50th Telluride Film Festival Lineup: Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’, Emerald Fennell’s ‘Saltburn’, ‘Nyad’, ‘Rustin’, ‘Wildcat’ And More

The Telluride Film Festival, a key part of the fall festival circuit launching awards season and perhaps some major Academy Award contenders, announced the wide-ranging lineup of films for its landmark 50th edition. The fest kicks off Thursday and runs through Labor Day and will feature world premieres of Oscar winners Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (Focus Features), Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (Amazon) and Free Solo filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s narrative feature Nyad (Netflix).

Other world premieres in the lineup include Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers (Searchlight) with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott; George C. Wolfe’s Rustin (Netflix), starring Colman Domingo in the title role; Ethan Hawke’s Wildcat starring daughter Maya Hawke; Bhutan filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated international breakthrough Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, the sure-to-be-talked-about The Monk and the Gun.

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More premieres include Christos Nikou’s Fingernails starring Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed; Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel; Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders; Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Annie Baker’s directorial debut Janet Planet (A24); Danish period piece The Promised Land (Magnolia) starring Mads Mikkelsen; A24’s Tuesday featuring a rare dramatic turn from Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Christy Hall’s two-hander Daddio with Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson; and many more.

See the full lineup of films below.

Telluride famously keeps its lineup under wraps until the day before the actual fest gets rolling, but most of the titles are fairly easy to figure out. The festival is taking place the exact same time as Venice, which gets underway tonight. Five films from that Italian festival will also be heading right after their premieres straight to the Colorado Rockies. They include Venice competition titles Yorgas Lanthimos’ Poor Things (Searchlight), Pablo Larrain’s Chilean El Conde (Netflix), and Saverio Costanzo’s Italian Finalmente L’Alba (Finally Dawn). The Taliban-focused Ibrahim Nashat-directed documentary Hollywoodgate, and Andy Kaufman docu Thank You Very Much will also be making the long trip.

Acclaimed prize winners from the Cannes Film Festival are also usually Telluride staples and this year is no different. You can look for Neon’s Justine Triet Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall; Jonathan Glazer’s Grand Prix-winning The Zone of Interest from A24; Aki Kaurismaki’s Jury Prize winner, Fallen Leaves; Cannes Director winner Anh Hung Tran’s The Taste of Things (aka The Pot Au Feu) from IFC Films; and a pair from Wim Wenders that also appeared in Cannes in Perfect Days and Anselm.

Wenders is among a trio getting Telluride’s Silver Medallion tributes this weekend. Lanthimos will be on hand for a tribute tied to Poor Things as it makes its North American debut right after Venice. The SAG-AFTRA strike caused some shuffling on the part of Telluride, which usually also honors actors, and reportedly had set (but didn’t announce) tributes to Nyad star Annette Bening who plays legendary champion swimmer Diana Nyad in the biopic, as well as Gael García Bernal who is the title star of Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams’ narrative filmmaking debut Cassandro (Amazon), which actually debuted at Sundance in January but will be one of the rare movies from that fest to also play Telluride. Neither actor will now be attending since their respective distributors, Netflix and Amazon, are among the struck companies. Some actors will be on hand we hear including Ethan and Maya Hawke, and Louis-Dreyfus after their respective pics got SAG-AFTEA approval for interim agreements.

Another Sundance debut, now picked up by Roadside Attractions, is the extraordinary documentary Beyond Utopia, which chronicles one family’s harrowing escape from North Korea and it is just one of the many documentary titles that will also be playing Telluride, a list that also includes world premieres of NatGeo’s The Mission from Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, and Errol Morris’ latest The Pigeon Tunnel about famed author John le Carré from Apple Original Films.

The complete lineup does not include some titles that will be added as “sneaks” over the weekend. Don’t expect those under-the-radar movies to be anything directed by Martin Scorsese or Ridley Scott.

The Deadline team, including yours truly, will be out in force all through the holiday weekend to report on everything happening in Telluride including the party scene with expected soirees hosted by Searchlight, Amazon, Netflix, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC, A24, and others.

Here’s the program:

The Show

ALL OF US STRANGERS (d. Andrew Haigh, U.K., 2023)
AMERICAN SYMPHONY (d. Matthew Heineman, U.S., 2023)
ANATOMY OF A FALL (d. Justine Triet, France, 2023)
ANSELM (d. Wim Wenders, Germany, 2023)
BALTIMORE (d. Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy Ireland-U.K., 2023)
BEYOND UTOPIA (d. Madeleine Gavin, U.S., 2023)
THE BIKERIDERS (d. Jeff Nichols, U.S., 2023)
CASSANDRO (d. Roger Ross Williams, U.S., 2023)
DADDIO (d. Christy Hall, U.S., 2023)
EL CONDE (d. Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2023)
FALLEN LEAVES (d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 2023)
THE FALLING STAR (d. Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, France-Belgium, 2023)
FINALLY DAWN (d. Saverio Costanzo, Italy, 2023)
FINGERNAILS (d. Christos Nikou, U.S., 2023)
FOOD, INC. 2 (d. Robert Kenner, Melissa Robledo, U.S., 2023)
HIGH & LOW-JOHN GALLIANO (d. Kevin Macdonald, U.K., 2023)
THE HOLDOVERS (d. Alexander Payne, U.S., 2023)
HOLLYWOODGATE (d. Ibrahim Nash’at, U.S.-Germany, 2023)
JANET PLANET (d. Annie Baker, U.S., 2023)
LA CHIMERA (d. Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-France-Switzerland, 2023)
THE MISSION (d. Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss, U.S., 2023)
THE MONK AND THE GUN (d. Pawo Choyning Dorji, Bhutan, 2023)
NYAD (d. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, U.S., 2023)
OCCUPIED CITY (d. Steve McQueen, Netherlands-U.K.-U.S., 2023)
ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY (d. Paul B. Preciado, France, 2023)
PERFECT DAYS (d. Wim Wenders, Japan, 2023)
THE PIGEON TUNNEL (d. Errol Morris, U.K., 2023)
POOR THINGS (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.S.-Ireland-U.K., 2023)
THE PROMISED LAND (d. Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark-Germany-Sweden, 2023)
THE ROYAL HOTEL (d. Kitty Green, Australia, 2023)
RUSTIN (d. George C. Wolfe, U.S., 2023)
SALTBURN (d. Emerald Fennell, U.S., 2023)
THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE (d. Ilker Çatak, Germany, 2023)
TEHACHAPI (d. JR, France, 2023)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH (d. Alex Braverman, U.S., 2023)
TUESDAY (d. Daina O. Pusić, U.S.-U.K., 2023)
WILDCAT (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2023)
THE ZONE OF INTEREST (d. Jonathan Glazer, U.S.-U.K.-Poland, 2023)

Documentary Shorts

IF DREAMS WERE LIGHTNING (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2023)
INCIDENT (d. Bill Morrison, U.S., 2023)
THE LAST REPAIR SHOP (d. Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers, U.S., 2023)
THE LAST SONG FROM KABUL (d. Kevin Macdonald, Afghanistan-Qatar-Portugal-Germany, 2023)

Guest Director Program

JUVENILE COURT (d. Frederick Wiseman, U.S., 1973) Selected and presented by Rachel Kushner
ALL THAT JAZZ (d. Bob Fosse, U.S., 1979) Selected and presented by Ethan Hawke
JONAH WHO WILL BE 25 IN THE YEAR 2000 (d. Alain Tanner, France-Switzerland, 1976) Selected and presented by Alfonso Cuarón
THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (d. John Mackenzie, U.K., 1980) Selected and presented by Adam Curtis
ZÉRO DE CONDUITE (d. Jean Vigo, France, 1933) Selected and presented by Steve McQueen
THE MUSIC ROOM (d. Satyajit Ray, India, 1958) Selected and presented by Mira Nair

Special Medallion (Winner: The Film Foundation)

Screenings: Idrissa Ouédraogo’s YAM DAABO (Burkina Faso, 1986), Bahram Beyzaie’s DOWNPOUR (Iran, 1972), and two shorts by Agnès Varda: BLACK PANTHERS (France-U.S., 1970) and UNCLE YANCO (France-U.S., 1968) which will be shown alongside THE GLEANERS AND I (France, 2000) as part of a celebration of the late filmmaker. Additional film restorations playing throughout the festival: THE UNKNOWN (d. Tod Browning, U.S., 1927); MY GRANDMOTHER (d. Kote Mikaberidze, Soviet Union, 1929) with Finnish music ensemble Cleaning Women performing a live score; Abel Gance’s LA ROUE (France, 1923) shown in four chapters; and two films remembering TFF 21 Special Medallion recipient Ninón Sevilla: VÍCTIMAS DEL PECADO (d. Emilio Fernández, Mexico, 1951) and LLÉVAME EN TUS BRAZOS (d. Julio Bracho, Mexico, 1954).

Special Screenings and Festivities

Pedro Almodóvar’s short film STRANGE WAY OF LIFE (Spain, 2023); Ross White and Tom Berkeley’s short THE GOLDEN WEST (Ireland-U.K., 2023); a live performance by Jon Batiste following Thursday’s screening of AMERICAN SYMPHONY; Tina Satter’s REALITY (U.S., 2023); Agnès Varda’s art installation, Patatutopia; and festival poster signing by Luke Dorman.

Backlot

AKA MR. CHOW (d. Nick Hooker, U.S., 2023)
ALL THAT IS SACRED (d. Scott Ballew, U.S., 2023) with TARPON (d. Guy de la Valdene, Christian Odasso, U.S., 1973)
ANGEL APPLICANT (d. Ken Meyer, U.S., 2023)
CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR (d. Marlo McKenzie, Jonathan Parker, U.S., 2023)
CINEMA HAS BEEN MY TRUE LOVE: THE WORK AND TIMES OF LYNDA MYLES (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2023)
KIM’S VIDEO (d. David Redmon, Ashley Sabin, U.S.-U.K.-Italy, 2023)
LITTLE GIRL BLUE (d. Mona Achache, France, 2023)
MUSICA! (d. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, U.S., 2023)
NOTES FROM SHEEPLAND (d. Cara Holmes, Ireland, 2023)
ROOM 999 (d. Lubna Playoust, France, 2023)
ZINZINDURRUNKARRATZ (d. Oskar Alegría, Spain, 2023)

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