50th Telluride Film Festival Lineup: ‘The Bikeriders,’ ‘Rustin,’ ‘All of Us Strangers,’ ‘Saltburn’ to World Premiere; Tributes to Yorgos Lanthimos, Alice Rohrwacher

The 50th Telluride Film Festival lineup has been announced, including world premiere’s of Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders with Austin Butler, Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer, Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers with Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Claire Foy, George C. Wolfe’s Rustin with Colman Domingo, Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel with Julia Garner, Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn with Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Carey Mulligan and Rosamund Pike, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers with Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Nyad with Annette Bening and Jodie Foster among them.

Major Cannes winners crossing the pond to the Colorado mountains include Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and Jonathan Glazer’s Grand Prize winner The Zone of Interest, as well as Wim Wender’s Perfect Day’s Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera and Steve McQueen’s Occupied City.

Making the quick jump from Venice, which just kicked off today will be Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things with Emma Stone and Pablo Larraín Pinochet vampire comedy La Conde.

Telluride Film Festival’s 50th edition runs from Thursday, August 31 through Monday, September 4 and is dedicated to the memory of founders Tom Luddy (1943-2023), Bill Pence (1940-2022), Stella Pence and James Card (1915-2000).

The 2023 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, will go to Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (with POOR THINGS), Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher (with LA CHIMERA), and German filmmaker Wim Wenders (with ANSELM and PERFECT DAYS). Tribute programs include a selection of clips, the presentation of the Silver Medallion, and the film screening. 

The Special Medallion celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents essential, meaningful films. This year’s award goes to Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation. Film restorations by The Film Foundation to screen along with the program are 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.

“Fifty years is a long time to do anything. And while we might be a little biased, we feel the work that TFF does is pretty important,” comments Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “We take the charge of preserving the theatrical experience and promoting film seriously, but with necessary winks here and there. We’re ecstatic to share a program we feel reflects so much of the past fifty years, naturally and organically, films old and new, which stand as a testament to our beloved co-founders Tom Luddy and Bill Pence who are no longer with us.”

Additional film restorations playing throughout the Festival include 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 include 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.

The 50th Telluride Film Festival lineup is as follows: 

•      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 for the Main Program:

•      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)

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, TFF is honoring its long and diverse history by selecting some of its most celebrated past guests to curate its Guest Director program. Alfonso Cuarón, Adam Curtis, Ethan Hawke, Rachel Kushner, Steve McQueen, and Mira Nair’s selections include:

•      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

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room features behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians, and filmmakers is showing the following programs:

•      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)