Michael's Telluride Film Blog

Twenty (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 10 / Talking Tributes / Club Kid Trailer and Poster / Digger to Bow in London

2026-08-20T07:45:53.670-05:00

TWENTY (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53

Last week's 20 Bets:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Wild Horse Nine

13) Fatherland

14) Rose

15) The Man I Love

16) My Undesirable Friends Part II

17) Rehearsal for a Revolution

18) The Unknown

19) Bucking Fastard

20) Tenzing

21) Alpha Gang

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities:

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

Sense and Sensibility

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

And here's your update with just two weeks left to The SHOW:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) Bucking Fastard

6) Wild Horse Nine

7) Fatherland

8) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

9) A Long Winter

10) The Alpha Gang

11) Fjord

12) Minotaur

13) Everest: The Other Side

14) Tender Loving Care

15) Gentle Monster

16) Rose

17) The Man I Love

18) My Undesirable Friends Part II

19) Rehearsal for a Revolution

20) The Unknown

21) Tenzing

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities:

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

TALKING TRIBUTES

We're so close to TFF #53 so it seems like a good time to speculate about TFF Tributes. The fest traditionally choses 3 individuals for this special honor each year. That can and has varied from time to time but three is the most common.

Past tribute recipients that could possibly be in Telluride include:

Cate Blanchett

Danny Boyle

Kem Burns

Mark Cousins

Penelope Cruz

Catherine Denueve

Werner Herzog

Mike Leigh

Rooney Mara

Paul Schrader

The list of potential recipients this year is lengthy:

Jimmy Chin/Everest: The Other Side

Olivia Colman/Elsinore

Willem Dafoe/Tenzing

Jesse Eisenberg/The Debut

Paul Giamatti/The Debut

Andrew Haigh/A Long Winter

Sandra Huller/Fatherland and Rose

Vicky Kreips/The Idiot(s)

John Malkovich/Wild Horse Nine

Martin McDonagh/Wild Horse Nine

Julianne Moore /The Debut

Cristian Mungiu/Fjord

Gut Pearce/Ink

Renate Reinsve/Fjord

Sam Rockwell/Wild Horse Nine

Ira Sachs/The Man I Love

Andrew Scott/Elsinore

Lea Seydoux/The Unknown, Alpha Gang and Gentle Monster

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi/Everest:The Other Side

Andrey Zvyagnistaev/Minotaur

And. of course, all of these could be wrong.

CLUB KID TRAILER AND POSTER REVEALED

Sitting this week at #4 on the list of MTFB's Bets is Club Kid. The film was a sensation at Cannes in May and I'll try to catch it at TFF. Here are a trailer (warning...language) and poster for the film:

From YouTube and A24:

And the new poster:

DIGGER TO BOW IN LONDON

For those that have been thinking that Alejandro Inarritu's Digger starring Tom Cruise might still be a viable choice as a "Sneak Preview" for Telluride despite repeated reports that the film was bypassing the fall film circuit...here's another blow to that hypothesis. Warners announce Tuesday that the film will World Premiere in London as a Royal Film Performance.

The announcement is big on making sure everyone knows it's a World Premiere.

That feels pretty definitive to me.

Could it still "sneak" at Telluride? Sure, it's possible but I'd put those chances right now at about 5%.

Here's the official announcement from Warner Bros.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260818741409/en/Warner-Bros.-Pictures-Legendary-Pictures-and-The-Film-and-TV-Charity-Announce-the-Royal-Film-Performance-of-DIGGER?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=email_this&utm_source=email

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Who's On the Guest List? / Gold Derby Spills Some Tea / Does Gibney Play Anyway?

2026-08-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

WHO'S ON THE GUEST LIST?

One of the great things about Telluride is the folks that come to support the films that screen there. Bountiful Q&A's give regular Joe's an opportunity to hear from great directors, actors and other creatives about the film's they're involved in.

So it's always fun to take a look at the talent who might make the trip to southwest Colorado. Here's a rundown of some of the films that MTFB thinks will make the grade at Telluride and the stars that might be in town with those projects.

ALPHA GANG: Cate Blanchett, Dave Bautista, Chris Pine, Lea Seydoux

BUCKING FASTARD: Rooney Mara, Kate Mara, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson

CLUB KID: Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva

THE DEBUT: Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Jesse Eisenberg

ELSINORE: Andrew Scott, Oliva Colman.

FATHERLAND: Sandra Huller, August Diehl

FJORD: Renate Reinsve, Sebastian Stan

GENTLE MONSTER: lea Seydoux, Catherine Denueve

THE IDIOT(S): Amy Lou Wood, Johnny Flynn, Vicky Kreips

INK: Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy

LA BOLA NEGRA (THE BLACK BALL): Penelope Cruz, Guitarricardelafuente, Glenn Close

THE LIBERATION: Carrie Coon, Tracy Letts, Lily James

A LONG WINTER: Kit Connor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitriona Balfe

THE MAN I LOVE: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall

ROSE: Sandra Huller

TENDER LOVING CARE: Kate O'Flynn

TENZIG: Willem Dafoe, Tom Hiddleston, Caitriona Balfe

THE UNKNOWN: Lea Seydoux

WILD HORSE NINE: Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, Tom Waits

And a few from the "Possibilities" list:

THE BASICS OF PHILOSOPHY: Bill Pullman, Dana Delaney, Jack Huston

DIAMOND: Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray

PRIMETIME: Robert Pattinson, Merritt Weaver

GOLD DERBY SPILLS SOME TEA

In a post from Gold Derby from last week titled:

"2026 fall festival scorecard: Who’s heading to Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF — and who’s skipping the circuit?"

They name seven films that..."Despite the Telluride Film Festival's long-standing tradition of keeping its official program strictly under wraps until the eve of Labor Day weekend, the tea leaves are brewing up some obvious premieres..."

The films:

Bucking Fastard

The Debut

Elsinore

Ink

A Long Winter

Tender Loving Care

Wild Horse Nine

They also suggest that Primetime is a possibility.

The complete Gold Derby article is linked here.

https://www.goldderby.com/film/2026/2026-venice-telluride-toronto-new-york-festivals-scorecard/

DOES GIBNEY PLAY ANYWAY?

We already have discerned that Alex Gibney's documentary about Elon Musk is not going to play Telluride, but could another Gibney doc make the TFF #53 lineup?

I'm talking about Knife, Gibney's look at the 2022 attempt on the life author Salman Rushdie. Rushdie, as of TFF #52 was still listed among a member of TFF's "Esteemed Council of Advisors in last year's TFF #52 program so it seems like a no-brainer, except...the doc has screened already in the USA.

Knife world premiered at Sundance this year and has also been programmed at Sundance, Chicago's DOC 10 fest, Nantucket and it has screened in New York. On the other hand, the film is being distributed by Abramorama which had Ask E. Jean at TFF #52.

I'm putting its chances at 40% and let's see what happens.

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Twenty Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 9/ Additions from New York and Toronto / This and That: The Debut, Gentle Monster, A Long Winter

2026-08-13T06:35:44.191-05:00

TWENTY (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 9

Hi there! Down to three weeks before the 53rd edition of the Telluride Film Festival. Personally, I feel like it's going to be a banger this year.

Here's your weekly update-now expanded to 20 films that MTFB thinks are going to screen over labor Day weekend. First, though, a reminder of the "Bets" from last week:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Tenzig

13) Fatherland

14) Rose

15) The Man I Love

16) My Undesirable Friends Part II

17) Rehearsal for a Revolution

18) The Unknown

19) Bucking Fastard

20) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities:

Ancient History

Alpha Gang

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Company

Diamond

Primetime

Saturn Return

Sense and Sensibility

Wild Horse Nine

Yellow Letters

AND NOW...your latest Twenty (Plus) Bets:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Wild Horse Nine

13) Fatherland

14) Rose

15) The Man I Love

16) My Undesirable Friends Part II

17) Rehearsal for a Revolution

18) The Unknown

19) Bucking Fastard

20) Tenzing

21) Alpha Gang

22) The Idiots

23) The Liberation

24) Making Marie Antoinette

25) One More Time

Other possibilities:

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Diamond

Primetime

Sense and Sensibility

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

ADDITIONS FROM NEW YORK AND TORONTO

Earlier this week both the New York and Toronto fests added what are probably the last films to their lineups and premiere designations from each give his clues about further films that are lirkly playing Telluride.

From New York, the additions of Making Marie Antoinette and One More Time. Making Marie Antoinette comes from Eleanor Coppola and focuses on, well... the making of Marie Antoinette. One More Time re-visits indie film giant Andre Gregory.

Each film was announced as a New York Premiere which lead to its inclusion on this week's bets.

Toronto indications of Canadian Premieres for Michal Englert and Małgorzata Szumowska's The Idiot(s) and Guy Nattiv's The Liberation, portend a Telluride play for each.

Additionally, TIFF indicates confirmations for Telluride for Bucking Fastards and Wild Horse Nine. New York confirmations are The Debut, Bucking Fastards, Club Kid and Fjord.

And, sadly, it looks like Tom McCarthy's A Statement, a film I was hoping might play at Telluride, will instead World Premiere at the New York Fest. I thought there might be a return to TFF after Spotlight started there in 2015 and ended up with that film winning the Oscar for Best Picture.

THIS AND THAT

TRAILER FOR THE DEBUT

from YouTube

TRAILER FOR GENTLE MONSTER

From YouTube

FIRST LOOKS FROM A LONG WINTER

We have a first set of photos from Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter from The Playlist. Here are a couple:

You can find a couple more here at The Playlist.

https://theplaylist.net/a-long-winter-first-look-andrew-haighs-tiff-bound-pic-20260811/

EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2

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MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

What the Venice Screening Schedule Suggests / Provenance for the "Bets" / Primetime Trailer and Poster

2026-08-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

WHAT THE VENICE SCREENING SCHEDULE SUGGESTS

The screening schedule for the Venice film Festival popped on Friday and that tells us some possible films that might the jump after a Venetian World Premiere to Telluride. It all depends on what films are scheduled in the first three days in Italy.

Danny Boyle's Ink had already been announced as the Opening Night film for Venice on Sept. 2nd and we've had it as a lock since it was announced for Toronto as a Canadian Premiere there.

Everest: The Other Side fits the same mold as Ink. It's set for Sept. 3rd in Venice

My Undesirable Friends Part II is scheduled for Sept. 4th and its status as a New York Premiere for NYFF seems likely as a Telluride selection.

Other films that are playing the first three days at Venice include:

Bucking Fastard, Wild Horse Nine and Burgundy at Venice on Sept. 3rd.

The Basics of Philosophy at Venice on Sept. 4

And then there's the 5th of September which seems to cut awfully close to being able to get a film from Italy to Colorado. BUT...as best I can tell, four of the last five years have seen a film bow in Venice on it's 4th day of screening and made it to Telluride"

2021: The Lost Daughter

2022: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

2024: One to One-John and Yoko

2025: Frankenstein.

Soooo...maybe there's a film on 9/5 that fits that bill and I say Yes...that film might be Lance Oppenheim's Primetime.

So, conclusions for a TFF #53 screening are:

Bucking Fastard-99%

Burgundy 80%

Wild Horse Nine 60%

The Basics of Philosophy 60%

Primetime 50/50.

Here's what's still hanging for TFF with Venice titles indicated with ***:

Ancient History

Alpha Gang...TIFF"s Canadian Premiere status indicates a Telluride play but I'm still a little leery that it actually happens TFF #53.

***The Basics of Philosophy

***Burgundy

Company

Diamond

***Primetime

Saturn Return

Sense and Sensibility

***Wild Horse Nine

Yellow Letters

PROVENANCE FOR THE "BETS"

Here's a quick look at info for each film that's already an MFTB "Bet" as well as the current "Maybes". It includes the director, the distribution company, release date if available, the stars of the film and the thing we think pegs it as a TFF player.

The current Bets:

1) Elsinore- dir: Simon Stone, Focus, Nov. 20th Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

2) The Debut-dir: Jesse Eisenberg, A24, Dec. 11th, Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti TIFF International Premiere.

3) Ink-dir: Danny Boyle, Netflix, Dec. 11th, Jack O'Connell, Guy Pearce, Claire Foy, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

4) Club Kid- dir: Jordan Firstman, A24, Nov. 6th, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)- dir: Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, Netflix, Dec. 4th, Penelope Cruz, Glenn Close.

6) A Long Winter- dir: Andrew Haigh, Mubi, TIFF Canadian Premiere, date unknown, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitriona Balfe, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

7) Fjord- dir: Cristian Mungiu, Neon, Oct. 9th, Renate Reinsve, Sebastian Stan, Oct. 9th, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

8) Minotaur-dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev, Mubi, Nov. 20th, Dmitriy Mazurov, Nov. 20th, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

9) Everest: The Other Side-dir: Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Nat Geo, Disney, Oct. 30th, Hilaree Nelson, Jim Morrison, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

10) Tender Loving Care- dir: Mike Leigh, Bleecker Street, Dec. 4th, Kate O'Flynn, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

11) Gentle Monster-dir: Marie Kreutzer, Netflix, Nov. 18th, Lea Seydoux, Catherine Deneuve, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

12) Tenzing-dir: Jennifer Peedom, UTA Independent Film Group and Cross City Films, Oct. 16th, Tom Hiddleston, Willem Defoe,Catriona Balfe, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

13) Fatherland- dir: Pawel Palikowski, Mubi, release date unknown, Sandra Huller, August Diehl, NYFF New York Premiere.

14) Rose- dir: Markus Schleinzer, Mubi, release date unknown, Sandra Huller, NYFF New York Premiere.

15) The Man I Love- dir: Ira Sachs, no known distributor, release date unknown, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Rami Malek, Rebecca Hall (TFF #53 Guest Director), NYFF New York Premiere.

16) My Undesirable Friends Part II- dir: Julia Loktev, Mubi, release date unknown, NYFF New York Premiere.

17) Rehearsals for a Revolution- dir: Pegah Ahangarani, Sony Pictures Classics, release date unknown, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

18) The Unknown- dir: Arthur Harari, Neon, release date unknown, Lea Seydoux, TIFF Canadian Premiere.

19) Bucking Fastard- dir: Werner Herzog, no known distributor, release date unknown, Kate Mara, Rooney mara, Orlando Bloom, Domhnall Gleeson, Early slot at Venice.

20) The Story of Documentary Film- dir: Mark Cousins, Kino Lorber, Cousins is a past advisor to TFF and frequent presenter. However, Story of Doc films played Sundance earlier this year and Cousins' spot as a TFF "Esteemed Advisor" seems to have disappeared. I find him last listed as such in the 2024 TFF #51 program.

And some of the other possible players:

Alpha Gang- dir: David Zellner and Nathan Zellner, CAA Media Finance, no known release date, Cate Blanchett, Dave Bautista, Chris Pine, Lea Seydoux, TIFF International Premiere.

The Basics of Philosophy- dir: Paul Schrader, no known distributor, no known release date, Bill Pullman, Dana Delaney, Jack Huston, Early slot at Venice.

Burgundy- dir: Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, no known distributor, no known release date, Early Venice slot.

Primetime- dir: Lance Oppenheim, A24, Sept. 25th, Robert Pattinson, Merritt Weaver, Anna Faris, Early-ish Venice slot.

Saturn Return- dir: Greg Kwedar, Netflix, release date unknown, Will Pouter, Rachel Brosnahan, Charles Melton...

Sense and Sensibility- dir: Georgia Oakley, Focus, Oct. 16th, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Caitriona, Balfe, George McKay...

Wild Horse Nine- dir: Martin McDonagh, Searchlight, Nov. 6th, John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Early Venice Slot.

Yellow Letters- dir: Ilker Catak, distribution unknown, release date unknown, Won the Silver Bear at Berlin

PRIMETIME TRAILER AND POSTER

As I wrote above, Lance Oppenheim's Primetime is probably in the very last time slot in its initial Venice screening to have a chance to then make it to Telluride (likely scheduled at TFF on Sunday and Monday should it happen. I'm hoping that it does make the cut. To tease you a bit here are the poster and the trailer for the film:

And the trailer from a24 and YouTube:

More Reveals from New York and Toronto / Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol.8 / Tid Bits: La Bola Negra, The Debut

2026-08-06T07:57:19.953-05:00

MORE REVEALS FROM NEW YORK AND TORONTO

The New York Film Fest announced its Main Slate of films for 2026 and its use pf Premiere designations leads MTFB to the following conclusions:

New films to add to your TFF #53 list are:

Fatherland

Rose

My Undesirable Friends Part II

The Man I Love

Also, we think confirmed for Telluride, films we already decided would play from earlier announcements:

Minotaur

A Long Winter

The Unknown

Additional announcements from Toronto suggest T-ride will screen Rehearsals for a Revolution but will not have Alex Gibney's Musk.

I'm pretty sure we have more news coming from both Toronto and New York. Perhaps even today. Watch MTFB Social Media accounts (see below) for any updates that may occur during the day.

so, with new info, here's the latest "Ten (Plus) Bets...

TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 8

Got some changes now...

Last week's Ten (Plus) Bets:

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Tenzig

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang, The Unknown, Sense and Sensibility.

And your shiny brand new Bets:

Andrew Scott in Elsinore

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Tenzig

13) Fatherland

14) Rose

15) The Man I Love

16) My Undesirable Friends Part II

17) Rehearsal for a Revolution

18) The Unknown

19) Bucking Fastard

20) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities:

Ancient History

Alpha Gang

The Basics of Philosophy

Burgundy

Company

Diamond

Primetime

Saturn Return

Sense and Sensibility

Wild Horse Nine

Yellow Letters

TIDBITS

***Netflix has moved the release date for La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) up from its original date of Nov. 6th to Oct 16th. The streamer is giving the Cannes hit a 47 day theatrical window in what is seen as a bid to enhance its Oscar prospects.

***Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut has been announced as the closing night film for the BFI/London Film Festival.

Both films are widely expected to screen over Labor Day weekend in Telluride.

EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2

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Surveying the Landscape / 2.5 Million Views / La Bola Negra Has a Poster / Tidbits

2026-08-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE

Here's a quick snapshot of films that I believe could still make the Telluride lineup:

Ancient History

The Basics of Philosophy

Bucking Fastard

Company

Diamond

The Dreamed Adventure

Everytime

Fatherland

Musk

Primetime

Rose

Saturn Return

Sense and Sensibility

Wild Horse Nine

Yellow Letters

and if there is a Sundance crossover:

Josephine

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

The Weight

TWO AND ONE HALF MILLION VIEWS

MTFB swept past 2.5 million views in is 18 year history over the weekend. those views are from 2477 posts that have posted since august of 2008. Average per post 1009.2 views.

Thanks to all the readers!

LA BOLA NEGRA (THE BLACK BALL) HAS A POSTER

TIDBITS

***Gentle Monster to open in the U.S. on Oct. 30th

***Fatherland to open in the U.S. on Oct. 23rd.

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MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 7 / Who's Got What-Distributors: Amazon-MGM and Searchlight / Mike Leigh...May Be Done / Today's Correction: Possible Love

2026-07-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 7

Only five weeks until we find out with certainty what will play at TFF #53. Here's a reminder of what MTFB was predicting last week:

1) The Debut

2) Elsinore

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Minotaur

8) Fjord

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Gentle Monster

11) Tenzig

12) Tender Loving Care

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Behemoth! Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang.

And here's your updated "Bets":

1) Elsinore

2) The Debut

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Fjord

8) Minotaur

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Tender Loving Care

11) Gentle Monster

12) Tenzig

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang, The Unknown, Sense and Sensibility.

WHO'S GOT WHAT-DISTRIBUTORS-AMAZON-MGM AND SEARCHLIGHT

We're continuing to look at distribution companies that have a robust presence at Telluride over the last five years. Today we look at both Amazon-MGM and then Searchlight.

AMAZON-MGM

Here are films distributed by Amazon-MGM at Telluride the last five fests:

2021: Encounter

2022: Wildcat, Goodnight Oppy

2023: Saltburn, Cassandro

2024: Nickel Boys

2025: Man on the Run

As I looked through the films Amazon-MGM might screen at Telluride these seemed the most possible:

Madden

Verity

I had been thinking that I Play Rocky was an outside Telluride shot but its World Premiere status at Toronto nuked that notion.

Chances:

Madden 35%

Verity 25%

SEARCHLIGHT

As for Searchlight, two films seem most "in the mix" with the reveal last Tuesday that Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! will be the New York Film Festival's Centerpiece program as a World Premiere and thus not appearing at Telluride.

Wild Horse Nine (M. McDonagh)

Sweetsick (A. Birch)

McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine seems to be Amazon-MGM's big push this fall for awards season. That makes sense as McDonagh's last two films ( Three Billboard and Banshees of Inisherin) earned 16 nominations. Wild Horse Nine certainly has the pedigree to be a film that fests are strongly pursuing this year.

Alice Birch's Sweetsick is reportedly in post-production with various sources suggesting either a late 2026 release or early 2027.

Chances for either of these films for a TFF #53 play:

Wild Horse Nine 50%

Sweetsick 20%

IMAGE OF ELSINORE

We got a first look from Focus Features of Andrew Scott in Elsinore which is very likely World Premiering at Telluride. Here that is:

IMDb description:

"A powerful, deeply moving and inspiring story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London."

We found out yesterday that Elsinore will open the BFI/London Film Festival in October.

Focus has announced a Nov. 20th release date for the film.

MIKE LEIGH...MAY BE DONE

A number of sources indicate that Mike Leigh's upcoming Tender Loving Care may be his last. TLC looks likely to screen at TFF #53.

Indiewire reported on Tuesday"

"British filmmaker Mike Leigh, one of the few directors to have won both the Venice Golden Lion and the Cannes Palme d’Or, told IndieWire that his upcoming feature, “Tender Loving Care,” may be his final film."

Leigh revealed a diagnosis of a disease that attacks a person's musculature.

The complete Indiewire article is linked here.

TODAY'S CORRECTION

In last Monday's post I referenced an a analysis from The Playlist that included some speculation that Possible Love could play Telluride. However, Toronto lists it as a North American Premiere which, absent some premiere status snafu, would mean it will not play Telluride.

EMAIL: mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2

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The Corrections / The Playlist With New Telluride Predictions / The Palm Clean-Up Continues / New Bucking Fastard Clip

2026-07-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

THE CORRECTIONS

After posting on Thursday a couple of helpful readers pointed out a couple of errors I made regarding three films in the Toronto and Venice announcements.

Initially, I was reminded that Kore-eda's Look Back and Bernal's Hombre al Agua Venice films that could pop-up at Telluride. In addition, a separate correction for Harari's The Unknown which Toronto lists as a Canadian Premiere so we need to think about it seriously as a TFF #53 possibility.

I have gone back to Thursday's post and corrected it accordingly.

THE PALM CLEAN-UP CONTINUES

The Hollywood Reporter posted an update on work to restore the flooded Palm Theater prior to TFF #53. MTFB readers will recall that The Palm was flooded by massive rains last week causing substantial damage to parts of the facility.

Here's what TFF director Julie Huntsinger had to say in that article:

“We knew about the flood the day it happened,” Telluride Film Festival chief Julie Huntsinger tells THR. “We’ve been working super closely with the school district, and we trust their representation that things will be ready in time for the festival. We know there’s work that they will have to continue to do after the festival, but we trust that the pieces will be in place for the Palm in time for Labor Day weekend.”

THR reports that the aim at the moment is to The Palm up and running two weeks before the film fest for another event scheduled there.

Sounds encouraging....keep fingers crossed TFF fans.

THE PLAYLIST WITH NEW TELLURIDE PREDICITIONS

Gregory Ellwood writing for The Playlist makes some interesting claims about Telluride in an article he put up last Thursday looking at all the info about announcements from Toronto, Venice and New York. Among the comments he makes are:

***"Lee Chang-dong's “Possible Love,” his first film since 2018’s acclaimed drama "Burning.” It also appears set for Telluride,"

***"Also meant for Telluride are second screenings of the aforementioned “Wild Horse Nine,” Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Minatour," Christian Mungiu's "Fjord," Beth de Araújo's Sundance award-winner "Josephine," as well as Danny Boyle’s "Ink,” which is opening Venice."

***"We’re still wrapping our brains around who at Warner Bros. convinced Alejandro González Iñárritu to pass on both Venice and Telluride for “Digger.” Especially as the filmmaker has attended Telluride as part of the festival “family” many times over the years. Maybe “Digger” turns out to be a surprise Sunday screening - there’s time - and the fact that Tom Cruise has never trekked there is a great way to kick off your awards campaign, but at the moment? A big old “no.”

Takeaways from these comments:

1) That's real news regarding Possible Love, if true.

2) Ellwood saying Wild Horse Nine is headed to TFF would be really big news.

3) Josephine is, as Ellwood mentions, a Sundance film which is usually a disqualifier for a TFF selection, but that "rule" isn't hard and fast. (As a side-note, I also think Sundance's The Only Living Pickpocket in New York could confound that "rule" as well).

4) The whole concept of what's going on with Digger is laid out well.

The complete post from The Playlist is linked here.

https://x.com/thegregorye/status/2080405714170699856?s=43&t=j1afhDrrsGu6QHIM0TFgEQ

NEW BUCKING FASTARD CLIP

I still believe that Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard is likely going to TFF #53. The film's logline is very interesting per IMDB:

"Jean and Joan Holbrooke are two sisters who are so close they speak in unison, love the same man, and have the same dreams. In search of an imaginary land - where true love is possible - they start digging through an entire mountain range."

Bucking Fastard has been selected for Golden Lion competition at the Venice Film Festival.

And, as of a couple of days ago, we have a new clip from the film. Here it is from HanWay Films and YouTube:

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Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53-Vol, 6 / Venice Announces / Palm Update

2026-07-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

TEN (PLUS) BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 6

Six weeks until TFF unveils its lineup!

Here's your sixth look at MTFB's best guess as to what could play.

We begin with last week's list:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

A Long Winter

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: Artificial, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

And now, after the news of this past week, here's your latest Ten (Plus) Bets for TFF #53 ranked by likelihood):

1) The Debut

2) Elsinore

3) Ink

4) Club Kid

5) La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

6) A Long Winter

7) Minotaur

8) Fjord

9) Everest: The Other Side

10) Gentle Monster

11) Tenzig

12) Tender Loving Care

13) Bucking Fastard

14) Fatherland

15) The Story of Documentary Film

Other possibilities: Behemoth! Yellow Letters, Rose, Alpha Gang.

VENICE ANNOUNCES

As MTFB readers know, the Venice to Telluride connection is usually fairly robust with an average of nearly eight films playing both fests over the last five years. Here are the films that feel most likely to do both fests in 2026 in light of Venice announcing its lineup early this morning:

From the Competition lineup:

Company/C. Affleck

Ink/Boyle (all but confirmed for Telluride)

Bucking Fastard/Herzog

Wild Horse Nine/McDonagh

Primetime/Oppenheim

Out of Competition

The Basics of Philosophy/Schrader

Non-Fiction:

Burgundy/Dweck and Kershaw

Musk/Gibney

Everest: The Other Side (all but confirmed for Telluride)

Remember, our next clue about what could play Venice and then Telluride comes when the former announces its schedule.. The films that play both places will need to have an early slot in Venice.

All sections of the Venice lineup are linked here.

https://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/2026/lineup

PALM UPDATE

After devastating floods an mudslides in Telluride last week, the first assessment of school facilities, including a seriously impacted Palm Theater, are emeging.

The Telluride Times reported that:

"Following meetings and a walk-through Monday of the Michael D. Palm Theatre and Telluride Intermediate School and Telluride Middle/High School complex, Nicole Hattler, Palm Arts’ executive director, described herself as “cautiously optimistic.”

Telluride city and school officials noted that the first priority will be getting all other affected areas in the schools up and ready for the opening of school by Aug. 18th. Further, they note that seating is the top priority for The Palm.

That complete article is linked here.

https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_24fa27f5-c902-452e-9879-6dd2717e1a17.html

This post was corrected on July 24th.

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Late Breaking from Toronto / The Palm Under Water / Rebecca Hall Is Your TFF #53 Guest Director / This and That /

2026-07-20T09:23:09.305-05:00

LATE BREAKING FROM TORONTO

The Toronto Fest announced a number of titles for TFF 2026 and from their premiere designations we can infer that the following films are likely playing Telluride:

A Long Winter

Elsinore

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Fjord

Minotaur

Ink

The debut

Tender Loving Care

and others.

Not going to Telluride:

Coward (the biggest surprise to me)

All of a Sudden

Bunker

Prima Facie

Bitter Christmas

Clarissa

More to come...

THE PALM UNDER WATER

Although not strictly a story about The SHOW...it is. Telluride endured a substantial mudslide last Friday and The Palm and the Intermediate and Middle schools were all affected. The Palm especially. A breach in a loading door allowed immense amounts of water and move to move into The Palm Theater. Heres' the pic that has been most prevalent coming out of Telluride (the photo is from The Telluride Times):

That's the floor of The Palm.

How does affect the fest? Will it affect the Fest?

More details can be found here from The Telluride Times.

https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_32546b30-de8d-4012-8929-88d83de86934.html

Stay tuned.

REBECCA HALL IS YOUR TFF#53 GUEST DIRECTOR

The Telluride Film Festival has named actress-director-writer Rebecca Hall to act as Guest Director for its 53rd edition. Here's the scuttlebutt from Tellurideinside.com:

Festival organizers annually select one of the world’s great film enthusiasts to join them in the creation of the Festival’s program lineup. The Guest Director serves as a key collaborator in Telluride Film Festival’s programming decisions, bringing new ideas, unique perspectives and overlooked films to the gathering. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Hall’s film selections, along with the rest of the Festival lineup, will remain a secret until just before Opening Day.

“Rebecca Hall is a unique and brilliant person with an extraordinary basket of gifts who embodies the magical combination we look for in a Guest Director,” comments Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “Whether she is acting, writing or directing, her work reflects an uncommon curiosity, intelligence and generosity of spirit – and she is adventurous to boot! She approaches cinema with the same thoughtfulness that she brings to every creative endeavor, and we know her wonderful background and perspective will make her an inspired Guest Director. We are thrilled to welcome Rebecca to Telluride and can’t wait to experience the films that have shaped and continue to inspire her remarkable artistic journey.”

Rebecca Hall is a celebrated British-American actress, writer and director whose work spans independent films, major studio productions, television and the stage. She will next star in Adam Wingard’s A24 action thriller “Onslaught” and appears in the upcoming season of Netflix’s “Monster,” as well as “The Man I Love” and “The End of It,” both of which premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. Hall recently completed production on the zombie thriller “Zero Protocol” and is set to write, direct and star in “Four Days Like Sunday.”

Hall made her directorial debut with “Passing,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to widespread critical acclaim and earned BAFTA nominations for Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. As an actor, she has received Golden Globe, BAFTA, Independent Spirit, Critics’ Choice, Gotham and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for performances in films including “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Christine,Peter Hujar’s Day, “The Town”; “The Prestige”; “The Night House”; “Godzilla vs. Kong”; and “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”

Her distinguished career also includes award-winning work in television and lauded performances on both the West End and Broadway.

“This will be my first time at Telluride,” says Rebecca. “But I’ve been hearing tales of this annual utopian film community for years, always alongside sentences like ‘the one filmmakers love the most.’ ‘Your favorite film festival’s favorite film festival.’ ‘The one where you get to watch more films than promote them.’ I always hoped I’d get to come with a film, so to get to bring 6 films feels like an incredible act of generosity on the part of the universe. I can’t wait to watch all of them with you.”

Past Guest Directors include Laurie Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, John Boorman, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Don DeLillo, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Buck Henry, Pico Iyer, Barry Jenkins, Edith Kramer, Rachel Kushner, Jonathan Lethem, Phillip Lopate, Guy Maddin, Errol Morris, Michael Ondaatje, Joshua Oppenheimer, Alexander Payne, B. Ruby Rich, Salman Rushdie, Peter Sellars, John Simon, Volker Schlöndorff, Stephen Sondheim, Bertrand Tavernier, Caetano Veloso and Slavoj Žižek.

THIS AND THAT

Interesting notes from the past four days:

***James Gray's Paper Tiger has been named the opening night film for the New York Film Festival and is billed as a World Premiere. That means the film, which I have had consistently as one my Ten Best for The SHOW, will not be screening at The SHOW...unless some behind-the-scenes action turns it into a "sneak" at TFF.

***Sources say that Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning will not be ready for Venice in time. That would mean it also won't be ready for Telluride either.

***World of Reel reports that Joel Coen's Jack of Spades is likely not releasing until next year-so no Telluride.

***Danny Boyle's Ink has been chosen to open The Venice Film Fest, It will screen on Sept, 2nd giving it a window to also make the TFF #53 lineup. Additionally Ink has been acquired by Netflix which doesn't hurt its Telluride chances.

***Gold Derby hints at Telluride slots for Behemoth! and The Debut in an article about the selection of Rebecca Hall as TFF #53's Guest Director.

https://www.goldderby.com/film/2026/rebecca-hall-telluride-2026-guest-director-movie-slate-dates/

***The Toronto International Film Festival announced five titles for its latest edition. Of note was the billing of The Alpha Gang as an International Premiere which could indicate a play at Telluride. The only other possible explanation I can come up with is that TIFF and Fantastic Fest overlap...barely. TIFF runs Sept. 10-20 and Fantastic Fest run Sept. 17-24. I suppose that Alpha Gang could play Fantastic Fest early and Toronto late and that would explain TIFF labeling the film as an International Premiere. We'll have to wait on the film announcements from Fantastic Fest for further clarity.

IONCINEMA GUESSES FOR VENICE

Ioncinema took a shot at guessing some Venetian possibilities and also, inadvertently made some claims about Telluride possibilities in and post from Saturday. In the article they mention four of their Venice guesses as possibly going to T-ride as well:

Behemoth!

The Debut

Wild Horse Nine

Musk

Among other titles they predict for Venice there are some that I think have some Telluride crossover chances:

Bucking Fastard

Bunker

Tender Loving Care

The Basics of Philosophy

Here Comes the Flood

We should see the Venice lineup announcement this week sometime. Of more import following that will be the Venice schedule which can give hints as to possible Telluride films.

The link to the Ioncinema post is here.

https://www.ioncinema.com/news/film-festivals/2026-venice-film-festival-projecting-the-lido-lineup

FILM DATING

Newly announced release dates for some films that could be in the mix for Telluride:

Musk Oct. 16th.

Club Kid Nov. 6th

All of a Sudden Nov. 25th.

Tender Loving Care Dec. 4th.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53-Vol.5 / Who's Got What? Distributors: Mubi / Is Behemoth! Coming? / Next Best Picture Guesses Telluride (and other fall fests)

2026-07-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL.5

The countdown to TFF #53 grows shorter and shorter.

Here's the fifth installment of MTFB's Ten Bets, the weekly guess at what films make the Telluride lineup. We start with a reminder of last week's bets:

Artificial

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

If you read last Monday's post you'll recall that Neon has reversed course on Luca Guadagnino's Artificial and, at least for now, are avowing that the film "isn't likely to go down the standard festival route" which Deadline points out does not preclude some festival appearance. Heck, Deadline even says they think it will likely will be at some festival. As a matter of fact, Deadline's language doesn't shut the door on Artificial at TFF but rather, sounds like Telluride might be the most likely landing spot:

"That doesn’t mean it won’t pop up at a festival in some form (we bet it will), but it won’t have the traditional launch with the bells and whistles of a red carpet, press conference, junkets, etc."

So, I'm moving Artificial to the list of possibles and Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter back into the Ten Bets:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

A Long Winter

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: Artificial, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

A couple of other notes...

For Ten Bets #6 next week I'll begin to actually list the films in order of likelihood to play...

And we should get some news from Toronto which should be informative.

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: MUBI

MTFB continues its look at the film distribution companies that have had the largest profiles at the Telluride Film Festival over the past five years in an effort to, perhaps, set the table for films that could be headed to TFF #53. Up to this point for 2026 we have examined: Netflix, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features and A24. Each of those outfits have averaged two or more films at TFF in that time span.

Today we look at Mubi, which has had nine films at Telluride since 2021 but whose footprint has increased over the last couple of years. Additionally Mubi could potentially provide more films to TFF #53 than any other distributor.

Here's Mubi's history over the last five years:

2021: Unclenching the Fists.

2022: No films.

2023: Fallen Leaves, High & Low: John Galliano, Tehachapi.

2024: Bird.

2025: The History of Sound, King Hamlet, La Grazia, Mastermind.

And these are the films in the Mubi warehouse we think might be TFF possibilities (with their chance of making the lineup):

Coward 70%

Fatherland 65%

A Long Winter 55%

Minotaur 50%

Rose 40%

Hope 25%

NEXT BEST PICTURE GUESSES TELLIRIDE (AND OTHER FALL FESTS)

Matt Neglia and his crew at Next Best Picture have posted a massive list of films for each of the four major "fall" film fests: Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York. Looking at his T-ride list is intriguing, Here it is with films on the MTFB Ten Bets (and possibilities) list indicated with ***.

All Of A Sudden (Ryusuki Hamaguchi)

American Doctor (Poh Si Teng)

Artificial (Luca Guadagnino)***

Behemoth! (Tony Gilroy)

Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)

Bucking Fastard (Werner Herzog)***

Club Kid (Jordan Firstman)***

Coward (Lukas Dhont)***

The Debut (Jesse Eisenberg)***

Elsinore (Simon Stone)***

Fatherland (Paweł Pawlikowski)***

Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)***

Iron Boy (Louis Clichy)

Josephine (Beth de Araújo)

La Bola Negra (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi)***

La Gradiva (Marine Atlan)

A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh)***

Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)***

Mouse (Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson)

The Only Living Pick Pocket In New York (Noah Segan)

Primetime (Lance Oppenheim)

Rehearsals for a Revolution (Pegah Ahangarani)

Rose (Markus Schleinzer)

Saturn Return (Greg Kwedar)

The Unknown (Arthur Harari)

Yellow Letters (İlker Çatak)***

Couple of notes:

Films on the NBP list that are not currently a "Bet" by MTFB but are on the radar are: Behemoth!, Bitter Christmas, La Gradiva, Primetime, Rose and Saturn Return.

Josephine and The Only Living Pickpocket in New York were Sundance selections which doesn't rule them out for Telluride, but it's uncommon for a film to screen both places.

Next Best Pictures' complete set of lists is linked here.

https://nextbestpicture.com/predicting-the-2026-fall-film-festival-lineups-for-venice-telluride-tiff-nyff/

IS BEHEMOTH! COMING?

Lot's of buzz early this week with first look photos and a trailer for Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! The film stars Pedro Pascal and is described at IMDb like this:

"Follows a musician from a family of musicians who returns to Los Angeles. A love letter to the music of the movies and the people who make it."

Behemoth! is being distributed by Searchlight and there is a good deal of speculation that it will be making a fall film fest run though whether that would include Telluride is very uncertain at this point.

Here's an image from the Vanity Fair article:

In addition, Searchlight dropped a trailer on Tuesday. Here that is from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T64gVlcc1I&t=99s

Searchlight hasn't yet announced a release date from the film.

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Who's Got What? Distributors: A24 / The Artificial Switcheroo / SPC Adds Bunker

2026-07-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: A24

Our fifth look at frequent film distribution companies that have been represented at Telluride over the last five years lands today on A24.

Over the last five TFFs, these are the films from A24 that have screened:

2021: Red Rocket, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

2022: Aftersun, Close.

2023: Janet Planet, Occupied City, Tuesday, The Zone of Interest.

2024: No films.

2025: If I had Legs I'd Kick You, Pillion.

As you can see, A24 has had 10 films at TFF over these last fests with 2024 being the anomaly with no A24 films.

I'm tracking three films from A24 that show the most promise for a TFF berth:

The Debut, Club Kid, Primetime and Ancient History.

I honestly could see all four making the TFF #53 lineup.

Their chances:

The Debut 75%

Club Kid 65%

Primetime 50%

Ancient History 40% (added as a possible title on 8/3)

THE ARTIFICIAL SWITCHEROO

Artificial Director Luca Guadagnino

It wasn't more than about an hour after I pinched the button and published last Monday's MTFB, which included the latest "Ten Bets" that Neon messed with me.

I had re-instated Luca Guadagnino's Artificial to the Ten Bets. An hour later news broke that:

"Luca Guadagnino‘s much-talked about Artificial is expected to forgo a traditional fall festival rollout, we understand."

That reporting came from Deadline.com

Now, the story backed off the wholistic claim of "traditional festival rollout" later in the article stating:

"We understand there has been interest from multiple A-list festivals, and while things can change, we hear the film isn’t likely to go down the standard festival route. That doesn’t mean it won’t pop up at a festival in some form (we bet it will), but it won’t have the traditional launch with the bells and whistles of a red carpet, press conference, junkets, etc."

Soooo, does that mean a TFF berth is still in play? Maybe.

The complete Deadline article is linked here.

https://deadline.com/2026/07/artificial-not-getting-traditional-fall-festival-rollout-1236978281/

SPC ADDS BUNKER

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Florian Zellers' Bunker for North American distribution according to multiple sources. The film stars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

Deadline reports that, "An Oscar campaign is being lined up with a qualifying run end of year before release in early 2027."

The IMDb description:

"Follows a married couple of 17 years. The husband is an architect who accepts a controversial project to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. This decision leads his wife to question their marriage."

Zeller's The Father reportedly would have played Telluride had Covid not nuked the fest in 2020.

The complete Deadline post is linked here.

https://deadline.com/2026/07/javier-bardem-penelope-cruz-bunker-sells-sony-classics-1236978273/

So, in retrospect, I profiled SPC's possible TFF chances on July 6th. Bunker now gets added to he list of SPC possibilities for Telluride with an equal chance as Almodovar's Bitter Christmas to make the list.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53-Vol. 4 / Pause: Moves This Week... / Back to the 4th Ten Bets / Who's Got What? Distributors: Focus Features

2026-07-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53-VOL. 4

Last week's Ten Bets list:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Artificial and The Story of Documentary Film.

PAUSE: MOVES THIS WEEK...

We'll get to the new Ten Bets after this ...

Variety reports that hot property Elsinore starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman has been acquired by Focus Features after what they report as a:

"a competitive bidding war among several studios for the Simon Stone-directed drama"

MTFB has been following the emergence of the film since last week marking it as a late breaking possibility for TFF #53. Variety's tory on the acquisition by Focus also had something to say about that:

"Sources tell Variety that programmers at each of the fall festivals — Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York — are circling the title, though a premiere venue has yet to be set."

The Playlist underscored the point reporting that:

"(Elsinore) is also a movie that, like “Artificial,” has gotten into every festival it has screened for."

The way I read that is that all four fests are eager to program the film and now it's matter of what Focus wants to do...where they wan to with the film. It sure doesn't slow down the speculation that it might well be included for The SHOW.

Add that to the other notices last week that Artificial had been invited by "all the major fall festivals" per The Playlist.

On top of that, Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut seems to be picking up steam with his claim that the film will debut at a fall film fest. Don't discount that A Real Pain played Telluride nor should we ignore that Emma Stone, who we believe is a big fan of Telluride, is/was a producer for both films.

All of this has altered the new Ten Bets from last week. Which leads us back to...

Here's the complete story from Variety.

https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/focus-features-elsinore-andrew-scott-acquisition-1236801625/

And also from The Playlist.

https://theplaylist.net/halfway-to-oscars-2027-project-hail-mary-la-bola-negra-digger-andrew-scott-20260701/

BACK TO THE 4TH TEN BETS

Here's your latest Ten Bets for TFF #53...

Artificial

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Elsinore

Fatherland

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Fjord, Yellow Letters and The Story of Documentary Film.

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: FOCUS FEATURES

I MTFB's continuing look at common distributors of films that make the Telluride lineup we turn for Focus Features which, over the last five years, has been the fourth most ubiquitou distributor at TFF. They've screened 11 films at The SHOW in that time:

2021: Belfast, The Card Counter.

2022: TAR, Armageddon Time.

2023: The Holdovers, The Bikeriders

2024: Conclave, Piece by Piece.

2025: Hamnet, Bugonia, Hamlet.

11 films, six of which were nominated for Best Picture. That's an impressive list. So going into TFF #53 you have to think Focus will have at least two films make the grade... Here's their most likely applicants:

(The newly acquired) Elsinore, Sense and Sensibility, Hope and The Uprising.

Chances for TFF #53:

Elsinore 70%

Sense and Sensibility 40%

Hope 25%

The Uprising 20%

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Who's Got What? Distributors-Sony Pictures Classics / Whispers: Elsinore??? / The Debut of The Debut?

2026-07-06T07:55:18.896-05:00

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS-SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Here's the third installment for 2026 for taking a look at distribution companies which have had a strong relationship with the Telluride Film Festival. Today we gaze at Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) which likely has the longest connection to the fest overall. Though SPC comes in as the third most represented distributor over the last five years with 13 films appearing, the SPC/TFF connection goes back many more fests. SPC is always a strong bet to have a film or films at TFF.

Here's the five year track record:

2021: The Duke, Julia

2022: Living, One Fine Morning, The Return of Tanya Tucker, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams.

2023: Daddio, The Teachers' Lounge, They Shot the Piano Player.

2024: Don't Let's Go to the Dog's Tonight, The Outrun.

2025: Blue Moon, A Private Life

It's solid five year run averaging between two and three films per year,

Now, here's what's in the SPC treasure chest for a possible TFF #53 spot and my current guess about each film's probability of playing:

(If it's ready) The Statement/McCarthy 50%

Bunker 50%

Bitter Christmas/Almodovar 50%

Rehearsals for a Revolution/Ahangarani 30%

Iron Boy/Clichy 25%

[Revised 7-13-26]

WHISPERS: ELSINORE???

Andrew Scott at TFF #52 (Getty Images)

Maybe keep an eye out for Elsinore starring Andrew Scott. The film is being shopped for U.S. distribution with a deal expected "soon".

The logline: A powerful, deeply moving and inspiring story of the actor Ian Charleson who faced incredible odds while preparing to give the performance of his life in Hamlet at the National Theatre in London.

Scott is starring as Charleson who is probably best known to Americans for playing Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire.

Anyway, World of Reel and The Playlist reported in the last few days that it could be a surprise entry at the end of this year into the Oscar race.

An intriguing note from The Playlist story: Ellwood claims the film has been accepted by multiple film fests writing:

"This (Elsinore) is also a movie that, like “Artificial,” has gotten into every festival it has screened for."

Of course we have no way of knowing which and how many fests are being referenced but it certainly doesn't disqualify the possibility of T-ride.

Scott, who attended TFF last year with Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, could return.

Keep an ear to the ground regarding who picks up distribution for the film.

THE DEBUT OF THE DEBUT?

I think everyone who reads this space with any frequency has figured out that I'm really excited about Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut.

Now comes news that the film has been confirmed by Eisenberg to be premiering at a "fall film festival". That news comes via an interview with Screen Daily as Eisenberg is at the Karlovy Film Fest to receive its President's Award.

From Screen Daily/Screen International's X account:

Sooo...not a lock for Telluride, but not ruling it out either.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53 Vol. 3 / Who's Got What: Distributors-Neon / Dating News

2026-07-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53 VOL. 3

Here's the new update of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #53. First, last week's bets:

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter and The Story of Documentary Film.

Now a look at this week's Ten Bets and Other Possibilities:

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter, Artificial and The Story of Documentary Film.

WHO'S GOT WHAT: DISTRIBUTORS-NEON

I'm continuing my look at distributors who have a significant presence at Telluride over the past five years. Last Monday we started with Netflix, which has been the most ubiquitous in the half decade. Today we look at Neon...the 2nd most "present" outfit since 2021 with 15 films over that span:

2021: Flee, Petite Maman, Spencer, Three Minutes...a Lengthening.

2022: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Broker.

2023: Anatomy of a Fall, La Chimera, Perfect Days, The Royal Hotel.

2024: Anora, The End, The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

2025: It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value.

And the Neon larder is stacked with primarily Cannes Fest films and a new addition just this week:

All of a Sudden (Hamaguchi)

Clarissa (Erisi/Erisi)

Fjord (Mungiu)

Hope (Hong-Jin)

Paper Tiger (Gray)

A Place in Hell (Dumont)

Sheep in the Box (Kore-eda)

The Unknown (Hariri)

And the late breaking addition (and non-Cannes film) Luca Guadagnino's Artificial. Neon picked this up after Amazon-MGM decided they would not release it. Artificial had been a film I have been keeping an eye on re: TFF #53 but Amazon-MGM had made noise that it was going to premiere at South by Southwest and release in 2027 which moved it right off the MTFB watch list.

Neon has already made it clear they intend to place the film square in the middle of the upcoming Oscar season and there is a good deal of buzz that it will be submitted for Venice. All this puts it back on the table as a TFF #53 potential selection. So much so, in fact, you'll note that it has already made the list of "Other Possibilities" in this week's "Ten Bets".

As to the other eight Neon possibles and their chances?

Paper Tiger 70%

Fjord 50%

Clarissa 50%

All of a Sudden 40%

Hope 25%

A Place in Hell 25%

Artificial??? Say 45% for right now.

[Revised 7-13-26]

We'll look at Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) on Monday.

DATING NEWS

There have been a number of notices for release dates for some films that could be under considration for TFF:

Sense and Sensibility: Sept. 25.

Fjord: Oct. 9.

Saturn Return: Oct. 9.

Klara and the Sun: Oct. 23.

Wild Horse Nine: Nov. 6.

Minotaur: Nov. 20.

Clarissa Dec. 25.

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Who's Got What? Distributors: Netflix / Venetian Speculation: The Hollywood Reporter

2026-06-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

WHO'S GOT WHAT? DISTRIBUTORS: NETFLIX

Each summer it has become the habit here at MTFB to take a look at the film distribution companies that have the largest presence at TFF historically and scan their list of films for potential titles that could end up in the San Juans come Labor Day.

This year, I calibrated the last five TFFs to determine which companies on which to focus. Here's the number of films that each of the eight most frequent distributors over hat time have screened at Telluride:

Netflix 24

Neon 15

Sony Pictures Classics 13

Focus Features 11

A24 10

Mubi 9

Amazon-MGM 7

Searchlight 5

Not all of these distributors can be expected every year but commonly are.

So, we start the 2025 parade of distributors with the outfit that has been to TFF the most over the most half decade and that's Netflix with 24 films.

2021:The Power of the Dog, The Hand of God, The Lost Daughter, Procession.

2022: Bardo, Sr. The Wonder, lady Chatterley's Lover.

2023: Nyad, Rustin, El Conde.

2024: Emilia Perez, Maria, Martha, The Piano Lesson, Will and Harper, Apocalypse in the Tropics.

2025: Frankenstein, Jay Kelly, The Ballad of a Small Player, The Secret Agent, Cover-Up, Nouvellle Vague, The New Yorker at 100.

24 films over these last five years (13 in the last two) but this year seems like Netflix may not be as present. It feels like the streamer just doesn't have the depth of potential films as they may have had in the past.

For awhile I thought they might release Narnia: The Magician's Nephew for the holiday season and that it might actually be a Telluride possibility because of the film's director, Greta Gerwig, who has had, along with her husband Noah Baumbach, a fairly substantial relationship with TFF. But it has been dated for theatrical release on Feb. 12, 2027 which suggests that there's not a chance it goes to Telluride (and realistically, there wasn't much chance outside my head).

Then there's Greg Kwedar's Saturn Return (Train Dreams, Sing Sing) which is on Variety's "first look" at 2026-27 Oscar predictions BUT is listed at IMDb as being under Netflix's control for VOD and has only a very non-specific "2026" listed as its release date. Kwedar, along with producing partner Clint Bentley are on a roll. The cast includes Rachel Brosnahan and Will Poulter.

Additionally, Fernando Meirelles could return to Telluride with Here Comes the Flood. It has an ambiguous "2026" release and some big name stars: Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Meirelles was at Telluride in 2019 with The Two Popes... that followed a long absence after his previous TFF experience in 2002 with City of God.

Netflix has a couple of films that played Cannes that are also likely in play: Gentle Monster and La Bola Negra (The Black Ball).

Marie Kreuzter's Gentle Monster had a tough time at Cannes with a middling critical response at best and no prize from being with the Palme d'Or competition.

And finally, what is probably Netflix's most likely Telluride player: La Bola Negra (The Black Ball). A critical success (85 on Metacritic) and co-winners for Best Director at Cannes. Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo shred the prize for direction with Fatherland's Pawel Pawlikowski.

So here are your chances per MTFB for each film of making the TFF #53 lineup:

The Black Ball 70%

Saturn Return 50%

Gentle Monster 40%

Here Comes the Flood 30%

***Netflix added Ink on July 18th

It's also very likely that Netflix will have other titles not listed here that do make the TFF #53 lineup.

Coming up on Monday...Neon...and they are loaded.

VENETIAN SPECULATION

The Hollywood Reporter, among other outlets, unleashed speculation about what films could be announced for the Venice Film Festival. Frequent readers of MTFB know that the Venice to Telluride connection is very powerful and I expect this year to be no different with 6-8 titles making an early play at Venice and then screening a day or two later at T-ride.

The key to puzzling that out is a two step process. See what's been selected and then wait to find out when a film is scheduled to play in Venice. If your film plays withing the first 3-4 days in Italy...there's a decent chance it will also play in Colorado.

So here's a selection of potential Venetian titles that could jump the pond using The Hollywood Reporter's list from just over a week ago, THR has listed 40 title in alphabetical order...so I will too with director and U.S. distributor where possible:

A Long Winter (Haigh/Mubi)

Behemoth! (T. Gilroy/Searchlight)

Being Heumann (Heder/Apple)

Bucking Fastard (Herzog/???)

Bunker (Zeller/???)

Here Comes the Flood (Meirelles/Netflix)

Ink (Boyle/???)

I Play Rocky (Farrelly/Amazon-MGM)

Untitled Jesse Eisenberg [The Debut] (Eisenberg/A24)

Look Back (Kore-eda/GKIDS)

Musk Gibney/Bleecker Street)

Primetime (Oppenheim/A24)

Saturn Return (Kwedar/Netflix)

Tender Loving Care (Leigh/Bleecker Street)

The Basics of Philosophy (Schrader/???)

The Social Reckoning (Sorkin/Columbia)

The Statement (McCarthy/SPC)

Wild Horse Nine (McDonagh/

Interestingly, the THR mentions Telluride as a possible stop for films on their list:

A Long Winter

Being Heumann

Ink

The Social Reckoning

and Paul Greengrass's The Uprising...which, as you can see, isn't on my list above.

The other thing that's interesting is that the list includes Alejandro Inarritu's Digger, which, as far as I know, is still on record from Warners as having no fall fest plans...interesting.

The complete THR list of 40 films is linked here.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/venice-2026-buzz-dune3-digger-mike-leigh-werner-herzog/the-statement-director-tom-mccarthy/

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A Legend of TFF Passes / Ten Bets for TFF #53 Vol. 2 / Trailers!

2026-06-25T09:39:30.500-05:00

A LEGEND OF TFF PASSES

Jim Bedford passed away on Saturday, June 20th, 2026. He was 81.

Bedford, "BF" to his friends, was a giant part of the Telluride Film Festival from the very beginning listed as the Fest's Telluride "coordinator" right below the founders of the fest in the 1974 program for TFF #1.

The only reason I know that is that I have a duplicated copy of that first year's program courtesy of Mr. Bedford. I also have an original copy of every Telluride program since then, again courtesy of Mr. Bedford.

He seemed to be a fan of the blog, particularly the "history of the fest pages" that you can look at by clicking the links at the bottom of the masthead/MTFB logo at the top of this page. All of the work that I did to put that together a few years back that covers 1974-2005 comes from those programs.

Mr. Bedford and I had exchanged some emails over the years so we, weren't strangers, but I had never met him face-to-face until a couple of years ago. That came about as a result of an invitation from him for me to join in a annual meet-up held during each festival. The purpose of the meeting each year is to raise a glass to all the folks who had been a part of the TFF family, particularly on the technical side of the fest, who had passed since the previous year's fest.

I was very deeply moved that I was asked to be any part of this ceremony. I still am.

I was fortunate enough to be asked back again last year and actually got to spend some time with "BF" (He'll always be Mr. Bedford to me. Too much respect for what the man did...and that's not even mentioning the legacy of KOTO radio in Telluride). He was very encouraging about this space.

Mr. Bedford's last program credit for TFF came in 2010 with the 37th Fest.

I don't think it's hyperbole to suggest that without Jim Bedford there might not be a Telluride Film Festival.

So here's to Jim Bedford. He was kind and thoughtful and loved the SHOW.

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53: VOL. 2

Here's the first update of MTFB's Ten Bets for TFF #53' First, last week's bets:

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

A Long Winter

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

This week we add in a couple of films and move a couple to the "Other possibilities" list:

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

Fjord

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

Yellow Letters

Other possibilities: A Long Winter and The Story of Documentary Film.

We'll have an updated list again next Thursday.

TRAILERS!

THE DEBUT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clyzHmBx43E

SHEEP IN THE BOX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5mlc8TAPNw

KLARA AND THE SUN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwmEqQv82M

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50 Fall Film Possibilities 2026 / The Travails of Guadagnino

2026-06-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

50 FALL FILM POSSIBILITIES 2026

Ezra Cubero writing for Silver Screen Express has posted his annual set of speculations about which films might go where as regards Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York. It's an interesting take with some surprises.

Cubero had 11 films on his list last year the did make the TFF #52 lineup.

I culled the post and began by creating a list of the films that Cubero thinks have some shot at the TFF #53 lineup. It's a lengthy list which follows below (with director listed to the right). He has three categories..."Possible". "Could Happen" and "Nope".

Telluride "Possibles"

All of a Sudden

Behemoth!

The Black Ball+++

Coward+++

The Debut+++

Fatherland+++

Fjord

Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!**

Josephine**

A Long Winter+++

Minotaur+++

Mouse

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York**

Paper Tiger+++

Prima Facie

Rose

Sense and Sensibility

Tender Loving Care

The Weight**

Among the "Could Be's":

Being Heumann

Bitter Christmas

Club Kid

The Dreamed Adventure

Look Back

A Place in Hell

Primetime

Saturn Return

Tangled

+++ Indicates the film's presence on MTFB's first Ten Bets for TFF #53

** Indicates a Sundance Fest film which usually mitigates a film's chances at playing Telluride.

Of note, Cubero lists Herzog's Bucking Fastard as a "No" for TFF #53. I feel pretty good about its chances.

The complete list of 50 films can be found here.

https://silverscreenxpress.wordpress.com/2026/06/17/50-potential-films-at-the-fall-film-festivals-2026/

THE TRAVAILS OF GUADAGNINO

There was a time that I had Lucas Guadagnino's Artificial on my TFF #53 watch list. The film was housed at Amazon-MGM and Guadagnino's past with films at Telluride (Bones and All, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams) made it seem like a good bet. Then it was announced the film would open in 2027 and that took it right out of my speculation.

New turns have made the film's future murky. Reportedly Amazon-MGM has cut ties with the film and are seeking a buyer for it; Word is that A24, NEON, Netflix and Focus Features and others have seen the film but as of this morning, no deal has been made.

If Artificial lands at any of the aforementioned distributors that could, conceivably, put it back into play for fall fests including Telluride.

The IMDb description for the films:

"Follows the confusing firing and rehiring cycle of Sam Altman at OpenAI where the board gained control of the company and removed him, and Altman still returned."

Stay tuned.

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Ten Bets for TFF #53, Vol. 1 / World of Reel on Venice Titles

2026-06-18T07:38:59.062-05:00

TEN BETS FOR TFF #53, VOL. 1

Well, here it is (Live from the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, VA.) the first Ten Bets for 2026 for TFF #53. I'm doing this a little differently than in the past in that I am listing the early versions of the Ten Bets in alphabetical order. In the later going, as we get closer to The SHOW, I'll revert to the traditional ranking in order of what I think the chances are of making a TFF appearance.

So here are the first guesses (10 of them) for films at TFF #53 (in the aforementioned alphabetical order):

The Black Ball

Bucking Fastard

Coward

The Debut

Fatherland

A Long Winter

Minotaur

Paper Tiger

The Story of Documentary Film

Yellow Letters

As the weeks unfold, I'll update every Thursday as new info and rumors swirl. Additionally, as we get closer to Labor Day, I'll also expand the list beyond a mere ten bets.

I'll remind readers that MTFB averages about six correct guesses on each year's initial Ten Bets. I also have to tell you that there are some titles here that I'd be very excited about seeing.

Let the next few weeks tell the story!

WORLD OF REEL ON VENICE TITLES

Jordan Ruimy has a list of possible Venice titles. Many MTFB readers know that each year a number of films play the early part of Venice and then make a blazing trans-continental trip to the San Juans.

From WOR's Venice speculative list, here's my take on what might make the trip:

Bucking Fastard

Here Comes the Flood

Tender Loving Care

Wild Horse Nine

Look Back

The Basics of Philosophy

A Long Winter

Bunker

The Social Reckoning

Elon

The complete list is linked here.

https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2026/6/16/david-finchers-cliff-booth-wont-premiere-at-venice

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No Post Today

2026-06-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

At the National Speech Tournament in Richmond, VA. Planning to post on Thursday, June 18th.

TFF #53 Has a Poster / The Social Reckoning Has a Trailer / The Story of Documentary Film Has a Poster / Release Date for Fatherland

2026-06-11T07:13:46.919-05:00

TFF #53 HAS A POSTER

The official poster for TFF #53 has been released:

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (September 4 – 7, 2026) is proud to announce British designer, filmmaker, and cultural curator Bella Freud as its poster artist for the 2026 Festival.

Bella Freud founded her eponymous label in 1990 and has become internationally recognized for her distinctive work across fashion, interiors, perfumery, filmmaking, and publishing. Known for her intelligent yet playful approach, Freud distills emotion and personal narrative throughout her collections, creating a singular visual language that resonates across disciplines.

Her iconic Word sweaters, including Ginsberg is God and 1970, have become contemporary classics worn by a devoted global following that includes Rosamund Pike, Rashida Jones, Alexa Chung, Kate Moss, and Rebecca Ferguson. Freud’s creative practice extends beyond fashion through collaborations with Marks & Spencer, King & McGaw, Nick Cave, and filmmaker John Malkovich, among many others.

In October 2024, Freud launched Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud, a podcast exploring the relationship between fashion and identity through intimate and deeply personal conversations set in the atmosphere of her London sitting room. The series quickly reached number one in the UK arts podcast charts and entered the global top ten, featuring leading voices from fashion, film, music, and literature.

“The words Film Festival and Telluride are filled with promise and intrigue,” comments Freud. “Film is our modern mythology; it gives us courage and imagination. Telluride is the Shangri-La where some kind of conversation will take place that will change your life. SHOW.”

Festival director Julie Huntsinger adds, “Bella Freud possesses a rare ability to connect style, storytelling, and emotional truth with wit, intimacy, and extraordinary intelligence. Her work moves fluidly between disciplines while remaining deeply cinematic in spirit. We are thrilled to present Bella’s poster for the 53rd TFF, whose curiosity, perspective, and passion for culture brings a unique dimension to the collection.”

Each year, Telluride Film Festival welcomes artists whose work expands cultural conversation across disciplines and reflects the Festival’s enduring commitment to creativity and cinematic storytelling. Bella Freud joins a celebrated group of filmmakers, writers, musicians, and visual artists whose unique perspectives have contributed to the Festival’s ongoing history and artistic community including Daniel Clowes, Jim Dine, Maira Kalman, Ed Ruscha, Julian Schnabel, among others.

About Telluride Film Festival

The prestigious Telluride Film Festival ranks among the world’s best film festivals and is an annual gathering for film industry insiders, cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers, and critics. TFF is considered a major launching ground for the fall season’s most talked-about films. Founded in 1974, Telluride Film Festival, presented in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado, is a four-day international educational event celebrating the art of film. Telluride Film Festival’s long-standing commitment is to join filmmakers and film connoisseurs together to experience great cinema. The exciting schedule, kept secret until just before Opening Day, consists of over three dozen filmmakers presenting their newest works, special Guest Director programs, major Tributes to guest artists, special events, and remarkable treasures from the past. Telluride Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational program. Festival headquarters are in Berkeley, CA.

THE SOCIAL RECKONING HAS A TRAILER

On the outer edge of the MTFB watch list is Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning, It's the sequel to The Social Network written by Sorkin and directed by David Fincher back in 2010. The new film stars Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg. Here's the trailer from YouTube:

The film has is set for release on Oct. 9th.

THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM HAS A POSTER

I'm not saying Mark Cousins' The Story of Documentary Film is a lock for TFF #53 but I'd be surprised if it didn't play the Fest. Here's a bit of a peek with a photo of the film's poster from Cousins' X account:

RELEASE DATE FOR FATHERLAND

Numerous sources reporting that Pawel Pawlikowski's Fatherland will release in the United States on Oct. 23rd. That's a release window that would easily allow a screening at TFF.

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Film Fest Heads Discuss the Future / Awards Radar Updates for Best Picture and TFF Potentials

2026-06-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

FILM FEST HEADS DISCUSS THE FUTURE

A couple of weeks back Indiewire hosted a conversation at Cannes featuring four film festival directors including Telluride's Julie Huntsinger. Other fest directors included were from Sundance, Berlin and New York. The convo was hosted by Indiewire's Anne Thompson.

The focus was the future of film festivals. You can see the entire 44 minute video at Indiewire's website.

That video and article are linked here.

https://www.indiewire.com/news/events/film-festival-directors-discuss-future-cannes-1235195002/

AWARDS RADAR UPDATES FOR BEST PICTURE AND TFF POTENTIALS

Joey Magidson of Awards Watch has updates his Best Picture predictions as of the end of the Cannes Film Fest. He lists 25 films in all and in their order of likelihood in terms of being nominated and winning the 2027 Oscar. I've broken those down into various categories as it relates to the potential for a TFF #53 play.

No chance: (Because they already have premiered before Telluride):

#2 The Odyssey

#4 Project Hail Mary

#9 Tony

#11 Disclosure Day

#14 Josephine (Sundance)

#21 The Invite

#24 Wuthering Heights

#25 Michael

Unlikely: (for a variety of reasons):

#1 Dune: Part Three

#6 Digger

#8 The Adventures of Cliff Booth

Smallish chance at Telluride:

#3 Wild Horse Nine

#5 The Social Reckoning

#10 Saturn Return

#12 I Play Rocky

#13 Being Heumann

#16 The Uprising

#17 Behemoth!

#19 Jack of Spades

#20 A Place in Hell

Decent chance at Telluride:

#7 Fjord

#15 Paper Tiger

#18 Clarissa

#22 All of a Sudden

#23 Artificial

Here are all of Magidson's predictions complete with commentary.

https://awardsradar.com/best-picture/

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Hope for Hope? / Announced Release Dates for TFF Possible Films / Yellow Letters and Berlin

2026-06-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

HOPE FOR HOPE?

Alex Billington at First Showing.net posted that Cannes competition choice Hope will be released in the U.S. on Sept. 9th which means it's a film that could play TFF #53...but it's cutting it very tight. TFF will conclude on Monday, Sept. 7th. The film made a minor splash at Cannes and ended that fest with a 6.15 rating on the Cannes-ratins.org website.

IMDb describes it:

"A mysterious discovery is made on the outskirts of the remote harbor town. The residents find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against something they have never encountered before."

The film is being distributed domestically by NEON which doesn't diminish any chance that it could play TFF.

For the moment I'm going to put it in the "possible but not probable" column.

Here's Billington's rundown of release dates throughout 2026.

https://www.firstshowing.net/schedule2026/#aug

As a matter of fact...

ANNOUNCED RELASE DATES FOR TFF POSSIBLE FILMS

Digger 10/2 (Has been announced as not planning any festival exposure)

The Social Reckoning 10/9

Wild Horse Nine 11/6

I Play Rocky 11/13

YELLOW LETTERS AND BERLIN

Mubi posted an overview of Ilker Catak's Berlin Golden Bear winner Yellow Letters on Monday which reminded me that I haven't really mentioned that I think it has a very good shot at making the TFF lineup. Catak was at Telluride in 2023 with The Teacher's lounge which ended up with an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature.

The description for Yellow Letters goes like this:

"The marriage of Derya and Aziz is under pressure after losing their jobs because of state arbitrariness and moving to Istanbul to live with Aziz's parents. They and their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi have to redefine their way of life."

Additionally, I think the other Berlin film that might show at The SHOW is Markus Schleinzer's Rose starring the actress of the moment Sandra Huller. Huller won the Berlin award for Best Actress. Rose is also being distributed by MUBI.

The description for Rose:

"A woman in the early 17th century, who is disguised as a man and wants to be a good citizen at any cost."

I'm not saying these are locks for TFF #53 by any means but, I wouldn't be surprised if one or both where in the lineup on announcement morning.

The MUBI overview for Yellow Letters is linked here.

https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/being-powerless-but-ethical-in-erdogan-s-new-turkey-ilker-catak-s-yellow-letters

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Fatherland Has a Trailer / The Dreamed Adventure Is Acquired / Everytime Is Acquired

2026-06-01T08:42:07.731-05:00

FATHERLAND HAS A TRAILER

Many readers of MTFB have already picked up on the notion that Pawel Pawlikowski's Fatherland is right up there as far as films I'm hoping make an appearance at TFF #53. I was a pretty big fan of his 2018 film Cold War (Thrice Oscar nominated!). Unfortunately I've never been able to catch his 2013 Oscar winning film Ida (Best Foreign Language Film).

At any rate, I'm very much looking forward to Fatherland and have a good feel about its chances for Telluride.

MUBI, which has the distribution pf the film for the U.S. released a trailer for the film late last week. here it is from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I2-X9v-ogs

Looks impressive!

THE DREAMED ADVENTURE IS ACQUIRED

Janus films has acquired all North American rights to Valeska Grisebach‘s The Dreamed Adventure according to The Hollywood Reporter The film was a late-screened film at Cannes and won the Jury Prize. The IMDb description of the film goes like this:

"A woman...agrees to a deal to help an old acquaintance. She follows the hero on his adventure and enters dangerous territory where she is then confronted with her own desire."

The acquisition by Janus could facilitate a play at TFF #53. Janus isn't a house that is at every Telluride but they show up at a lot of them, especially lately:

2025: Carol & Joy

2024: All We Imagine as Light, Misericordia, Made in England: The Film of Powell and Pressburger

2023: Anselm, Totem, Orlando: My Political Biography

2022: Godland, Tori and Lokita

With a solid 6.93 compiled critical rating from Cannes-ratings.org, it seems well situated for a TFF slot. we'll see.

Here's the link to the story from The Hollywood Reporter.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cannes-film-prize-winner-the-dreamed-adventure-janus-deal-1236607903/

EVERYTIME IS ACQUIRED

The Hollywood Reporter also posted that Sandra Wollner's Everytime has been acquired for North America by fledgling outfit 1-2 Special. Everytime played in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes and won the UCR Grand Prize. Its Cannes-ratings.org compiled critics' rating was a sturdy 7.33.

Additionally, although fairly new to the game, 1-2 Special landed Harris Dickenson's Urchin at last year's TFF.

Everytime's IMDb description:

"Follows a mother, her daughter, and a teenage boy blamed for a tragic death as they travel to Tenerife together, confronting grief, blame, and forgiveness on a family holiday that never happened."

The Hollywood Reporter Story is linked here.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cannes-un-certain-regard-winner-everytime-1-2-special-deal-1236609015/

1-2 Special also has Cannes success La Gradiva (which had this year's highest rated film per Cannes-ratins.org at 8.25). Which makes you think it could be a candidate for Telluride as well.

Ls Gravdiva's IMDb description:

"A group of high school students sets off on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii. They are seized by a sense of vertigo. They allow themselves to be overwhelmed by desire and anger, until they surrender completely."

All worth keeping an eye on.

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Neglia Takes a Stab / Black Ball Teaser / Acquisition News Out of Cannes

2026-05-28T07:43:51.126-05:00

NEGLIA TAKES A STAB

Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture (and remember Matt was on the ground in Cannes for the first two thirds or so) posted on his X account on Monday some speculation about where all of the Cannes' Palme d'Or competition films might go during the upcoming fall film fest frenzy. Of the 22, Matt has named 8 films that he thinks may be a part of the TFF #53 lineup...

Again, Matt's predictions: All of a Sudden, Bitter Christmas, The Black Ball, Coward, Fatherland, Fjord, Minotaur and Paper Tiger.

I'm most interested in Paper Tiger, Fatherland and Coward. Could get interested in Fjord, Minotaur and All of a Sudden.

THE BLACK BALL TEASER

We have a teaser from The Black Ball, which we're on TFF#53 alert for. Could it be in Telluride on Labor Day weekend?

Here it is via YouTube and MovieStar Plus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAZ8aVMfAUw

ACQUISITION NEWS OUT OF CANNES

Deadline reports that Netflix has acquired The Black Ball for distribution and Gentle Monster as well. The pick-up doesn't either hurt a film's chances for a play at Telluride as Netflix has become a very visible presence at the fest for the last several years.

Here's the Deadline article.

https://deadline.com/2026/05/netflix-cannes-lea-seydoux-gentle-monster-1236919715/

Meanwhile, MUBI has grabbed the North American distribution rights for Kukas Dhont's Coward. That's also a move that doesn't hurt the prospects for Coward to be at TFF. Dhont has previously presented two films at Telluride: Girl in 2018 and Close in 2022.

Here's that story from Variety.

https://variety.com/2026/film/news/coward-lukas-dhont-mubi-north-american-rights-1236755499/

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