CINEMA BuzzFEED

Telluride: The Most Influential Film Fest You Never Hear About

Robert Redford, the founder of the Sundance Film Fest has often commented that, "Sundance is a victim of its own success", referring to how over-sized the festival has gotten physically as it gained in importance - to the point that it may be losing what it was intended to accomplish, a place for indie films to debut and get cred.

Now, Telluride's Film Fest maybe experiencing the same fate as it attracts larger and larger crowds and media attention.  According to co-founder and exex director Julie Huntsinger, the answer is "No." She told CMG that "This little secret on the mountain has been doing exactly what it does for a very long time, and different people will react to us differently over time, but we are going to keep doing the same thing."  However, more and more, "the little secret on the mountain" is getting exposed. Now, top directors and top talent are using the Telluride Fest to premiere there wares - and the Fest's operators have no control over its popularity and what that brings to this small Rocky Mountain community.

Telluride exec Huntsinger

What you now have at Telluride is a film festival that has played host to five straight best picture winners, and three of them were world premieres.  So, the 'movie folks' keep coming even thought the Festival's  playlist is keep secret until opening. This practice, however,  has angered other larger fest operators as Telluride's status has increased.  For example, the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) went so far as to institute a policy last year preventing Telluride films from screening at any of TIFF's top venues.  Telluride has quietly left the fest wars play out. As Huntsinger said, "we're going to do what we always do".

Telluride remains a treasure for the devoted - a cinephil mecca. For example, Lobster Films, a restoration lab, will be debuting newly restored works from Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin, and the Fest opens with a restored version of Fritz Lang's 1924 275 minute classic 'Die Nibelungen'.  "This is the purity of Telluride", Huntsinger told me, "that I feel committed to supporting forever."

The 42nd Telluride Film Festival runs from September 4th - 7th from 10am to 10pm.

I Love Lucy

Ball in 'Lucy' makeup

Cate Blanchett has signed on to portray Lucille Ball in a new biopic about the very popular comedienne, film star, and producer. This will be a good stretch for Blanchett who has a knack at being a chameleon in her roles and normally doesn't do comedy.

Lucy Arnaz, Jr. and Desi Arnaz, Jr., Lucy and Desi Arnaz's children, will be co-producing the movie, and although untitled, as yet, rumors are that the movie will center on the star's 20+ year marriage to Desi. It was during that period that Lucy and Desi co-starred in the very popular (to this day) 'I Love Lucy' sitcom.

Blanchett's recent films include 'Cinderella', 'Truth', and 'Carol' all of which were distributed this year.  No time-frame has been set to start shooting the Lucy biopic and no mention as yet regarding who will play Desi.  It will be a treat to see Lucy and Desi come back to life. We wish Cate all the best - Lucy is a hard act to follow.


Jim