Nyff 2013

[Chris Knipp]

The 2013 Telluride Film Festival winds up



The Telluride Festival has ended (2 Sept. 2013), their 40th, producer, curator, and all-knowing film scholar Tom Luddy still at the helm. I first saw him as head of the "FW Murnau Film Society" while a student at Berkeley (as was he), when his film history expertise was impressive. From 1975-1980 Luddy was director of the then-young Pacific Film Society (a part of the Berkeley Art Museum).

Telluride has guest directors each year, announced as a surprise when the fest begins. The six guest directors this year were: Don Delillo, Buck Henry, Phillip Lopate, Michael Ondaatje, film scholar B. Ruby Rich and Salman Rushdie. Don't ask me why, but any event that has Rushdie on hand is guaranteed an increased hipness factor. The fest's coolness was therefore further assured by luring him.

There were some "sneak previews" at Telluride not originally announced in their list including Steve McQueen's 12 YEARS A SLAVE (U.S., 2013)--just added to the NYFF Main Slate, and he was there with Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o; Denis Villeneuve’s PRISONERS (U.S., 2013) and Villeneuve was on hand; Shane Salerno’s SALINGER with Salerno and AE Hotchner via Skype and panelists David Shields, Buddy Squires, Jean Miller and Dylan Sellers in person. Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall presented Hayao Miyazaki’s THE WIND RISES (Japan, 2013), and announced that it will be Miyazaki’s last film; he is retiring. The Miyazaki title will also be part of the NYFF Main Slate.

Special recognition awards went to Robert Redford; T Bone Burnett and the Coen Brothers; and Mohammad Rasoulof.

A list of other notables present follows. I have highlighted some names to show why this is the hippest and most exclusive of US fests, in a way, and also includes cool people who don't come solely from the film industry (though most do): Yuval Adler, The Alloy Orchestra, the Americans, Michael Barker, Ritesh Batra, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Frances Bodomo, David Cairns, Patrick Cazals, J.C. Chandor, Ethan Clarke, Philippe Claudel, Linda Jones Clough, Francis For Coppola, Gia Coppola, Mark Cousins, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón, John Curran, Mark Danner, Robyn Davidson, Don DeLillo, Bruce Dern, Tony Donoghue, Paul Duane, Geoff Dyer, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Mitra Farahani, Asghar Farhadi, Battiste Fenwick, Ralph Fiennes, Joey Figueroa, Michael Fitzgerald, Scott Foundas, Robin Frohardt, Alberto Fuguet, Paulina García, Dan Geller, Jonathan Glazer, Dayna Goldfine, Emily Harrold, Buck Henry, Werner Herzog, Agnieszka Holland, John Horn, Bob Hurwitz, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Annette Insdorf, Oscar Isaac, Tim Jenison, Barry Jenkins, Tamara Jenkins, Penn Jillette, Esther Julie-Anne, Abdellatif Kechiche, Dieter Kosslick, Zak Knutson, Andrej Landin, Sebastián Lelio, Mark Levinson, Phillip Lopate, Colin MacCabe, David Mackenzie, Lauren MacMullan, Emilio Maille, Leonard Maltin, Joshua Marston, Joyce Maynard, Todd McCarthy, Jean Miller, Monique Montgomery, Errol Morris, Dario Nardi, Gregory Nava, Michael Ondaatje, Rithy Panh, Tatiana Pauhofová, Pawel Pawlikowski, Alexander Payne, Nicolas Philibert, Bill Plympton, Michael Pollan, Punch Brothers, Josh Radnor, Tahar Rahim, Alejandro Ramirez, Kirill Razlogov, Godfrey Reggio, Jason Reitman, B. Ruby Rich, Rob Richert, Pierre Rissient, A.V. Rockwell, Bobby Roth, Salman Rushdie, Lisanne Sartor, Dylan Sellers, Léa Seydoux, David Shields, Buddy Squires, Barry Sonnenfeld, Jordana Spiro, Milos Stehlik, Matt Steinauer, Dean Tavoularis, Teller, Gabriel Thibaudeau, David Thomson, Agata Trzebuchowska, Paolo Cherchi Usai, Mia Wasikowska, Alice Waters, Todd Wiseman, Joey Xanders, Sara Zandieh and Farley Ziegler.

But lest I'm misunderstood, let me add that Telluride is considered a particularly friendly and democratic festival. In the Variety Guide to Film Festivals Todd McCarthy wrote, "The Telluride Film Festival represents the rarest jewel in the crown of the festival-going experience. It is the most open, democratic and collegial of festivals, in addition to being one of the best programmed and run." So there!