2013 TELLURIDE FILM FEST REVIEW

 

Driving along highway 145, hugging the eastern slope of the Colorado Rockies, one can expect to witness many natural marvels. Whether it be the plethora of 14ers (summits of over 14,000 feet for all non-Colorado folk), countless vistas offering awe inspiring views, or the wildlife that frequent the area, you’re bound to see something that will excite your visual taste buds. However one such image stands out amongst the rest: the descent into the town of Telluride. Nestled tightly between three mountain slopes on the north, east, and south sides, Telluride looks as though its space was purposefully carved out by some divine being. The amazing symmetry of the slopes, the way the rising sun plays against the tree lines, nothing out of place. No wonder when the Telluride Film Festival, or TFF, was established in 1974 it was decidedly the perfect venue.

 

Every Labor Day weekend the town, which for most of the year is recognized as a prestigious ski resort, transforms into one of the most renowned film festivals and film experiences in world. The experience is visceral, something the late Roger Ebert described as “(it’s) like Cannes died and went to heaven…”. 2013 marked the 40^th anniversary of TFF and made this year particularly special. The festival, which usually starts on Friday and ends on Monday, added an extra day on the front end; by starting Thursday the four day festival stretched to five. Telluride also introduced a new theatre, the Werner Herzog Theatre, a tribute to the German filmmaker, which added a top notch sound system and a much needed extra 650 seats to audiences. What’s more: the likes of Brad Pitt, The Cohen Brothers, Steve McQueen, Michael Fassbender, and Jason Reitman were all in attendance. And the best part is yours truly got to attend!

This was my second year attending TFF. I had the good fortune of going to the festival last year as well, but the 39^th annual TFF was merely a warm up to what’s being lauded as one of the most successful festivals in recent history. Sure last year provided the sneak peek to Argo, the eventual Academy Best Picture winner, but aside from that the lineup, albeit impressive (Rust and Bone with Marion Cotillard and The Hunt, one of last year’s best films in my opinion, with Mads Mikkelsen), paled in comparison to 2013. When I went to the TFF website on Wednesday (8/28) afternoon and saw the lineup I was floored. Alexander Payne’s (Sideways, The Descendants) Nebraska, Jason Reitman’s (Juno, Up in the Air) Labor Day…aptly named for the festival, Joel and Ethan Cohen’s (Fargo, No Country for Old Men) Inside Llewyn Davis, Alfonso Cuaron’s (Children of Men) Gravity, The Past and Blue is the Warmest Color, both met with huge praise in Cannes, J.C. Chandor’s (Margin Call) sophomore effort All Is Lost with Robert Redford, the list goes on.

 

The aforementioned lineup alone would be cause for celebration however TFF is notorious for having big sneak peek previews that aren’t unveiled until the festival actually begins (Argo was one last year). This year’s sneak peeks included: Steve McQueen’s third feature and collaboration with Michael Fassbender 12 Years A Slave, Prisoners with Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, and Jake Gyllenhaal, and two special preview screenings of Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises and Salinger, the anticipated documentary on the life of the Catcher in the Rye author. Having seen the past 5-6 years worth of programs, and taking sneak peeks into account, I can honestly say this is the best TFF program I have witnessed. After mulling over the films that were on my short list to see, I was poised to get into 6-8 films this year.

 

Unfortunately I feel short of my goal, but I still made it to 5 films: 12 Years A Slave, Nebraska, Labor Day, The Wind Rises, and Inside Llewyn Davis. Considering I didn’t arrive in Telluride until Saturday afternoon and had to depart Monday afternoon it was still a successful weekend. I could quickly review each film but I don’t think that would do any of them justice. I would have to dedicate a full article to each to shine light on their accomplishments and shortcomings. All of the films I saw warranted high regard in many aspects however 12 Years A Slave and Nebraska sat above the others. Aside from the screenings which, at its base, is what the goal is when attending any film festival, there were a myriad of other highlights.

 

I attended a discussion with McQueen and the cast of 12 Years A Slave. “Why wouldn’t there be a movie about Bobby Sands?...Why wouldn’t there be a movie about sex addiction?...Why wouldn’t there be a movie about Solomon Northup?” McQueen responded when asked why he chose to adapt a film based on Northup, a free-born African-American sold into slavery as an adult, sounding puzzled as to why films hadn’t explored these topics before (Bobby Sands and sex addiction referring to his previous works Hunger and Shame). He went on to say “It seemed obvious”. The cast shared how they explored their character(s) for the film, “I didn’t want to play Epps as the evil plantation owner…I wanted him to be like the boil on the skin of the society of the times,” explained Fassbender. When discussing the sets and locations of film Fassbender added, “You can get too wrapped up in playing the era,” referring to period pieces being “too decorous” at times. McQueen also expressed his appreciation for Fox Searchlight and Regency for “…giv(ing) me the freedom to do what I wanted to do,” which isn’t always the case when studios put up big money for a film.

When screening Labor Day, director Jason Reitman introduced the movie saying, “If you’re expecting a comedy you may be surprised.” I later saw Reitman casually dining by himself at location on the “main street” in Telluride; I think I was the only one who recognized him.

 

The incomparable film critic and historian Leonard Maltin moderated an animation discussion with animators Bill Plympton and Lauren MacMullan (Simpsons, Avatar: The Last Airbender) in an intimate venue of maybe 20 attendees. I was able to ask a question about the marketability of adult animation (ie Simpsons, South Park) as a full length feature to which Plympton replied, “…no studios want to take a chance at this time.” After the discussion it was straight to The Wind Rises and just before show time it was announced Hayao Miyazaki was retiring and this would be his last film. We were the first audience in all of North America to screen it. I am so thankful I attended in 2012 because without prior knowledge of how the festival works, the free discussions, and which theatres are the easiest to get into, I would’ve missed a lot of this year’s special moments.

 

A few things of consequence for potential attendees: the festival schedule is released the day before the festival! This typically means if you’re planning on going, you won’t know what’s available to screen until the day you travel or the day you arrive. If you don’t have a pass, which I did not both years, you have to wait in the “non-pass holder” line, usually for around one hour before show time and you’re not guaranteed a seat. Individual tickets are $25 a piece so if you end up seeing 6-8 films you’re still coming out way ahead of the cheapest pass that runs $390. Also, if you want to keep low stress on the wallet there are nearby campsites for roughly $20 a night. My whole TFF experience less travel expenses cost around $200, extremely reasonable. Both years I made it into 5 films while trying to get into 8, so still a better than 50% chance of getting in. The key is sticking to the theatres with the largest capacities (the new Werner Herzog, The Palm, and Chuck Jones Cinema). An added bonus of the non-pass holder’s line is all the relationships you make with fellow film enthusiasts.

 

I recognized a few people from the non-pass holder lines of last year and even checked in with a couple, asking what they’d seen, what films or other festivals they’ve attended since last year, and so on. One of the most intriguing environments to chat about the weekend’s happenings is on the free gondola ride from Telluride to Mountain Village (at the top of the ski slopes where there is one additional theatre). You’re sequestered, for around 15 minutes, in a tiny box of 4-6 people all of whom share a love for the cinema, simply talking about the joy of film, a very cool experience. But the real fun is always the one to two hour wait in the non-pass holder lines. This year my cohort Jack and I met a group of UC Santa Barbara film students (#snakestyle #TFF2014) that were at TFF on a “school field trip” (my best school field trip was to the museum of natural history, lame), big shout out to Professor B who, I’m assuming, put the trip together. You tend to see the same people in the non-pass holder lines throughout the weekend so being able to get continuous updates on what to see, what celebrities are in town, where to eat, planning which showing will be the best bet to get into, all in a big united team…it’s half the fun at TFF if you don’t have a pass. Unless I make the big time I plan on being a non-pass holding attendee for life.

 

Telluride has historically marked the beginning to “Oscar Season”. The big international festivals of the summer, Cannes in May and Venice in late August, give us a preview but it’s not until Labor Day weekend with Telluride and then the following week and weekend in Toronto (TIFF) that really kicks things off. By mid-September most of the big players have at least screened somewhere and the Oscar pundits start their predictions. Based solely on what happened in Telluride I can tell you 12 Years A Slave will garner serious consideration in many categories, Alexander Payne’s screenplay for Nebraska will be noticed, and Cuaron’s Gravity (which I didn’t see) and the Cohen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis will seek multiple nominations. Awards season is now upon us! And with a lot of the heavy hitters scheduled to be released in November and early December we are a mere month or two away until frontrunners start rearing their heads. The excitement is palpable!

I will be attending Sundance this upcoming January in Park City, Utah, where indie darlings get bought up by monster studios, and the Oscar cycle begins again. Look for a feature report sometime in February. Until then, happy screenings everybody and hope to see you Labor Day 2014 in the mountains!