39th TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2012 LINE-UP

 25 Narrative and Documentary Films Chosen for Main Program

 Marion Cotillard, Roger Corman and Mads Mikkelsen Honored

 Special Programming from Guest Director Geoff Dyer

Telluride Film Festival, presented by the National Film Preserve, today announced its official program selections for the 39^th Telluride Film Festival. TFF will screen nearly 100 feature films, short films and revivals representing over thirty countries, along with Tribute programs, Conversations, Panels and Education Programs.

Now in its 39^th year, Telluride Film Festival opens Friday, August 31 and runs through Monday, September 3. The prestigious Telluride Film Festival is an annual gathering for film industry insiders, cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers and critics. TFF is considered a major launching ground for the fall season’s most talked-about films.

Telluride Film Festival Co-Director Julie Huntsinger comments, “TFF prides itself on loyal and personal relationships that deepen and enrich over time, as evidenced by the commitment of the majority of our passholders, filmmakers, and business partners, who come back every year to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in supporting the best and the brightest talents of this year and future generations.”

This spirit of sustainability is reflected in TFF’s prestigious film programs that embrace classic treasures, world masters and the most buzzed-about movies, in the presence and celebration of iconic filmmakers and the freshest young talent; and in our portfolio of business partners from longstanding relationships with revered institutions and quality brands to alignment with exciting new companies and unique relationships with university and high school education providers.

39^th Telluride Film Festival is proud to present the following new feature films to play in its main program, the ‘Show’:THE ACT OF KILLING (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark, 2012); AMOUR (d. Michael Haneke, Austria, 2012); AT ANY PRICE (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2012); THE ATTACK (d. Ziad Doueiri, Lebanon-France, 2012); BARBARA (d. Christian Petzold, Germany, 2012); THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, U.S., 2012); EVERYDAY (d. Michael Winterbottom, U.K., 2012); FRANCES HA (d. Noah Baumbach, U.S., 2012); THE GATEKEEPERS (d. Dror Moreh, Israel, 2012); GINGER AND ROSA (d. Sally Potter, England, 2012); THE HUNT (d. Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark, 2012); HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (d. Roger Michell, U.S., 2012); THE ICEMAN (d. Ariel Vromen, U.S., 2012); LOVE, MARILYN (d. Liz Garbus, U.S., 2012); MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN (d. Deepa Mehta, Canada-Sri Lanka, 2012); NO (Pablo Larraín, Chile, 2012); PARADISE: LOVE (d. Ulrich Seidl, Austria, 2012); PIAZZA FONTANA (d. Marco Tullio Giordana, Italy, 2012); A ROYAL AFFAIR (d. Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, 2012); RUST & BONE(d. Jacques Audiard, France, 2012); THE SAPPHIRES (d. Wayne Blair, Australia, 2012); STORIES WE TELL (d. Sarah Polley, Canada, 2012); SUPERSTAR (d. Xavier Giannoli, France, 2012); WADJDA (d. Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia, 2012); WHAT IS THIS FILM CALLED LOVE? (d. Mark Cousins, Ireland-Mexico, 2012).

Additional Sneak Previews may play outside the main program and will be announced on the Telluride Film Festival website: www.telluridefilmfestival.org over the course of the four-day weekend.

“While screening hundreds of new movies for selection, we are looking for narrative and non-fiction films that offer festival goers new experiences, both in the subject matter and the way the filmmakers tell their stories,” said Festival Co-Director Gary Meyer. “This year’s program offers unique insights into the world today and past history. It is an especially strong year for films told by and about women.”

The 2012 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, go to director and producer ROGER CORMAN who will present CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL (U.S., 2011), THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (U.S.-U.K., 1964) and (THE INTRUDER (U.S., 1961); Academy Award-winning actress MARION COTILLARD (LA VIE EN ROSE) who stars in TFF selection RUST & BONE; and Danish actor MADS MIKKELSEN who stars in two TFF selections: THE HUNT and A ROYAL AFFAIR.

“At the core of each year’s Festival are the Tributes that allow our audiences a chance to gain insight into the creative process of the filmmakers and actors being celebrated,” said Co-Director Tom Luddy. “We are especially pleased with the balance this year, beginning with director/producer, Roger Corman, who has helped launch so many important careers. Then actress Marion Cotillard, whose early career in French films brought her to the attention of the world’s filmmakers and now stars in both European and American movies. Finally there is Mads Mikkelsen, the Danish actor whose powerful performances have brought him much international attention and increasing audience awareness in America.”

Telluride Film Festival annually celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors and presents great movies. This year’s Special Medallion award goes to C. Chapin Cutler Jr. and Boston Light & Sound for a commitment to setting the highest standards of film presentations at film festivals and special events worldwide.

Previously announced Guest Director Geoff Dyer, who serves as a key collaborator in the Festival’s program, presents the following six programs: BARAKA (d. Ron Fricke, U.S., 1992, new 70mm print); BEAU TRAVAIL (d. Clair Denis, France, 1999); STALKER (d. Andrei Tarkovsky, Russia, 1979); TOGETHER (d. Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 2000);UNRELATED (d. Joanna Hogg, U.K., 2007); WERNER x 2 includes two Werner Herzog films: LESSONS OF DARKNESS (France-U.K.-Germany, 1992) and THE GREAT ECSTASY OF WOODCARVER STEINER (Germany, 1974).

Additional film revivals include the “Pordenone Presents” selection of the rarely seen Raymond Griffiths comedyHANDS UP! (d. Clarence Badger, U.S., 1926) with live music accompaniment by Donald Sosin; I KNEW HER WELL (d. Antonio Pietrangeli, Italy, 1965) selected and introduced by film director Alexander Payne; THE MARVELOUS LIFE OF JOAN OF ARC (d. Marco de Gastyne, France, 1929) with The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra; RETOUR DU FLAMME 2012, Serge Bromberg’s latest program including the newly restored Charlie Chaplin classic THE IMMIGRANT and HUNGRY HOBOS, the first screening of a lost Walt Disney Film since its 1928 premiere.

A Spotlight will shine on the work and career of director Jack Garfein including screenings of his two movies,SOMETHING WILD (U.S., 1961); and THE STRANGE ONE (U.S., 1957) plus a conversation led by film critic Kim Morgan.

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers, will screen the following programs: BREAKING THE FRAME (d. Marielle Nitoslawska, Canada, 2012);CARRIÈRE 250 METERS (d. Juan Carlos Rulfo, Mexico, 2012); CELLULOID MAN: A FILM ON P.K. NAIR (d. Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, India, 2012); CINEMA JENIN (d. Marcus Vetter, Germany-Israel-Occupied Palestinian Territory, 2012); FINAL CUT: LADIES AND GENTLEMAN (d. György Pálfi, Hungary, 2012); IN SEARCH OF EMAK BAKIA (d. Oskar Alegria, Spain, 2012); JONATHAN MILLER (d. David Thompson, U.K., 2012); JOURNAL DE FRANCE (d. Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret, France, 2012); ME AND ME DAD (d. Katriné Boorman, U.K., 2012); MIKIS THEODORAKIS, COMPOSER (d. Klaus Salge and Asteris Kutulas, Germany, 2012); ON BORROWED TIME (d. David Bradbury, Australia, 2012); THE SHORT FILMS OF JEAN NEGULESCO.

Telluride Film Festival’s Short Films Program includes SHOWcase for Shorts, which offers nine short films chosen to precede select feature films; Filmmakers of Tomorrow includes four short programs: Student Prints, Great Expectations, Calling Cards and Annecy Animation from twenty-nine emerging filmmakers.

Telluride Film Festival’s Education Programs present students the opportunity to experience film as an art and expand participants’ worldview through film screenings and filmmaker discussions. Celebrating its 24th year, the Student Symposium provides 50 graduate and undergraduate college students a weekend-long immersion in cinema. The City Lights Project, now in its 13th^ year, brings fifteen high school students and five teachers from three divergent schools the opportunity to participate in a concentrated program of screenings and discussions. In 2011, TFF and UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA/TFT) launched FilmLAB, an extraordinary new program giving ten outstanding graduate film students from UCLA/TFT the opportunity to attend the festival and learn from the greatest filmmakers in the world in a workshop/lab setting: and, For The Love Of Movies, a Los Angeles High School Screening Program focusing on the most creatively promising and under-served young talent featuring the “Best” of Telluride Film Festival, managed by UCLA-TFT graduate students and with the participation of selected filmmakers and TFT faculty. 

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. Six Conversations between Festival guests and the audience about cinema and culture, and three outdoorNoon Seminars feature a panel of Festival guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public.

Book Signings will take place at the Festival hospitality center, Brigadoon, with TFF Poster Artist DAVE EGGERS, who will sign his latest novel A Hologram for the King, his nonfiction Zeitoun and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius; JACK GARFEIN will sign his book Life and Acting; SALMAN RUSHDIE will sign his classic Midnight’s Children; ERROL MORRIS will sign Seeing is Believing; and Guest Director GEOFF DYER will sign his award-winning books: the novel Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi; Zona; Out of Sheer Rage; and his essays Otherwise Known as the Human Condition.

Corporate support at Telluride Film Festival plays an essential role in the life of the Festival and underscores the Festival’s commitment to quality, adventure and distinction in the art of cinema. TFF is privileged to continue collaborating with some of the world’s most renowned brands, including Festival Land Rover, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Stella Artois which are each aligned with a unique feature of the festival, and excited to welcome new partners this year including Aesop, Americas Film Conservancy, Audible.com, The London Hotels, Loyola Marymount University, Teatulia and The Hollywood Reporter. Equally, Telluride Film Festival has a long relationship with Hollywood and is extremely proud of its committed and longstanding industry supporters, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cinedigm, Dolby, Meyer Sound, Turner Classic Movies, Universal Studios and UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.