The Telluride Film Festival serves as a bellwether for Oscar nominees.
By: Phyllis Spiegel
Now that the Academy Awards are over, I’ve just made reservations to spend my 10th consecutive Labor Day weekend at the Telluride Film Festival. There, I’ll be traveling to many lands and experiencing various terrains, climates and periods of history.
Telluride, an old silver mining town, is in a box canyon, surrounded by the exquisite San Juan Mountains, a premier ski area in winter. Featuring Victorian-era architecture, the town is a National Historic Landmark District. The enhanced miners’ cabins are now million-dollar homes and a luxury resort, Mountain Village, has been built on top of the mountain.
The festival shines as a bellwether for Oscar-nominated films. Last summer, I saw Babel, Venus, Volver, Lives of Others, The Last King of Scotland and Little Children there. In all, films shown at Telluride last year netted 15 Oscar nominations.
For the festival, there are six venues plus an outdoor theater in the center of town. The town is easily and enjoyably walkable for most people. Another theater, a conference center the rest of the year, is at Mountain Village and reached by a free scenic gondola ride up the mountain. One little gem, The Opera House, dates to 1913 and is sometimes called "The Victorian Lady." Professional state-of-the-art screening and sound equipment and deluxe theater seating are brought into two school spaces and dismantled after the festival. The Pierre (135 seats) returns to life as a climbing gym and the Galaxy (500 seats) is once again the middle school gym. The Palm, a 650-seat theater used for performances all year, was built at the high school as a cooperative effort between the festival and the town. The Mason’s Hall and Nugget Theater complete the indoor venues.
The Abel Gance Open Air Cinema, with state of the art Dolby sound and filming equipment, shows films free to townspeople and festival-goers every evening. Our own outdoor screenings at Palmer Square and at Pettoranello Park in Princeton always remind me of this scene, except that at home I miss the gorgeous surrounding mountains.
On the last night of the festival, I laughed and cried through a 1929 silent film, Lonesome, accompanied by an original score played live by the Alloy Orchestra of California. This movie told the story of two lonely young people in a bustling New York City who meet at the beach on the Fourth of July and fall in love. The charming story was an improvement over today’s Internet dating! I find it exciting and mind-altering to spend four days seeing works of art that viewers know nothing about.
Although no one can expect to see everything on the program, the schedule is not as overwhelming as at other festivals, which may include hundreds of films. Every year about 20 new films, carefully selected by a panel, are enhanced with retrospectives, tributes to living stars, some older films of historical interest and panel discussions with industry luminaries. A small group of talented student filmmakers is on hand and several programs feature their work.
There are other activities in this mountain paradise and some film-goers take time out for hiking, mountain biking, golf, shopping or just strolling along the San Miguel River path. The luxury resorts at Mountain Village offer massage and other spa services as well as gourmet dining and other indulgences.
Unlike the other major film festivals Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Sundance this hideaway in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado is small, friendly, un-businesslike and manageable in size. Many Telluride devotees have attended for many more years than my nine. I’ve met people who’ve been coming for 20 and 30 of the festival’s 33 years.
Kevin Macdonald, director of the overall favorite, The Last King of Scotland, said, "This is the only film festival I ever enjoyed."
Celebrities blend in with festival-goers. When Penélope Cruz, star of Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, took the stage after the film, wearing jeans, a plaid shirt and no makeup, you could have mistaken her for any college girl. Actress Laura Linney, who traveled to Australia to film Jindabyne and became a part-time resident of Telluride after her first visit to the festival two years earlier, was radiant on a panel discussing what actors require from directors to give great performances. Also on this panel was Forest Whitaker, who won the Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator in The Last King of Scotland.
I didn’t recognize Faye Dunaway, in chinos and a big hat, when someone pointed her out to me bending down to talk to someone in the Galaxy Theater before the start of Babel.
I discovered Telluride in 1998 when I signed up for a Smithsonian tour to the film festival. I’ve been hooked ever since. While I go to Telluride alone, I never am alone. The conversation at the theaters, waiting in line, walking in town everywhere centers on what you’ve seen and what you think of the films. Everyone talks to everyone.
If you go: Information about tickets, passes and travel can be found on the Web at www.telluridefilmfestival.org