The Telluride Film Festival announced the full lineup for its 2022 edition, which includes the world premiere of Sam Mendes' Empire of Light, Sarah Poley’s Women Talking, Sebastian Lelio’s The Wonder, and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Polley is also one of the artists to get a Silver Medallion tribute during the festival, together with Cate Blanchett and documentary filmmaker Mark Cousins.
Starring Olivia Coleman and Colin Firth, Empire of Light promises to be a love letter to cinema by exploring how films can help create deep human connections. Empire of Light is set in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, which means Mendes will keep exploring period stories after his highly-successful 1917. As for Women Talking, the film follows a group of religious women in an isolated community trying to get to terms with their faith after being sexually assaulted by the religious colony’s men. The movie adapts Miriam Toews’ bestselling novel of the same name and promises to explore the silencing culture that unfortunately permeates many religious groups.
Leilos’ The Wonder is also based on a book, by Emma Donoghue. The story is inspired by “fasting girls”, young women who claimed never to need food and that their faith in God offered enough sustenance. Finally, Lady Chatterley’s Lover is the new movie adaptation of D.H. Lawrence novel and follows a wealthy woman in an unhappy marriage that falls in love with a gamekeeper.
Besides presenting world premieres, the 49th Telluride Film Festival will screen dozens of movies still unreleased in North America, such as Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Bardo, and Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All. All these movies had their world premiere in Cannes or are set to screen at the Venice Film Festival, which has been running since yesterday, August 31.
The 49th Telluride Film Festival opens this Friday, September 2, and runs through September 5. Check out the festival's full lineup below.
• ARMAGEDDON TIME (d. James Gray, U.S., 2022) In person: James Gray, Jeremy Strong, Anne Hathaway
• BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS (d. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexico-U.S., 2022) In person: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Íker Sánchez Solano
• BOBI WINE, GHETTO PRESIDENT (d. Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, Uganda-U.K., 2022) In person: Christopher Sharp, Moses Bwayo, Bobi Wine, Barbie Kyagulanyi
• BONES AND ALL (d. Luca Guadagnino, U.S., 2022) In person: Luca Guadagnino, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance
• BROKER (d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, South Korea, 2022) In person: Hirokazu Kore-eda, Song Kang-ho
• CLOSE (d. Lukas Dhont, Belgium-France-Netherlands, 2022) In person: Lukas Dhont, Eden Dambrine
• A COMPASSIONATE SPY (d. Steve James, U.S.-U.K., 2022) In person: Steve James
• THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (d. Dror Moreh, U.S., 2022) In person: Dror Moreh
• EMPIRE OF LIGHT (d. Sam Mendes, U.K.-U.S., 2022) In person: Sam Mendes, Micheal Ward
• THE END OF THE WORLD (d. Matthew Tyrnauer, U.S., 2022) In person: Matthew Tyrnauer, Jonathan Lethem
• THE FUTURE TENSE (d. Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, Ireland, 2022) In person: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor, Molly Lawlor
• GODLAND (d. Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark-Iceland-France-Sweden, 2022) In person: Hlynur Pálmason, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir
• GOOD NIGHT OPPY (d. Ryan White, U.S., 2022) In person: Ryan White, Steve Squyres
• HOLY SPIDER (d. Ali Abbasi, Denmark-Germany-Sweden-France, 2022) In person: Ali Abbasi, Zar Amir Ebrahimi
• ICARUS: THE AFTERMATH (d. Bryan Fogel, U.S., 2022) In person: Bryan Fogel
• IF THESE WALLS COULD SING (d. Mary McCartney, U.K., 2022) In person: Mary McCartney
• LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER (d. Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, U.K.-U.S., 2022) In person: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Emma Corrin, Jack O’Connell
• LAST FLIGHT HOME (d. Ondi Timoner, U.S., 2022) In person: Ondi Timoner, Morgan Doctor, Rabbi Rachel Timoner, and the Timoner family
• LIVING (d. Oliver Hermanus, U.K., 2022) In person: Oliver Hermanus, Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood
• THE MARCH ON ROME (d. Mark Cousins, Italy, 2022) In person: Mark Cousins
• MERKEL (d. Eva Weber, U.K.-Denmark-Germany, 2022) In person: Eva Weber
• MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2022) In person: Mark Cousins
• ONE FINE MORNING (d. Mia Hansen-Løve, France, 2022) In person: Mia Hansen-Løve, Léa Seydoux
• RETROGRADE (d. Matthew Heineman, U.S., 2022) In person: Matthew Heineman, General Sami Sadat, Matt Chaney
• “SR.” (d. Chris Smith, U.S., 2022) In person: Chris Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey
• SQUARING THE CIRCLE (d. Anton Corbijn, U.K., 2022) In person: Anton Corbijn
• TÁR (d. Todd Field, U.S., 2022) In person: Todd Field, Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss
• TORI AND LOKITA (d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Belgium-France, 2022) In person: Joely Mbundu
• WILDCAT (d. Melissa Lesh and Trevor Beck Frost, U.S., 2022) In person: Melissa Lesh, Trevor Beck Frost, Harry Turner, Samantha Zwicker
• WOMEN TALKING (d. Sarah Polley, U.S., 2022) In person: Sarah Polley, Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Judith Ivey, Jessie Buckley, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, August Winter, Kate Hallett, Liv McNeil
• THE WONDER (d. Sebastián Lelio, U.K.-Ireland, 2022) In person: Sebastián Lelio
The 2022 Silver Medallion Awards, given to recognize an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema, will be presented to Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett (with TÁR); award-winning writer-director Mark Cousins (with THE MARCH ON ROME and MY NAME IS ALFRED HITCHCOCK); and celebrated actor, writer, and filmmaker Sarah Polley(with WOMEN TALKING). Tribute programs include a selection of clips, the presentation of the Silver Medallion, and a screening of the aforementioned films.
Additional episodic works and short films also playing in the main program are:
• ANASTASIA (d. Sarah McCarthy, U.K.-Russia, 2022) In person: Sarah McCarthy, Anastasiia Shevchenko, Vladislava Shevchenko, Mikhail Shevchenko
• ANGOLA DO YOU HEAR US? VOICES FROM A PLANTATION PRISON (d. Cinque Northern, U.S., 2022) In person: Cinque Northern, Liza Jessie Peterson
• THE BEST CHEF IN THE WORLD (d. Ben Proudfoot, U.S., 2022) In person: Ben Proudfoot
• GUERRILLA HABEAS (d. Emma Wall and Betsy Hershey, U.S., 2022) In person: Emma Wall, Betsy Hershey, Gregory Copeland, Baba Sillah, Mamou Drame
• LE PUPILLE (d. Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-U.S., 2022)
• MARIANNE (d. Lara Porzak and Rebecca Ressler, U.S., 2022) In person: Lara Porzak, Rebecca Ressler, Marianne Wiggins
• RUSSIA [1985-1999] TRAUMAZONE (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2022)
• THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST Episode 1 (d. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein, U.S., 2022)
TFF’s 2022 Guest Directors, Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko, serve as key collaborators in the Festival’s programming decisions. Both will be present to introduce their finely curated film selections:
• ELEGY OF A VOYAGE (d. Aleksandr Sokurov, France-Russia-Netherlands, 2001)
• GETTING TO KNOW THE BIG, WIDE WORLD (d. Kira Muratova, Soviet Union, 1978)
• L’ATALANTE (d. Jean Vigo, France, 1934)
• OASIS (d. Lee Chang-dong, South Korea, 2002)
• WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOME? (d. Abbas Kiarostami, Iran, 1987)
• THE WONDERS (d. Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-Switzerland-Germany, 2014)
Five film revival programs include two shows presented in collaboration with The Film Foundation: the five-hour miniseries EIGHT DEADLY SHOTS (d. Mikko Niskanen, Finland, 1972); ÉL (d. Luis Buñuel, Mexico, 1953); two shows presented by Serge Bromberg of Lobster Films: THE MÉLIÈS AMERICAN NEGATIVES: World Premiere 3-D Screening and THE ROBBER SYMPHONY (d. Friedrich Feher, U.K., 1936); as well as KENTUCKY PRIDE (d. John Ford, U.S., 1925).
Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring films about movies and portraits of artists, musicians, and cultural icons, will screen the following programs:
• 1341 FRAMES OF LOVE AND WAR (d. Ran Tal, Israel-U.S.-U.K., 2022)
• DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY (d. Nancy Buirski, U.S., 2022)
• FRAGMENTS OF PARADISE (d. KD Davison, U.S., 2022)
• THE LAST RIDER (d. Alex Holmes, U.K., 2022)
• THE MÉLIÈS MYSTERY (d. Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange, France, 2021)
• MIÚCHA, THE VOICE OF BOSSA NOVA (d. Daniel Zarvos and Liliane Mutti, Brazil-France, 2022)
• THE PADILLA AFFAIR (d. Pavel Giroud, Spain-Cuba, 2022)
• SALVATORE: SHOEMAKER OF DREAMS (d. Luca Guadagnino, Italy, 2020)
• SEE YOU FRIDAY, ROBINSON (d. Mitra Farahani, France, 2022)
Special Screenings and Festivities programmed throughout the Festival include ORLANDO (d. Sally Potter, U.K.-Russia-Italy-France-Netherlands, 1992); THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER – FEATURING BRANDI CARLILE (d. Kathlyn Horan, U.S., 2022); THE FIRE WITHIN: A REQUIEM FOR KATIA AND MAURICE KRAFFT (d. Werner Herzog, U.K.-France-Switzerland-U.S., 2022); THEATER OF THOUGHT (d. Werner Herzog, U.S., 2022); WERNER HERZOG: RADICAL DREAMER (d. Thomas von Steinaecker, Germany-U.K., 2022); Bobi Wine in Concert; and a poster signing with 49th TFF poster artist Leanne Shapton.