This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 5, 2009 - The annual Telluride Film Festival has become noteworthy over its 35 years for many reasons, among them:
- Three "tributes" that include a compilation reel from each honoree's work, the presentation of the Telluride Silver Medallion, an onstage interview between the honoree and a noteworthy film critic (or historian) and, often, the honoree's latest film. The honorees are chosen with international representation from directors, producers, actors, writers, editors, etc. - in essence, anyone who has made a significant contribution to film.
- North American premieres of a diverse array of narrative and documentary films.
- A selection of silent and historic films, including a "best of Pordenone" (a yearly silent film festival in Pordenone, Italy), presented with musical accompaniment by, for example, the Alloy Orchestra, Gabriel Thibaudeau and the Kronos Quartet.
- Stimulating foreign films, some of which may never open in St. Louis, some from Cannes International Film Festival the previous May but also from an array of other festivals as well.
- A limited number of passes of various categories, meaning that pass holders can handicap their chances of getting in various venues to avoid getting turned away. Venues range from 140 seats to 650 seats plus a free outdoor film in the city's Elks Park.
- Its location in Telluride, where you can walk from one of the seven town venues to another and take the gondola, a spectacular 12-minute ride, to the Chuck Jones theater in Mountain Village.
- A brief introduction of each official screening by someone from the film: the director, a producer, one or more of the actors, the writer, etc.
- The opportunity to hear from a film's representative(s) at a question-and-answer period after designated screenings, at a noon seminar, at scheduled "conversations" or sometimes just standing in line or walking down the street.
In short, there's this and more that has drawn me to all but one of the past 15 Telluride festivals. It is expensive and a bit difficult to get to Telluride, but the investment of time and money always seems worthwhile.
This past year brought a wealth of foreign films from Romania, Kazakhstan, Israel, South Korea, India, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden and elsewhere. There is not one theme or focus, though seeing so many movies in succession, one begins to imagine them carrying on a dialogue with each other. This year several of the works interrogated humanity's violent confrontations and even massacres over decades among various ethnic and religious groups in different geographical locations. None of this is news to informed citizens, but these films elevate debate to another level. Grim as the prospect of such topics must be, what redeems even the most somber presentation is the insightful consideration of the brutality on display interpreted through thoughtful artistry that asks the viewer to reconsider the impact of individual interaction and contentious political relationships.
Many viewers like political films more than escapist fare, or at least want exposure to works with serious topics. Many filmgoers like feeling engaged, learning about others and gaining empathy for groups or situations we may know only in passing.
In the coming days, I'll be posting comments on a few of this year's Telluride films - which may (or may not) come to St. Louis - with comments made during the question-and-answer session after the screenings I attended.
Diane Carson's film reviews can be heard on KDHX (88.1 FM) .
The Lens is the blog of Cinema St. Louis, hosted by the Beacon.