Festivals

Telluride is back: the SHOW goes on in 2021

by Josh

After taking a year off for the pandemic, the Telluride film festival is back, in-person (during a pandemic) for 2021. Attendees are required to provide proof of vaccination, a recent negative Covid test, and to wear masks during screenings, so going back into the fall movie season can feel as safe as possible during this recent Delta surge. To that end, I’m on my way to to Colorado to check out a bunch of exciting new movies.

The lineup was just released — as well as the list of actors, directors, and filmmakers who are also making their way to the mountains for in-person support of their films during the (now) five-day festival. See below for the main program, either if you’re joining for the long weekend or just as a preview of a big fall/winter film season to come.

  • THE AUTOMAT (d. Lisa Hurwitz, U.S., 2021) In person: Lisa Hurwitz 
  • BECOMING COUSTEAU (d. Liz Garbus, U.S., 2021) In person: Liz Garbus
  • BELFAST (d. Kenneth Branagh, U.K., 2021) In person: Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan
  • BERGMAN ISLAND (d. Mia Hansen-Løve, France/Germany/Sweden, 2021) In person: Mia Hansen-Løve
  • BITTERBRUSH (d. Emelie Mahdavian, U.S., 2021) In person: Emelie Mahdavian, Colie Moline
  • C’MON C’MON (d. Mike Mills, U.S., 2021) In person: Mike Mills, Gaby Hoffman, Molly Webster
  • CITIZEN ASHE (d. Sam Pollard, Rex Miller, U.S./U.K., 2021) In person: Sam Pollard, Rex Miller
  • COW (d. Andrea Arnold, U.K., 2021) In person: Andrea Arnold
  • CYRANO (d. Joe Wright, U.K., 2021) In person: Joe Wright, Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Erica Schmidt, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner
  • THE DUKE (d. Roger Michell, U.K., 2021) In person: Roger Michell, Helen Mirren
  • THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN (d. Will Sharpe, U.K., 2021) In person: Will Sharpe, Benedict Cumberbatch
  • ENCOUNTER (d. Michael Pearce, U.S., 2021) In person: Michael Pearce
  • FAUCI (d. John Hoffman, Janet Tobias, U.S., 2021) In person: John Hoffman, Janet Tobias, Steven Wakefield, Peter Staley
  • FLEE (d. Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Denmark, 2021) In person: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
  • HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG (d. Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, U.S., 2021) In person: Dan Geller, Dayna Goldfine, Sharon Robinson,
  • THE HAND OF GOD (d. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2021) In person: Paolo Sorrentino, Teresa Saponangelo, Luisa Ranieri, Filippo Scotti
  • A HERO (d. Asghar Farhadi, Iran/France, 2021) In person: Asghar Farhadi
  • JULIA (d. Julie Cohen, Betsy West, U.S., 2021) In person: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
  • KING RICHARD (d. Reinaldo Marcus Green, U.S., 2021) In person: Reinaldo Marcus Green
  • THE LOST DAUGHTER (d. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Greece/U.S./U.K./Israel, 2021) In person: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dakota Johnson, Peter Sarsgaard, Ed Harris
  • MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON (d. Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate, U.S, 2021) In person: Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate
  • MUHAMMAD ALI (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, U.S., 2021) In person: Sarah Burns, David McMahon, Rasheda Ali, Michael Bentt 
  • NUCLEAR FAMILY (d. Ry Russo-Young, U.S., 2021) In person: Ry Russo-Young, Sandra Russo, Robin Young
  • PETITE MAMAN (d. Céline Sciamma, France, 2021) In person: Céline Sciamma
  • THE POWER OF THE DOG (d. Jane Campion, Australia/New Zealand, 2021) In person: Jane Campion, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons
  • PROCESSION (d. Robert Greene, U.S., 2021) In person: Robert Greene, Dan Laurine, Ed Gavagan, Mike Foreman, Michael Sandridge, Joe Eldred, Tom Viviano, Terrick Trobough
  • THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN (d. James Spinney, Peter Middleton, U.S., 2021) In person: James Spinney, Peter Middleton
  • RED ROCKET (d. Sean Baker, U.S., 2021) In person: Sean Baker, Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Ethan Darbone, Brittney Rodriguez, Suzanna Son
  • THE RESCUE (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S./U.K., 2021) In person: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Mitch Torrel, Thanet Natisri
  • RIVER (d. Jennifer Peedom, Australia, 2021)
  • THE SAME STORM (d. Peter Hedges, U.S., 2021) In person: Peter Hedges, Noma Dumezweni, Mary-Louise Parker
  • SPEER GOES TO HOLLYWOOD (d. Vanessa Lapa, Israel/Austria/Germany, 2021) In person: Vanessa Lapa
  • SPENCER (d. Pablo Larraín, U.K./Germany/Chile, 2021) In person: Pablo Larraín, Kristen Stewart
  • TORN (d. Max Lowe, U.S., 2021) In person: Max Lowe, Conrad Anker, Jennifer Lowe-Anker, Isaac Lowe-Anker, Sam Lowe-Anker
  • UNCLENCHING THE FISTS (d. Kira Kovalenko, Russia, 2021) In person: Kira Kovalenko
  • THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (d. Todd Haynes, U.S., 2021) In person: Todd Haynes, Ed Lachman

In addition to the following, the festival will present tributes to actor Riz Ahmed (with ENCOUNTER), filmmaker Jane Campion (with THE POWER OF THE DOG), and actor Peter Dinklage(with CYRANO). Guest director Barry Jenkins, has also collaborated with the festival to curate special selections. I’ll be in town all weekend and will be trying to catch as many of these as the thin mountain air allows.