Telluride Film Festival Unveils Lineup

Tim Falkenberg August 29th, 2014 - 2:23 PM

As has been its habit for its 40 prior years of existence, the 41st Telluride Film Festival announced its lineup today, the first day of the fest. We had some thoughts earlier this week on what might show up among the 25 films in exhibition at Telluride. How’d we do? Well…

Not too badly, as it turns out. Tis the season to start building awards season buzz, and there are several films playing at Telluride which will be trying to do just that. Foxcatcher, the film about Olympic wrestlers starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo might have the most at stake after a strong initial showing at Cannes earlier this year, but Birdman, directed by two-time Oscar nominee Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Alan Turing bio The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, are hoping to get some momentum rolling as well.

We also correctly supposed that both John Stewart’s Rosewater and the Reese Witherspoon starrer Wild would be at Telluride, and while they may be a step behind some of the competition in terms of anticipation, engrossing trailers for both hint at the potential to break out.

Among the films we didn’t see coming, highlights have to include Tommy Lee Jones’s The Homesman, an adaptation of Madame Bovary starring Mia Wasikowsaka, Paul Giamatti, and Rhys Ifans, and number of compelling documentaries led by The 50 Year Argument, a look at the New York Times book review co-directed by Martin Scorsese.

Here’s the full list:

THE 50 YEAR ARGUMENT (d. Martin Scorsese, David Tedeschi, U.K.-U.S., 2014)
’71 (d. Yann Demange, U.K., 2014)
99 HOMES (d. Ramin Bahrani, U.S., 2014)
BIRDMAN (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu, U.S., 2014)
DANCING ARABS (d. Eran Riklis, Israel-Germany-France, 2014)
THE DECENT ONE (d. Vanessa Lapa, Israel-Austria, 2014)
DIPLOMACY (d. Volker Schlöndorff, France-Germany, 2014)
FOXCATCHER (d. Bennett Miller, U.S., 2014)
THE GATE (d. Régis Wargnier, France-Belgium-Cambodia, 2014)
THE HOMESMAN (d. Tommy Lee Jones, U.S., 2014)
THE IMITATION GAME (d. Morten Tyldum, U.K.-U.S., 2014)
LEVIATHAN (d. Andrey Zvgagintsev, Russia, 2014)
THE LOOK OF SILENCE (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Denmark-Indonesia-Norway-Finalnd-U.S., 2014)
MADAME BOVARY (d. Sophie Barthes, U.K.-Belgium, 2014)
MERCHANTS OF DOUBT (d. Robert Kenner, U.S., 2014)
MOMMY (d. Xavier Dolan, Canada, 2014)
MR. TURNER (d. Mike Leigh, U.K., 2014)
THE PRICE OF FAME (d. Xavier Beauvois, France, 2014)
RED ARMY (d. Gabe Polsky, U.S.-Russia, 2014)
ROSEWATER (d. Jon Stewart, U.S., 2014)
THE SALT OF THE EARTH (d. Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Brazil-Italy-France, 2014)
TALES OF THE GRIM SLEEPER (d. Nick Broomfield, U.K.-U.S, 2014)
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (d. Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium-Italy-France, 2014)
WILD (d. Jean-Marc Valleé, U.S., 2014)
WILD TALES (d. Damián Szifrón, Argentina-Spain, 2014)

More on each film, as well as a look at some of the other programs playing at the festival can be found here on the festival program guide.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that other films could make an appearance before the end of the festival, though out of the main competition.

With Venice and Telluride now in full swing, the fall festival season is officially here. Be sure to check back daily for news on what’s looking good at the fests.