52nd Telluride Film Festival Lineup: World Premieres of ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ ‘Ballad of a Small Player’
Famously for not announcing their lineup until the day before, the Telluride Film Festival list is here, filled with highly anticipated world premieres including Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere starring Jeremy Allen White as the titular Boss himself, Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player with Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton and more. The 52nd edition of the festival runs August 29-September 1.
Making the jump from Venice will include the North American premieres of Bugonia from Yorgos Lanthimos starring two-time Academy Award winner Emma Stone and Academy Award nominee Jesse Plemons, Jay Kelly from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach and starring Academy Award winner George Clooney, Adam Sandler and Academy Award winner Laura Dern, Academy Award winner Laura Poitras’ Cover-Up and more.
Big Cannes winners will also be well-represented at Telluride with Grand Prize winner Sentimental Value from Joachim Trier and starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning, Best Director and Best Actor winner The Secret Agent from Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura and the Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident from Jafar Panahi. All three films will be released in the U.S. by NEON.
The 2025 Silver Medallion will be presented to Oscar-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach (with Jay Kelly); Oscar-nominated actor/writer/director Ethan Hawke (with Blue Moon, Highway 99 A Double Album); and award-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (with It Was Just an Accident). Programs will include a compilation of clips, an on-stage interview and a screening of the recipient’s new work.
The lineup of talent showing up on the mountain this weekend includes: Oliver Hermanus, Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor, Riz Ahmed, Joachim Trier, Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Kelly Reichardt, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Wagner Moura, Rose Byrne, Harry Lighton, Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling, Scott Cooper, Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Linklater, Zoey Deutch, Guillaume Marbeck, Michèle Pétin, Chloé Zhao, Jessie Buckley, : Edward Berger, Colin Farrell, Jafar Panahi, Harris Dickinson, Jodie Foster, Dustin Hoffman, Leo Woodall, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Ari Aster, Andrew Scott and. more.
“It is almost impossible to detect themes across culture at the moment given the absolutely fractured nature of our world,” remarks Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “Certainly, filmmakers are talking about myriad subjects. At Telluride though, there always seems to be a thread of beautiful humanism in the stories told and this year is no different. At the heart of every one of them is the essence of humanity that is profoundly illuminating and beautiful, even if they’re also heartbreaking. We’re thrilled with what these filmmakers are sharing and proud to welcome back some old friends as well as new voices. Long live cinema, long live the theatrical experience.”
Telluride also scooped up the North American premiere of Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, starring Ethan Hawke as Lorenz Hart and Andrew Scott as Richard Rodgers, which takes place in a single location on the night of premiere of the musical Oklahoma! in 1943. The film also stars Margaret Qualley.
The festival annually celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors, and presents important, meaningful films. British Producer Tessa Ross will be recognized with the Festival’s Special Medallion, at the presentation of Ballad of a Small Player.
The 52nd Telluride Film Festival will screen over sixty feature films, short films, and revival programs representing more than thirty countries, alongside Tributes, Conversations, Panels, Student Programs, and Festivities.
The full lineup of all sections:
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, David Schmidt, U.S., 2025)
ASK E. JEAN (d. Ivy Meeropol, U.S., 2025)
BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER (d. Edward Berger, Hong Kong/Macau, 2025)
THE BEND IN THE RIVER (d. Robb Moss, U.S., 2025)
BLUE MOON (d. Richard Linklater, U.S./Ireland, 2025)
BUGONIA (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.K., 2025)
COVER-UP (d. Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, U.S., 2025)
THE CYCLE OF LOVE (d. Orlando von Einsiedel, U.K./India/Sweden, 2025)
EVERYWHERE MAN: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF PETER ASHER (d. Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, U.S./U.K., 2025)
GHOST ELEPHANTS (d. Werner Herzog, Angola/Namibia/U.S., 2025)
H IS FOR HAWK (d. Philippa Lowthorpe, U.K./U.S., 2025)
HAMLET (d. Aneil Karia, U.K., 2025)
HAMNET (d. Chloé Zhao, U.K., 2025)
HIGHWAY 99 A DOUBLE ALBUM (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2025)
THE HISTORY OF SOUND (d. Oliver Hermanus, U.S., 2025)
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (d. Mary Bronstein, U.S., 2025)
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (d. Jafar Panahi, Iran/France/Luxembourg, 2025)
JAY KELLY (d. Noah Baumbach, Italy/U.K./U.S., 2025)
KARL (d. Nick Hooker, U.K., 2025)
LA GRAZIA (d. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2025)
LOST IN THE JUNGLE (d. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Juan Camilo Cruz, U.S./Colombia, 2025)
LUMIÈRE, LE CINÉMA (d. Thierry Frémaux, France, 2024)
MAN ON THE RUN (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2025)
THE MASTERMIND (d. Kelly Reichardt, U.S., 2025)
THE NEW YORKER AT 100 (d. Marshall Curry, U.S., 2025)
NOUVELLE VAGUE (d. Richard Linklater, France, 2025)
PILLION (d. Harry Lighton, U.K., 2025)
A PRIVATE LIFE (d. Rebecca Zlotowski, France, 2025)
THE RESERVE (d. Pablo Pérez Lombardini, Mexico/Qatar, 2025)
THE SECRET AGENT (d. Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany, 2025)
SENTIMENTAL VALUE (d. Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Denmark/Germany, 2025)
SHIFTY (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2025)
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2025)
SUMMER TOUR (d. Mischa Richter, U.S., 2025)
THIS IS NOT A DRILL (d. Oren Jacoby, U.S., 2025)
TUNER (d. Daniel Roher, U.S./Canada, 2025)
URCHIN (d. Harris Dickinson, U.K., 2025)
The following short films will screen in the main program:
ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS (d. Joshua Seftel, U.S., 2025)
ALL THE WALLS CAME DOWN (d. Ondi Timoner, U.S., 2025)
LAST DAYS ON LAKE TRINITY (d. Charlotte Cooley, U.S., 2025)
SALLIE’S ASHES (d. Brennan Robideaux, U.S., 2025)
SONG OF MY CITY (d. David C. Roberts, U.S., 2025)
Emmy- and Academy Award–winning producer and filmmaker Ezra Edelman as this year’s Guest Director. A cherished Festival tradition, the Guest Director program invites a distinguished artist to curate a special selection of films, offering audiences a fresh lens through which to explore cinema history.
Edelman, acclaimed for his Academy Award–winning documentary O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA, brings his distinctive voice and passion for storytelling to the Festival with a handpicked selection of films. His curated program is presented in partnership with Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the Festival’s proud sponsor of the Guest Director section this year.
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (d. Alan J. Pakula, U.S., 1976)
THE INSIDER (d. Michael Mann, U.S., 1999)
MALCOLM X (d. Spike Lee, U.S., 1992)
NETWORK (d. Sidney Lumet, U.S., 1976)
RASHOMON (d. Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1950)
Telluride Film Festival’s Education Programs present students with the opportunity to experience film as an art form and to expand participants’ worldviews through film screenings and filmmaker discussions, including:
Student Symposium – an immersive seminar for graduate and undergraduate students, underwritten by Golden Globes Foundation
City Lights Project – pairing high school students and teachers with Festival films and guests, made possible by the Artemis Rising Foundation
FilmLAB – leading filmmakers meet with American Film Institute Fellows
FilmSCHOLAR – program for young critics and scholars in partnership with University of Wisconsin
Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers will screen the following programs, all free and open to the public:
ALL I HAD WAS NOTHINGNESS (d. Guillaume Ribot, France, 2025)
CAROL & JOY (d. Nathan Silver, U.S., 2025)
CHAPLIN: SPIRIT OF THE TRAMP (d. Carmen Chaplin, Spain/U.K./Netherlands, 2024)
EARTH TO MICHAEL (d. Nico López-Alegría, ZZ, U.S., 2025)
ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE (d. Oren Rudavsky, U.S., 2024)
THE GOLDEN SPURTLE (d. Constantine Costi, U.K./Australia, 2025)
KING HAMLET (d. Elvira Lind, U.S./Denmark, 2025)
MEGADOC (d. Mike Figgis, U.S./U.K., 2025)
SHOOTING (d. Netalie Braun, Israel, 2025)
THEIR EYES (d. Nicolas Gourault, France, 2025)
Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. The Conversations series, sponsored by Indian Paintbrush, is devoted to cinema and culture. The outdoor Noon Seminars feature a panel of guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public.
Special Screenings and Festivities include:
CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS 3D 2025: Restoration and Recreation (d. Werner Herzog, France/Canada/U.S./U.K./Germany, 2010)
LEARNING TO FLY (d. Max Lowe, U.S./France/Switzerland/Italy/China/Hong Kong, 2025)
STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! (d. Carl Deal, Tia Lessin, U.S., 2025)
4K restoration of THE GOLD RUSH (d. Charles Chaplin, U.S., 1925)
The New Yorker At 100: A Gallery Exhibition, a curation of cinema-inspired cover art and cartoons from The New Yorker’s iconic archives
Festival Poster Signing with Daniel Clowes
Truth Be Told: Journalism and Filmmaking in the 21st Century, a Special Panel presented by Turner Classic Movies
Behind The Lens: AI and Filmmaking, presented by Google
The SHOW App, sponsored by CRITERION
• Audi Drive Experiences, all weekend
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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