Thursday, August 30, 2007

The altitude, the exhaustion and the anticipation are contributing to a ridiculous high

TELLURIDE, Colo. -- Tonight at 9 I'll be at the world premiere of I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' latest, which stars Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and others as Bob Dylan. Check back for initial reaction from myself and from the fleet of Telluride staff, volunteers and students. Here's what the rest of the festival looks like:

High profile buzz magnets: The world premieres of I'm Not There and Margot at the Wedding (with Nicole Kidman). Plus Into the Wild, Sean Penn's highly anticipated adaptation of Jon Krakauer's novel.

This year's tributees: actor Daniel Day-Lewis, composer Michel Legrand and Indian director Shyam Benegal.

Other notable attendees representing films and/or engaging in Q&As: Haynes, Julian Schnabel, Barbet Schroeder, Buck Henry, Penn, Krakauer, Werner Herzog, Scott Foundas, Kathleen Kennedy, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anand Tucker, Kevin Macdonald.

Films making their U.S. or world premiere: Cargo 200 (Russia), Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema, Schroeder's doc Terror's Advocate.

Other 2007 films playing: The Return of Norman Lloyd, Cannes jury prize winner Persepolis, Camera d'Or winner Jellyfish from Israel, The Band's Visit, Cannes best actress winner Secret Sunshine from South Korea, Iceland's Jar City.

Films playing in retrospective: 1944 Finnish movie The Way You Wanted Me, King Vidor's The Big Parade (1925), the 1929 German movie People on Sunday (featuring live score accompaniment by the Mont Alto Orchestra), Marco Ferreri's 1969 Dillinger is Dead, Millions Like Us (1943), newly restored Beatles romp Help!.

Picks that intrigue me: The biodocumentary Hats Off, which chronicles actor Mimi Wendell's entrance into the film biz at age 65 (and isn't even listed on IMDb). A doc called For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. And the student prints are usually the best of the bunch, but I doubt I'll get to see them.

There's much more. This little canyon in the mountains is bursting with cool shit. Not sure how much I'll be able to see, but my fingers are crossed.

4 comments:

NicksFlickPicks said...

I'm so jealous! Waiting to hear with bated breath...

Hurlywood said...

just got the link from film experience. i was at the premiere tonight. i'm here with the student symposium. my brief thoughts are on the film experience blog, but i thought cate was wonderful. i wish they would have ended it on her stare. AHH

Hurlywood said...

i'll probably be checking back here and there. some of the highly touted ones aren't on our list, so i may have to wait for TBA. i'm pining for Rails and Ties, but it's not on our agenda. Am stoked, however, for Persepolis tomorrow. And we meet with Herzog on Weds.

J.J. said...

I did the symposium in 2004. It was nirvana. And I'm incredibly envious that you're meeting with Herzog.