So, the word up here is that people are a bit disappointed with the list of films up here this year. And all I can say is....
Get Used To It!
We are entering the fall season of films and there will be plenty of quality... but not so much excitement in terms of celebrity or "big" movies. This "problem" is equally evident at Toronto. And it will be an ongoing issue through the entire season.
Here in Telluride, at least before the TBAs start landing, the only films that are high profile enough to get attention from the more casual film lovers are The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, I'm Not There, Into The Wild, and Margot At The Wedding.
Of course, this doesn't mean that it won't be a great festival, only that it isn't a high profile year for indie film. There are also a bunch of films that just aren't going to show themselves yet, even though they are ready, like Things We Lost In The Fire, American Gangster, and the Venice and NY Film Fest bound The Darjeeling Limited.
Myself, I am looking forward to docs from Barbet Schroeder, Kevin MacDonald, and Werner Herzog, a new film from Anand Tucker, who some people think is a genius, and a wide array of little seen Indian films.
If there is a signature on this year's fest from the reconfigured/new team, it is a number of Friends Of Telluride films, including Todd McCarthy's doc on Pierre Rissient, a Norman Lloyd doc, a doc on Peter Sellars, and a worthy, but local guest director in Edith Kramer from Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive.
Things kick off tonight... and away we go...
Read the complete post at http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2007/08/telluride_hum.html