37th Annual Telluride Film Festival Releases Stellar Lineup

Peter Weir, Danny Boyle, Mark Romanek and Errol Morris will be headlining this year's Telluride Film Festival, which kicks off tomorrow, Friday September 3rd and runs through Labor Day. The Telluride Film Festival is best known for its eclectic programming philosophy which keeps its film schedule secret until hours before the first screenings.

Attendees will have their choice of outdoor screenings, shorts programs, filmmaker panels and sneak peeks at some of the fall's new releases as the program unspools through Monday.

Unlike the Cannes and the Sundance Film Festival audiences, which are heavily composed of show-business types, or the Toronto International Film Festival, which has a more populist bent, Telluride is programmed by and for literate film geeks. Its attendees shell out $780 for passes year in and year out as an act of faith, having no idea what movies they will see after traveling thousands of miles to get there.

It's an intimate, high-altitude, real movie-lover's festival set in the lush box canyon in the western end of the San Juan Mountains -- at 13, 500 feet to be exact. The talent is not shuttling in an out of limousines like the pressure cooker of Toronto or Sundance. Stars are relaxed and at home in Telluride. Highlights of 2008 include chatting with actor Jeff Goldblum, director David Fincher, and scoring photo ops with Danny Boyle and Laura Linney at the Labor Day Picnic (below).

Director Danny Boyle & festival regular Terri "Cinephile" Atmore (right),
Telluride 2008

Telluride Film Festival regular actress Laura Linney, 2008

In recent years, Telluride patrons have been the first to see and embrace "Up in the Air," "Capote," "Brokeback Mountain," "The Last Station, "Lost in Translation," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "The Last King of Scotland" — and other gems.

Three years ago the audience reaction to Jason Reitman's "Juno" was so enthusiastic that Fox Searchlight promptly threw it on its holiday schedule, and "Juno" not only received four Oscar nominations (winning for original screenplay), but also grossed more than $143 million in domestic release. The studio's Telluride experience was just as good in 2008, where it premiered Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire." The movie went to win eight Academy Awards (including best picture), and grossed more than $141 million.

"Telluride is a unique film festival in that it is less dominated by industry insiders," says Steve Gilula, whose Fox Searchlight will have three movies in Telluride: 127 Hours, Boyle's account of how Aron Ralston (James Franco) was forced to cut off his hand after a hiking accident; Never Let Me Go, Romanek's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's dystopian novel starring Carey Mulligan; and Black Swan, director Darren Aronofsky's disturbing look at a ballerina (Natalie Portman) trying too hard to perfect "Swan Lake."

Boyle will officially be on hand to present a special Sunday morning screening of his 2005 film "Millions." It is widely expected that he will also sneak in his new film 127 Hours ahead of its Toronto screening. Fox Searchlight has a November theatrical release scheduled for the drama, which stars James Franco as a hiker trapped under a boulder in Utah for days.

The Way Back, © Exclusive Film

Six-time Academy Award nominee Peter Weir will be in town to receive one of the fest's special tributes, the Silver Medallion Award, which will highlight the career that produced "The Last Wave," "Witness," "Dead Poet's Society," "Fearless" and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." In addition to a special screening of his 1979 movie "The Plumber," the fest will screen his latest film, The Way Back, which features Ed Harris, Mark Strong and Colin Farrell as soldiers who escape a Siberian gulag in 1940 and walk all the way to India.

The other two Silver Medallion Award recipients include Claudia Cardinale and Colin Firth. The award recognizes an artist’s significant contribution to the world of cinema.

Italian film star Claudia Cardinale (8½, The Leopard, The Pink Panther) will receive the Silver Medallion followed by an onstage interview conducted by Hilton Als (Saturday) and Davia Nelson (Sunday). The program will include a screening of Valerio Zurlini’s Girl with a Suitcase (Italy, 1961).

Telluride audiences will be the first to see British actor Colin Firth’s performance in The King's Speech. The film will be preceded by a survey of Firth’s career (Pride and Prejudice, Girl with a Pearl Earring, A Single Man), the presentation of the Silver Medallion and an onstage interview with Davia Nelson (Sunday) and Todd McCarthy (Monday).

Alejandro González Iñárritu's 'Biutiful'
starring Javier Bardem to screen at Telluride

While Telluride is not known primarily as a sales festival, a handful of movies come to the festival without a domestic distributor and attract a deal in the days and weeks that follow — as was the case a year ago with the Leo Tolstoy drama "The Last Station." This year, the Telluride films looking for a home include Weir's prison escape drama "The Way Back," the animated musical "Chico and Rita," the Israeli-Palestinian documentary "Precious Life" and the inheritance drama "Incendies."

In keeping with Festival tradition, additional “Sneak Previews” are expected to surprise attendees over the weekend. Sneaks will be announced on the Telluride Film Festival webpage throughout the weekend.

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Source: TellurideFilmFestival

Danny Boyle’s "127 Hours" Hits Theaters on November 5th and . . .TIFF?

THR reports that Danny Boyle's follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire might make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from September 9 – 19th.

127 Hours is written by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy. The film tells the story of Aron Ralston (James Franco), the mountain climber who had to amputate his own arm with a dull knife after a 2003 hiking accident. The film has two cinematographers and reportedly very little dialogue. James Franco, Clemence Poesy, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara and Lizzy Caplan star.

Synopsis

127 HOURS is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet? A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life.


The Film Stage states that in telling the true story of a climber who is forced to amputate his arm after being trapped for five days, Boyle and James Franco certainly do a lot with a little. The cinematography by Boyle regular Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak is beautiful and inventive. The score by Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R Rahman is strong as are a few well selected pop songs. The presence of supporting players is kept to a minimum as Franco aptly commandeers what is essentially a one man movie. The intensity of his situation is tempered by a good sense of humor, including a wonderful reference to Scorsese’s The King of Comedy.

Early screenings suggest the film will be a solid intense drama and a film that will shine come awards season.

Here's a video from the New York Times in which Aron Ralston recounts his ordeal:

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Source: TheMovieTrailer, Collider, THR, IMDB, Wikipedia,

Danny Boyle nabs DGA feature award

Danny Boyle at 2008 Telluride Film Festival Labor Day Picnic;
Danny Boyle Roach (center right) with presenter Ethan Coen
First Assistant Director Raj Acharya and presenter Joel Coen

The winners of the 2008 Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards and the recipients of the Guild's 2009 Career Achievement Awards were announced tonight during the 61st Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Danny Boyle won the DGA's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Slumdog Millionaire.

"If I can get here, so can you," the 52-year-old Boyle told the audience in a brief acceptance speech. "Dream kind, dream hard." This is Mr. Boyle's first DGA Feature Film Award.

Following the welcome by DGA President Michael Apted to an audience of more than 1,500 guests, actor/comedian Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) hosted the ceremony. Jon Cryer subbed as the emcee for Carl Reiner, who took ill Friday from food poisoning. Reiner had served as host for 21 years.

Cryer noted that he's also a member of the DGA, which he noted has "awesome" health insurance that includes coverage of therapy. "Imagine if SAG covered therapy," he quipped.

Presenters included: Amy Adams* and Viola Davis* (Doubt), Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Josh Brolin* and Sean Penn* (Milk), DGA Secretary/Treasurer Gil Cates, Claire Danes (Stardust), Lisa Edelstein (House), Jodie Foster (Panic Room), Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters), Richard Jenkins* (The Visitor), Taraji P. Henson* (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Frank Langella* and Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Melissa Leo* (Frozen River), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye), Dev Patel and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), DGA National Vice President Steven Soderbergh, Marisa Tomei* (The Wrestler), Blair Underwood (In Treatment), and 2007 DGA Feature Film Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men).

* 2009 Academy Award Nominee

Roger Ebert with wife Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert
and stepdaughter Sonia

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, who can no longer speak due to complications from thyroid cancer, received a standing ovation when honored with an honorary lifetime membership in the guild along with recorded testimonials from Steven Spielberg, Patty Jenkins, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone.

"I think it's very brave of directors to give a critic an honorary membership," Ebert said in a statement read by his wife. "The person responsible above all else for a film is the director."

2009 DGA AWARD WINNERS

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures)
Unit Production Manager: Sanjay Kumar
First Assistant Director: Raj Acharya
Second Assistant Director: Avani Batra
Second Second Assistant Director: Sonia Nemawarkar

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION/MINI-SERIES
Jay Roach, Recount (HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Scott Ferguson
First Assistant Director: Michael Hausman
First Assistant Director/Second Assistant Director: Peter Thorell
Second Assistant Director: Tudor Jones
Second Second Assistant Director: Rob Dickerson Jr.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES NIGHT
Dan Attias, The Wire - "Transitions" (HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Nina Noble
First Assistant Director: Eric Henriquez
Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
Second Second Assistant Director: Tim Blockburger

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES
Paul Feig, The Office - "Dinner Party" (NBC)
Unit Production Manager: Robert Rothbard
First Assistant Director: Kelly Cantley
Second Assistant Director: Jennie O'Keefe
Second Second Assistant Director: Jasmine Alhambra
DGA Trainee: Alicia Cho

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL VARIETY
Brent (Bucky) Gunts, Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games (NBC)
Associate Directors: Carol Larson, Brian Orentreich
Stage Manager: Steve Hollander

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMS
Tony Croll, America's Next Top Model - "1002" (CW)
Associate Director: John Downer

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DAYTIME SERIALS
Larry Carpenter, One Life to Live - Episode #10,281, "So You Think You Can Be Shane Morasco's Father?" (ABC)
Associate Directors: Teresa Anne Cicala, Paul Glass, Tracy Casper Lang
Stage Managers: Alan Needleman, Keith Greer, Brendan Higgins,
Production Associates: Kevin Brush, Beth Kravitz

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS
Amy Schatz, Classical Baby (I'm Grown Up Now) "The Poetry Show" (HBO)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIALS
Peter Thwaites, Production Company: Gorgeous Enterprises
Waterslide, Barclaycard -BBH
Light Show, Guinness - Irish International BBDO

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY
Ari Folman, "Waltz with Bashir" (Les Films D'ici, Razor Films, Sony Pictures Classics)

2009 DGA SERVICE AND CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Film Critic/Author Roger Ebert – DGA Honorary Life Member Award for recognition of outstanding creative achievement, or contribution to the guild, or the profession of directing.

DGA Second Vice-President/Director William M. Brady - Robert B. Aldrich Award for extraordinary service to the DGA and to its membership.

DGA Board Member/Unit Production Manager Kim Kurumada - Frank Capra Achievement Award, given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.

DGA Assistant Secretary-Treasurer/Associate Director Scott Berger - Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award for an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry's most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award.

Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.

Source: Directors Guild of America
Variety.com

NBR names 'Slumdog' best of year; David Fincher wins directing kudos for 'Button'

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Labor Day Picnic, 2008 Telluride Film Festival
Danny with Moi (left) and Terri Atmore (right)

"Slumdog Millionaire" was named best film of the year yesterday by the National Board of Review. Released Nov. 12, it was acquired by Searchlight midyear after it was orphaned through Time Warner’s shuttering of Warner Independent. (Warner Bros. remains a partner in the pic.) After its boffo preem in Telluride (WooHoo), the Danny Boyle-helmed tale of a Mumbai-raised boy competing for 20 million rupees on India’s "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" was on its way.

David Fincher, 2008 Telluride Film Festival
(Elks Park Panel )

David Fincher wins NBR directing kudos for 'Button'. At Telluride's "Tribute to Fincher" packed house, we got a first look at twenty minutes of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Awesome, magical! 'Button' has garnered much awards buzz to date. It opens Dec 25th. The incomparable Fincher deserves a Best Director Oscar® nom.

Marking its 100th year of existence, the NBR will hand out the awards Jan. 14 at its annual gala at Cipriani 42nd Street. Whoopi Goldberg will host.

The 122 members of the org are described variously as "knowledgeable film buffs," academics, historians and industryites, including the 41 "young voices" of students or filmmakers. Members typically view about 300 titles a year before voting on their picks; this year the number reached 330.

And the winners are:

Film: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Director: David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Actor: Clint Eastwood, "Gran Torino"
Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Foreign Language Film: "Mongol"
Documentary: "Man On Wire"
Animated Feature: "Wall-E"
Ensemble Cast: "Doubt"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, "Gran Torino"
Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Eric Roth, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression: "Trumbo"

TOP TEN FILMS
(in alphabetical order)
* "Burn After Reading"
* "Changeling"
* "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"
* "The Dark Knight"
* "Defiance"
* "Frost/Nixon"
* "Gran Torino"
* "Milk"
* "Wall-E"
* "The Wrestler"

TOP FIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS
(in alphabetical order)
* Edge Of Heaven
* Let The Right One In
* Roman De Guerre
* A Secret
* Waltz With Bashir

TOP FIVE DOCUMENTARY FILMS
(in alphabetical order)
* American Teen
* The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
* Dear Zachary
* Encounters At The End Of The World
* Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired

TOP INDEPENDENT FILMS OF 2008
(in alphabetical order)
*Frozen River
*In Bruges
*In Search of a Midnight Kiss
*Mr. Foe
*Rachel Getting Married
*Snow Angels
*Son of Rambow
*Wendy and Lucy
*Vicky Cristina Barcelona
*The Visitor

WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD:
Molly Haskell And Andrew Sarris

Source: NBRMP.org