Telluride Film Festival Reveals Poster for 50th Edition

The Telluride Film Festival today revealed its 2023 Festival poster, designed by Meow Wolf’s Luke Dorman. The 50th edition of the festival is set for August 31 – September 4, 2023.

Luke Dorman is the Principal Graphic Designer at Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment company that creates immersive, interactive experiences. In his time with Meow Wolf, Luke has served as the lead designer for Meow Wolf Denver, Meow Wolf’s 2022 SXSW activation, and is currently co-leading design for Meow Wolf’s Houston exhibition, slated to open in 2024. Over the past 15 years, Luke has maintained a creative practice that straddles fine art, graphic design, and illustration. His contemporary and experimental approach to design work has led him to be recognized by Print, Communication Arts, the Society for Typographic Arts, GDUSA, among others. Prior to joining Meow Wolf, Luke worked in design education and carries his passion for teaching, mentorship, and community building into his work today.

For Telluride Film Festival’s 50th Anniversary poster, Dorman looked to the history of the event. As a way of honoring the festival’s history, Dorman redrew a single moment from each of the festival’s previous 49 posters and integrated them all into an entirely new design.

Dorman said, “50 years is a momentous milestone. It’s an incredible honor to be asked to return as the poster artist for such a monumental anniversary and to be able to contribute to such a special festival.”

“One of the most joyful posters we’ve had was Luke’s first rendition from 2021, just after the dark year of 2020,” reflects Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “It provided the extra lift we needed. It reminded us that so much of what we do is about the love and passion for cinema, and to be exuberant. As we were approaching our big year, the Festival’s 50^th birthday, we decided to ask him to conjure more of that joy again, and he has surpassed our expectations by a mile. We hope that everyone will join us in celebrating the SHOW as well as all the creative and brilliant people who make this medium what it is – a spectacular, world-uniting art form that we’re fighting hard to ensure carries on for many, many years to come!”

Recognized in Fast Company’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies (2022 and 2020), Meow Wolf is a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment company that creates immersive, interactive experiences to transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. The company’s first location in Santa Fe opened in 2016 and showcases the THEA Award-winning, international sensation, House Of Eternal Return, where two million visitors have now discovered a multidimensional mystery house with secret passages, portals to magical worlds, and surreal, maximalist and mesmerizing art exhibits. In 2019, Meow Wolf expanded beyond Santa Fe and opened Kaleidoscape, the world’s first artist-driven ride at Elitch Gardens in Denver. Meow Wolf opened their second permanent installation, Omega Mart, at AREA15 in Las Vegas and their third permanent installation in Denver, Convergence Station, in 2021. Meow Wolf’s fourth exhibition, The Real Unreal, opened July 14th in the Grapevine Mills mall in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, with another Texas exhibition opening in Houston in 2024. Meow Wolf is proud to be the first certified B-Corporation in the themed entertainment industry, with a team dedicated to social impact building a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

Posters are an annual tradition of the Festival, and Dorman again joins a prestigious list of artists who have been selected by, and who have shared their talents with Telluride Film Festival. Past poster artists include Frederic Amat, Laurie Anderson, Dottie Attie, John Canemaker, Seymour Chwast, Francesco Clemente, Jim Dine, Laurent Durieux, Dave Eggers, Ralph Eggleston, David Lance Goines, Chuck Jones, Maira Kalman, Chip Kidd, Gary Larson, Yann Legendre, John Mansfield, Christian Marclay, Dave McKean, Ed Ruscha, Lance Rutter, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, Leanne Shapton, Alexis Smith, Doug and Mike Starn, Mark Stock, Dean Tavoularis, William Wegman, and Edwina White. 

50th Telluride Film Festival posters are available for purchase now on the TFF website at www.telluridefilmfestival.org

While the Telluride Film Festival famously doesn’t announce its lineup until the day before the festival starts, announcements at the other big fall festivals are starting to trickle in. Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla and Todd Haynes’ May December will make their North American premieres at the New York Film Festival, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers will open Venice and the long-delayed Next Goal Wins from Taika Waititi and Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils are set for Toronto.