be the next 'Lives of Others,'" predicted Luddy.


Another film at the top of lists here is "Kisses."  At the Patron Brunch, director Lance Daly (pictured right of producer Macdara Kelleher) said there's interest from IFC and Magnolia.  He's hoping the Telluride buzz will sweep into their Toronto fest screenings in two weeks, where their sales team -- including CAA and Focus International -- is concentrating efforts.  Daly didn't rule out Focus taking the US right, too.  In fact, many distribs are waiting to see how it does at Toronto, where the pic will be subtitled.

The Show-goers slowly filed into Telluride from on of the two roads in.  This year the talk in the vans wasn't about the slate, just announced hours earlier, but Obama's historic speech at the Dem convention. 

The roads in are single lane, and moving trucks creeping uphill in first gear added time to the trip, so much so that travelers started to worry they'd miss Telluride's de-facto opening night on CNN.

By the speech, the fest's main drag was bare as people crowded around condo TV's to watch. 

Tonight the fest opens with the Feed on Colorado.  At the same moment, the buzzed about "Kisses" screens over the mountain at the Chuck Jones Theater.  David Fincher gets his medal at 7pm, then Mike Leigh unspools "Happy-Go-Lucky."

The 35th Telluride Film Festival has announced their lineup, and American helmers are tellingly absent.  

David Fincher will be on hand to accept the fest's Silver Medallion and to screen his cut of "Zodiac.” Considering that 20 minutes of "There Will Be Blood" unspooled during Daniel Day Lewis' medal tribute, it is possible Fincher could bring a portion of his unfinished "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which re-teams Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in a love story of a man who ages backwards.

This year, the schedule sees only two U.S. filmmakers so far. (As usual, several late announcements are expected.)

Paul Schrader will preem his drama "Adam Resurrected," starring Jeff Goldblum (pictured), and Tim Disney will debut "American Violet," with Alfre Woodard.

Several of last year's Telluride class of U.S. pics ended up as award season faves. Sneak screenings of "Juno" and "The Savages" added wattage to other indies "I'm Not There," "Into the Wild," and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."   

This year, scheduling conflicts kept some U.S. films out of the mountain town.

With limited slots over four days, the fest didn’t invite Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married" or Clint Eastwood's "Changeling."  Toronto title "The Wrestler," from Darren Aronoksky, wasn't submitted. Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road,” John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt,” Gus Van Sant's "Milk," and Oliver Stone's "W" weren't finished. 

The fest also chose to go a different direction from Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married" and Clint Eastwood's "Changeling" which are now bound for Toronto and New York film fests, respectively.

"Last year was one of the strongest for American film," said Telluride co-director Tom Luddy.  "But this year I didn't get any calls from Warner Independent, Picturehouse, Vantage.  They're gone."  Luddy also thinks the writers strike could have played a role in delaying projects.

The dearth of American product has instead made way for a vibrant international selection.  Pics making the voyage are Mike Leigh's comedy "Happy-Go-Lucky," Nandita Das' "Firaaq" (pictured). A hefty slice of Cannes imports include Bent Hamer's "O'Horten," Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah,” Ari Folman's animated docu "Waltz With Bashir," Kim Ji-Woon's Asian spaghetti western "The Good, The Bad and The Weird," and Steve McQueen's Camera d'Or winner "Hunger."  

"Ireland surprised us this year," says Luddy, singling out Lance Daly's Dublin tale "Kisses," Cathal Black's docu of a poet/undertaker in "Learning Gravity," and Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor's missing child drama "Helen."  Luddy is also high on the fest's unspooling of Max Ophuls restored masterwork, "Lola Montes," which debuted at Cannes.

Though tight-lipped on this year's sneaks, Luddy characterizes them as "medium to high profile."  Rumored pics include Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" and Marc Abraham's "Flash of Genius," featuring Greg Kinnear as an inventor taking on the auto industry (pictured).

Other Telluride events have guest director Slavoj Zizek screening three "neglected noirs": "Nightmare Alley," "On Dangerous Ground" and "Seconds."  Thesp Jean Simmons and Scandinavian filmmaker Jan Troell will receive Silver Medallions while author and filmmaker Richard Schickel will unspool his Warner Bros. doc “You Must Remember This” and accept a Special Medallion.

Anne Thompson contributed to this report.


Full coverage, including video interviews, will be posted all weekend at variety.com/telluride.

35th Telluride Film Festival lineup:

ADAM RESURRECTED (d. Paul Schrader, Germany-Israel l, 2008)

AMERICAN VIOLET (d. Tim Disney, U.S., 2008)

EVERLASTING MOMENTS (d. Jan Troell, Sweden, 2008)

FIRAAQ (d. Nandita Das, India, 2008)

FLAME & CITRON (d. Ole Christian Madsen, Denmark, 2008)

GOMORRAH (d. Matteo Garrone, Italy, 2008)

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2008)

HELEN (d. Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, U.K., 2008)

HUNGER (d. Steve McQueen, U.K., 2008)

I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (d. Philippe Claudel, France, 2008)

KISSES (d. Lance Daly, Ireland, 2008)

LEARNING GRAVITY (d. Cathal Black, U.S., 2008)

O’HORTEN (d. Bent Hamer, Norway, 2008)

PIRATE FOR THE SEA (d. Ron Colby, U.K., 2007)

PRIVATE CENTURY (d. Jan Sikl, Czech Republic, 2007)

REVANCHE (d. Gotz Spielman, Austria, 2008)

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD (d. Kim Ji-Woon, South Korea, 2008)

THE REST IS SILENCE (d. Nae Caranfil, Romania, 2007)

TULPAN (d. Sergei Dvortsevoy, Kazakhstan, 2008)

WALTZ WITH BASHIR (d. Ari Folman, Israel, 2008)

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (d. Francois Duperon, France, 2008)

YOUSSOU N’DOUR: I BRING WHAT I LOVE (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Senegal-France, 2008)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded the Telluride Film Festival with $50,000 to underwrite the fest's guest director program, this year headed by philosopher Saloj Zizek. 

Cash comes from the Academy's educational wing - the Academy Foundation - which doles out more than $1 million to film scholars, cultural institutions and film festivals each year.

Look for the Telluride lineup here, tomorrow afternoon.

Check out this great, short doc on Telluride, which has fest director Tom Luddy ruminating on Abel Gance in a cowboy hat, Sean Penn in the paparazzi-free zone, and the great Russian filmmaker Andre Tarkovsky, who after receiving the Silver Medallion decided to defect from the Soviet Union.

Yes, and only time will tell if it delivers what every Telluride-goer really wants to know: what and where are the sneaks.

In the olden paper-and-ink days, you lined up at the kiosk to grab a schedule, asked someone who knew someone, or greased a Telluride staffer with a drink (never worked). 

Now Telluride and their presenting sponsor, Dell, have created a desktop widget that has festival, lodging, and outdoor activity info.  The Sean Penn and Daniel Day-Lewis videos are good. 

It also has this tantalizing feature - "The Calendar/Schedule section will be real-time, including film trailers and customizable schedules when the lineup is announced (and up-to-the-minute queue information once the Festival begins)."

You can stick it on Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, etc.  Grab it here. 

Here's mine:

Those making their Telluride travel plans have a few choices.  Driving from LA costs 13 hours of butt-sitting.  There are flights to nearby Montrose, which has a two-ish hour drive attached. 

For the fearless, there is a direct flight - to a runway carved into a mountain. 

But better watch this harrowing YouTube vid we found before you book.  Never mind the cheesy subtitles, and hang on to something:

Telluride unveiled 2008's poster by artist Laurie Anderson.  Anderson was the fest's guest director in 1991.

"The chair drawing was featured in my book called 'Night Life' which is a book of dream drawings I made a couple of years ago while out on tour. The red chair in the poster was part of a dream drawing I made that happened to be set in a theater at Telluride!  So of course it seemed perfect for the Festival poster since it's all about the audience and the dreams that films really are."

• Marfa fest gets "Blood."  The baby-fresh fest will open with Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," unspooling it in the place where it all began - on its set in Marfa, TX.  In fact, it'll be screening on an outdoor screen owned by Alamo Drafthouse's Tim League, who preemed the film at the 2007 Fantastic Fest in Austin.

• Telluride fest is accepting entries for its 35th event, running August 29 – September 1.  Feature and short film submissions completed after July 15, 2007 will be received until July 15.  Only feature-length films looking for their North American premiere will be accepted.  As always, the program is kept under tight lock-and-key until opening day, after which the fest unspools 25 features and 30-40 shorts. Rules and entry forms can be grabbed here.

• The California Independent Film Festival will honor legendary producer John Daly ("Platoon," The Last Emperor") with a Lifetime Achievement award on April 20.  Also on tap is a "Actor's Studio-esque" talk with Penny Marshall, with John Madden in the role of James Lipton.  Mary Stuart Masterson will get the Diamond Award given to excellent women in film.  She'll also screen her film "Cake Eaters."  More info here.

Telluride has jumped from Apple to Dell.  The fest announced that a new computer giant will be its presenting sponsor after its three year relationship with Apple ended.  Dell will provide significant resources and financial support to the 35th event including special events, receptions, and the Dell Lounge, a gathering place for filmmakers. 

Telluride managing director Julie Huntsinger said "Dell's desire is to be a new creative face on the computer scene." 

She also acknowledged that sponsorship of the famously strict film festival has rules. 

"Sponsors understand they have to walk to walk. It partially comes from the town, whose goals and ideals intertwine with ours.  We're never going to become a 'Brought to you by' festival."

True to form, signage for Dell will be minimal around town.  While the company will be mentioned before each screening, the only way audiences will know that Dell's theater is the Opera House will be a simple placard outside.  Nothing is bigger than the festival signs, advertising nothing more than a "SHOW."

In this deepening recession it's refreshing to hear Telluride has found a company that's okay with its restrictions. But having just been forced to make the migration to PC from Mac, I feel deeply sorry for their IT guy.

The Telluride Film Festival has picked Slavoj Zizek at its 35th Guest Director.  The Slovenian born philosopher, author, and cinephile will hand-pick a selection of films to screen at fest August 29 – September 1. 

A self-described Marxist and Communist, Zizek's published works spans popular culture from Hitchcock to David Lynch, weaving a critique of capitalism in how it works upon the imagination.  Telluride expects his film selections to spark controversy and conversation.

Previous guest directors of Telluride include Salman Rushdie, Laurie Anderson, Errol Morris, Donald Richie, B. Ruby Rich, John Boorman, Peter Bogdanovich, and Don DeLillo.

Telluride has announced a new, lower cost badge.  From their website:

The Cinephile Pass ($340) provides admission to a special menu made up of the unique & often unrepeated programs including classic film restorations, silents, Guest Director selections, all three Tributes, Late Shows, selected new films and other special programs plus admission to the Labor Day Picnic.

And yes, Acme badges are now sold out.  No whining.

The Oscars always brings memories of the fest circuit, where future winners had no clue how their life would alter forever in a short four months. 

Looking at the morning-after pic of Diablo Cody's palm super-glued to her gold man's butt (from her MySpace page), brings back "Juno's" premiere at Telluride where it was one of the sneak screenings with "Redacted":

While the “Redacted” screening reported several moving outbursts at the film’s shocking end, it was the afterglow of “Juno” that had most people talking.  Reitman brought the print to the Chuck Jones Theater still wet, he said, as he introduced the screenwriter, Diablo Cody...

While many festivals seem so much about themselves, there is a dignity with Telluride that only comes with age.  They don't need receptions. They'll do with Feeds.  They don't need five press releases to announce their lineup.  They only need one.  They'll give a good pat on the back to newbie directors, but save their deeper respect for the alum.  Filmmakers want to be at other fests to get flown in, bought or set up for their next project.  They want to be at Telluride because they want the old man's nod of approval.

For regular festers, there is something necessary about Telluride.  It's refreshingly free of the strange fog that envelopes the big fests, where capsule reviews are too-quickly exchanged between reviewers running to the next premiere screening.  Telluride has always been about the discussion of film, and little about the industry.  Staffers (including toppers Tom Luddy, Julie Huntsinger and Gary Meyer, pictured) were more concerned with what you thought of the Michel Legrand tribute rather than where the Sony Classics dinner was.  Yet it's at these intimate restaurants where anyone can talk with Indiana Jones producer Kathleen Kennedy about producing "Persepolis."  At another festival these would be loud after-parties of bad music and over-the-shoulder gazing.

For 2007, audiences got Werner Herzog discussing suicidal penguins in the Chuck Jones theatre surrounded by Looney Tunes characters.  The first reel of Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" predicted how well that film would play, and how shrewd a filmmaker Anderson is for making such a hard left turn. "Into the Wild" proved it had legs upon its second screening, not its luke-warm first.  Some walked out mid-way through Haynes' "I'm Not There" while others were in tears by the end.  With "Secret Sunshine," "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days," and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Telluride's program this year can be easily mistaken as the first draft of most best-of lists coming out this month. 

The deadly disease of overhype begins in the film festival petri dish.  Telluride was a must-stop if you wanted films hype-free.  The sneaks of "Juno" and "Redacted," playing on the same day, polarized on equal levels.  Before it won Venice, "Redacted" was despised at Telluride.  Before it was everyone's sweetheart, "Juno" was loved at Telluride.  Similar to the best of Telluride's previous years, the early talk forecast the two films' trajectories.  Toward the end of the season, a panicked distributor tried some quick fixes on "Redacted," not helping it.  Fox Searchlight wrapped all the goodwill for "Juno" into one big sugar pill of a PR campaign, which was hard to swallow sometimes.  But at Telluride, neither of those films had any kind of baggage yet.  Like "Brokeback Mountain" before the send-ups, at Telluride they rose and fell on their own. 

Telluride was the perfect mix this year.  Moreover, its minimal model is a giant lesson for the current crop rich upstart fests who build sponsored events around their program, overwhelming the films.  Telluride is content to simply build conversation around theirs.  Everything else is just noise.


*The big caveat is an obvious one:  The Circuit is not a half-year old yet.  We missed 2007's Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, SXSW, and many, many others. 

In an article for Variety's weekly, I tackle the glut of film festivals:

At the fourth annual Intl. Film Festival Summit in Las Vegas last week, fest honchos huddled together in panel sessions with names like "Creating a Sustainable Festival," showing a sense of camaraderie, friendliness and mutual support.

But then, most attendees there were new to the game. Among veteran fest programmers and execs, it's more a case of strong rivalries, poaching and a secret desire that their compatriots would disappear in a puff of smoke.

Competition among film fests has always been sharp, but it's become cutthroat as fests proliferate, with literally thousands of them vying for world premieres, stars and, crucially, sponsors. If the films are good, it's almost a bonus.

The piece also touches on a growing controversy amoung fest execs - rising distributor and sales agents fees. 

Full piece here.

As hot as they are, festival sneak screenings now lead to the inevitable blog leaks… and long, long lines.  Gone are the days when Telluriders would line up to get the latest sneak announcements.  Now word gets out.  As quickly as the first “Juno” was uttered, text messages, IMs, emails, and then blogs spilt the screenings all over the mountain town.  The winding line outside Chuck Jones' Cinema foretold they’d be a lot of unhappy badge holders. 

Rumors circulated that the fest sold too many Patron badges.  But Telluride’s Gary Meyer (pictured at Telluride's Sheridan Opera House) told me they sold the same number as last year.  And overall they actually sold less badges than last year (that includes Festival and Acme levels).

Said Meyer: “We had more screenings than ever before, and the addition of The Backlot which should have taken pressure off of screenings.  But people want to be the first to see high profile movies… and they all rush to see those movies causing horrible over-crowding… The reality is that every year there are people turned away from certain shows. We wish it wasn’t the case. And I wish I could predict what will happen but I can only guess.”

And as Fantastic Fest opens under a rumor of a “There Will Be Blood” screening, you can expect a repeat of Telluride – where lesser badgers scowl at the VIPs being ushered in first.  Said one Fantastic goer: “There are humongous lines for all the secret screenings, which end up being some of the town's worst-kept secrets.”

One might think the answer is to not make them secret.  Simply make it a part of the festival, red carpet and all.  But a fest programmer explained: “More often than not, it's due to a distributors' desire to save the film's premiere status for a later opportunity. Either for a later festival or because they don't want to diminish the film's actual Hollywood or New York premiere."

"That said, the nature of events like film festivals lend themselves to that air of mystery and surprise. So, it's actually kind of fun instead of frustrating.”

Is a distributor angered when their sneak title is leaked?

“It depends... I think as long as there are no trade reviews, it's not a big deal. But as we know, blogs have changed everything.”

Indeed, the currency of blogs and fanboy sites is in their value as first-look trade reviews.  No one knows that better than Harry Knowles, who is one of the Fantastic Fest’s founder/programmers.  Bet on Hollywood watching his site this week and next for first-words on big films.

Waiting in the Patron line for a screening of "The Savages," a directive came down to the volunteers: counterfeit Patron tickets had been discovered.  It surprised even the veteran volunteers; no one had ever heard of counterfeit tickets at Telluride.  Suddenly a Sundance problem had arrived at a fest that prides itself in being different.  While it turned out not to be a big problem, it was indicative of a complaint that hadn't gone away by fest's end -- the long lines of angry $680 badge holders that were turned away at many screenings.  Telluride is a festival of hard-lined traditionalists.  One long-time attendee told me she's been coming to camp out and see movies for 20 years.  She hadn't gotten into one screening by Sunday afternoon, and was pissed.  One rumor was the number of Patron badges sold was increased in order to cover a financial shortfall created when some sponsors left after the co-founding Pences retired last year.  Co-director Gary Meyer, however, said the Patron badge number was capped at the usual 2,500 200.  At any rate, Telluride devotees are as vocal as the staffers who yelled at the clueless attendee who failed to turn off his cell.  I'm sure Telluride is hearing from them.

By Telluride’s end it was two sneak films that had audiences talking the most – Jason Reitman’s buoyant comedy “Juno” and Brian De Palma’s highly polarizing “Redacted.”  De Palma’s embellished Iraq war drama, inspired by the recent rape and murder of an Iraqi girl by US soldiers, sparked heated arguments in gondolas and is already bringing hate mail, according to the film’s distrib Magnolia Pictures.  By extreme contrast, talking about Reitman’s and writer Diablo Cody’s smart and hilarious teen pregnancy story was a refreshing relief among the long lines here.

Another successful sneak screening of Tamara Jenkins’ “The Savages” effectively paired Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as rival siblings caring for their dying father.  Sean Penn’s anticipated adaptation of “Into the Wild” had mixed reactions, as did Noah Baumbach’s second film “Margot at the Wedding,” starring Nicole Kidman.  Wayne Wang’s “The Princess of Nebraska” was also added, described as the “untold umbilical film” to the helmer’s other film here, “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.”  Both were adapted from stories by Yiyun Li.

New co-director Gary Meyer, who stepped into the big shoes of retired co-founders Bill and Stella Pence, seemed honestly thrilled with his new job even while extinguishing the inevitable small fires around sound or projection issues.

Attendees had a hard time finding this year’s “The Lives of Others,” the specialty success born at last year’s event.  Award season should be kind to a number of Telluride standouts including Cate Blanchett, who expertly donned Bob Dylan’s skin in Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There,” and Daniel Day-Lewis.  Though only 20 minutes of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” unspooled, starring Day-Lewis as an obsessed oil prospector, the film’s epic scope combined with the Academy Award-winning actor’s intensity guarantees it serious consideration come Oscar time.

Other notables from a Cannes-heavy lineup include Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Cristian Mungiu’s Palm-winning “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days,” and Eran Kolirin’s deadpan “The Band’s Visit.”  Ecstatic tour guide Werner Herzog hypnotized his audience with his latest science-fiction docu “Encounters at the End of the World,” a view of eccentric characters above the ice and the stunning “cathedral” below. 

Fest tributes went to Day-Lewis, composer Michel Legrand, and Indian helmer Shyam Benegal, who received his Silver Medallion after a screening of his 1974 drama “Ankur.”  Other honors went to Telluride vet and film critic/historian Leonard Maltin.  Renown curator Edith Kramer, serving as guest director, brought a program of George Kuchar films spanning the director’s still-active career.  Also screening was a new, restored print of King Vidor’s 1925 war film, “The Big Parade,” created from a long-lost negative recently found at the George Eastman House.

Established as a mining town in the late 1800s with only two roads in, Telluride’s festival shares something else with Park City’s big January event: long lines of disgruntled badge holders.  Many complained that Telluride’s famous even-playing field, where even reporters pay for their badges, was skewing more toward the upper level Patron and Sponsor badgers – the first to be let into the theaters.  At many screenings they filled the seats, leaving sometimes hundreds of angry fest traditionalists outside.  Despite the complaints, the affectionate, clubby atmosphere surrounding the festival’s mysterious sideshow feel still marks it as one of the greatest film shows on earth.

Co-Director Gary Meyer intros at the Opera House




Cristian Mungiu, director of the Cannes winning "4 Months, 3Weeks and 2 Days" with IFC's Arianna Bocco.




Paul Thomas Anderson gives the Silver Medallion to Daniel Day-Lewis.




"The Savages" director Tamara Jenkins with fest co-director Tom Luddy.




"Juno" director Jason Reitman reads the just-published Variety review to Fox Searchlight's Jeremy Steckler and "Juno" writer Diablo Cody.




Before the Mont Alta Orchestra performs the soundtrack to the silent film "People on Sunday."

Was one comment overheard as the Telluride crowd exited “I’m Not There,” Todd Haynes’ multi-biopic about Bob Dylan.  Those that were there – that made it to the end of the 2-plus hours – came away confused, troubled, and awed. “I’m Not There” is a remarkable and important film, to be chewed and rechewed.  Haynes shoots Dylan (who had no direct hand in making the film) as someone who’s been gasping for fresh air all of his life.  Public scrutiny made it nearly impossible.  So Dylan shed his skin, destroying/remaking himself over and over.  It’s portrayed as a reflexive, angry response to this hysteria, rather than through some willful artist choice.  He’s pushed and provoked and insulted and glorified, all at once.  And no device says this better than having a solid team of actors inhabit his different lives.  It’s a splendid identity crisis, intensified by Haynes’ nonlinear dream and d.p. Ed Lachman’s (pictured with Haynes) massive tonal changes.  Cate Blanchett is flawless as are the covers of Dylan music by Calexico and Yo La Tango, among others.  The Weinstein Company has it right to open this slowly.  “I’m Not There” is a film to be savored. 

Brian De Palma’s “Redacted” and Jason Reitman’s “Juno” were added as sneak previews today.  While the “Redacted” screening reported several moving outbursts at the film’s shocking end, it was the afterglow of “Juno” that had most people talking.  Reitman brought the print to the Chuck Jones Theater still wet, he said, as he introduced the screenwriter, Diablo Cody (pictured, with Reitman).  The film is hilarious and poignant; a girl’s view of high school and family and relationships that hasn’t been seen since “Ghost World.”  Ellen Page plays a back-of-the-class girl who uses her sharp wit and confidence to cut through the tired emotional baggage that only adults can bring into relationships.  Michael Cerra is perfectly cast as her awkward boyfriend.  And Reitman directs with restraint, letting the script take the lead.  A few jokes were lost because the audience was still laughing at the last one.  Fox Searchlight should be confident that the film will play big to younger audiences as the raunch-factor is right in line with “Superbad,” through refreshingly from the other gender.