The Essence of A Film Festival: Telluride (2016)

Introduction

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            Along with Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival is widely considered a prestigious US festival which kicks off the fall film season and awards season[1]. The festival, situated in Southwest Colorado, has further secured this prestige in recent years by hosting six of the last seven Oscar best picture winners, of which four were world premieres[2]. Nonetheless, Telluride is vastly different from its larger neighbours on the festival calendar. With an annual turnout of about 6000 attendees[3] and a lineup of less than 100 films[4], Telluride is considerably small, and unlike many other prestigious festivals, it holds fast to a commitment of appreciating film as art, doing away with competition, glamour and business[5]. In this paper, I will explore the unique appeal and position of Telluride, and how growing interest in the festival has become a pressure, forming a threat to its authenticity.

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1. A History of Spontaneity and Cinephilia

 

1.1 The Beginnings

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            As a film festival primarily for cinephiles, Telluride was aptly born out of a pure desire to enjoy cinema. The idea for the festival came from James Card, then chief curator of the motion picture collection at George Eastman House, one of the world's oldest film archives. He envisioned the festival upon seeing the newly renovated Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, which was owned by Bill and Stella Pence. Card introduced Tom Luddy, director of Berkeley’s influential Pacific Film Archive, to the Pences and the four became co-founders of the Telluride Film Festival in 1974[6]. The festival wasn’t started with intentions to be profitable or popular. In Stella’s words, they simply “wanted to have a big party”, thinking it would be a “one-time, cool event”, but the festival “took on a life of its own” and “just kept going”.[7] With the team’s connections, they were able to gather prominent people in the film industry, including Francis Coppola, Leni Riefenstahl, and Gloria Swanson, who were the tribute guests for the pioneer festival.

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Inviting three distinguished artists as tribute guests – well-known, forgotten or unknown – has become a tradition for the festival. These guests are each honored with a silver medallion, one presented each night of the Festival.[8] Another tradition they’ve kept to since 1988[9] is the introduction of an annual Guest Director – the latest being Volker Schlöndorff in 2016 – who curates a program of “forgotten gems”[10].

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1.2 Trusted Quality of Programming

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            Starting out with a program filled with classic films and a focus on “rare treasures and undiscovered masterpieces” rather than “contemporary filmmakers”, Telluride’s programming has since evolved to a balance of 60% new films and 40% revivals. Nevertheless, their focus on “retrospectives, rediscoveries, and restorations” remains to this day, with Telluride still known for their screenings of quality silent films – a dedication that was acknowledged and awarded by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2012[11]. Telluride today is known for providing a good mix of old and new cinema[12].

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            An interesting feature that sets Telluride apart from other festivals is their tradition of keeping their program lineup a secret until the very day the festival opens. It hasn’t always been this way. The decision not to announce their program in advance was also a spontaneous one, sparked off during the third year when an invited tribute guest, Jeanne Moreau, couldn’t make it to the festival at the last minute and the incident made the headlines as ‘Moreau Cancels’. In explaining the move, Bill Pence highlights its advantages, saying, “Not announcing creates a certain flexibility when hot films are available at the last minute, or people cancel whom we thought we had on board.” He adds that it also contributes to the egalitarianism of the festival since “no one has any advance information”. However, one thing is certain about the program – it will include a slate of North American premieres, though these films are never touted as official “premieres” but rather unofficial “sneak peeks”[13].

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The hidden program policy also reveals Telluride’s considerable confidence in their quality of programming, a confidence that the first three years was sufficient testimony to keep people coming despite not knowing what’s in store, and that ultimately, attendees will not be disappointed with the program. This can also be inferred from Bill Pence’s statement, “We had sold out the festival for three years without any difficulty, so I said, ‘Let's not give out any information to anyone, so we don't disappoint anyone.’”[14] Telluride’s advisory council, which “reads like a who’s who of arts luminaries”, also provides an “implicit guarantee” for the program’s quality[15]. Filmmakers themselves testified to Telluride’s quality programming in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2014 article which highlights Telluride as a festival screening “movies the filmmakers want to see”[16]. It has also been said that “the fact a film made it to Telluride is all one needs to know that [it] is well worth viewing.”[17]

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2. A Community of Film Lovers

 

2.1 An Egalitarian Festival

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Keeping the program hidden from everyone, regardless of status, is merely one example of how Telluride strives to maintain a level playing field for all its attendees. In doing so, the festival fosters a community where people can revel in their love for films, rid of status labels. As Werner Herzog puts it, Telluride is “a family reunion for those who love cinema.”[18] The creation of a “community experience” has also been attributed to the festival’s intimate size, while the mountain setting creates a “casual, low-key atmosphere”[19]. This laid-back ambience permeates the entire festival, which opens with an Opening Night Feed street party and ends with a Labor Day picnic in the city park[20].

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It is clear that the festival shows no preferential treatment to anyone – everyone has to buy passes and queue in line for screenings – filmmaker, press, celebrity or just a regular cinephile[21]. Press members are also not guaranteed any interviews or press rooms. The Pences themselves emphasized that they “try to treat everyone equally” at Telluride in efforts to “create an egalitarian festival experience”[22]. The absence of paparazzi “offers a welcome respite” for celebrities[23], who shed their glamour at the low-key festival, wearing casual clothes instead of red carpet wear[24]. Unlike larger, industry-focused festivals, there are no airs or hierarchies at Telluride – “under-the-radar festival directors and high-status publicists [mingle] with regular distributors and audiences”, filmmakers “proliferate and are accessible”[25]. Regular film lovers can easily find themselves in line or seated next to big names[26]. This is often brought up in online reviews of the festival, where attendees chronicle meeting the likes of Jeff Goldblum[27], Danny Boyle[28] and George Clooney[29] at the rarefied venue. A collection of moments where various film industry notables are gathered at the latest 43rd edition have been described as “only-in-Telluride moments”[30]. Current co-director Julie Huntsinger cherishes the same attitude as the founders, highlighting that “anybody can come to Telluride”[31] as long as they share the same desire to celebrate film.

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2.2 Volunteering – Part of the Festival Experience

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This egalitarian value extends to volunteering, which has become a culture for Telluride. A huge percentage of its staff, also known as SHOWCorps, is volunteers, and four out of five are non-locals[32]. Apart from providing an opportunity for the cash-strapped to participate in the festival, for many, volunteering has become an invaluable part of the Telluride experience itself. Huntsinger reveals that word of mouth is so positive that every year, they receive “a whole new round of applicants”, including “kids of staffers”[33]. As per the festival’s principles, volunteers are treated equally – even HBO executives have done tasks like “sorting through a dumpster” during the opening-night picnic[34].

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2.3 Loyalty to the Festival

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The no-frills experience of simply appreciating the art of cinema in a community of film lovers has proven to be distinctive to Telluride, making the festival an annual go-to for many of its attendees, who remain loyal even after decades. Telluride has been described as possibly having the “most evangelic following of any film [festival] in the world”, with attendees “more loyal to [the] festival than they are to their alma mater”[35]. Many have been attending for years, “ten or twenty being the rule rather than the exception”[36]. Longtime festival volunteer Jeffrey Middents said, “I fell in love with Telluride completely, and to some extent the experience of going there ruined me for any other festival.” He adds that volunteers “are slowly turning over to new people, but oftentimes the new people aren’t brand new – they’ve been there for only 20 years or something like that.”[37]

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It’s not just the regular cinephiles – the loyalty of filmmakers has been tested in 2014 when Toronto International Film Festival announced that films which play first at Telluride will not be allowed Toronto’s prime slots, essentially making filmmakers choose between the two. The policy ended up backfiring, with many filmmakers accepting later screening dates from Toronto or skipping it altogether in order to attend Telluride[38]. Toronto eased the policy in 2015[39], but the incident undoubtedly showed how much filmmakers valued Telluride.

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The festival’s appeal is further amplified when we consider how Telluride is essentially a mountain town nestled among the San Juan mountains[40], with a small population of about 2500, meaning it takes good effort to get to and accommodation is hard to secure[41]. Michael Barker, co-president of Sony's specialized film unit, went as far as to describe Telluride as “virtually impossible to get to”[42]. Moreover, Telluride’s passes range from $390 to $3900, a huge investment that can only be fueled by great trust in the program and overall experience that the festival will offer.

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3. Telluride’s Impact on the Film Industry

 

3.1 Intangible Industry Activity

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While Telluride is sometimes considered “exclusive”[43], Toronto’s policy in response to Telluride has shown, to certain extent, that Telluride isn’t exactly an isolated universe and has reasonable impact on the film industry. For Telluride’s small size, prominent industry figures make up a sizable portion of its attendees – enough for insider parties to be held by influential groups such as the Academy, Sony Picture Classics and Fox Searchlight[44]. It is commonly assumed that industry is insignificant at Telluride because there is no market and no press. Kenneth Turan categorizes Telluride as a festival with an “aesthetic agenda”, while festivals such as Cannes and Sundance are described as having “business agendas”[45]. Though tangible deals are less common at Telluride as compared to these festivals, intangible industry activity occurs in the form of parties (such as the abovementioned) where conversations are made about “which films are most worth seeing and which company is said to be close to acquiring something”[46].

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3.2 Critical Boost for Awards Season

 

Though not quite intentional, Telluride’s quality programming has earned it the reputation of being a “critical touchstone for the rest of the year” as “most of its premieres go on to the forefront of positive critical consensus”[47]. It is said that “early buzz at Telluride opens the fall season of North American award speculation that climaxes with the Oscars”[48]. Telluride’s “key role in the ecosystem of awards season”[49] is indicative of its influence on the film industry, even if it is more often than not, an indirect force.

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4. A Cinephilic Festival in its Essence

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Nevertheless, Telluride’s focus has never been industry. Robert Koehler named Telluride as a cinephilic festival which possesses a distinct voice and highlighted how coverage by mainstream American press and critics, which often overemphasize Telluride’s position as a launching pad for the awards season, has distracted from its “role as a presenter of archival discoveries” and “effectively [distorted] Telluride’s place in cinephilia”[50]. Huntsinger has also made it clear that screening award contenders isn’t Telluride’s priority and that the Oscar campaigning is merely incidental to the festival’s selection process. Rather, the festival’s commitment is that “every film has to be extraordinary” and with regards to the 2015 lineup, she said, “This year, we have films that require a lot of thought. If that means awards people get bored, so be it.”[51] This shows Telluride’s dedication in celebrating cinema over defending its place in the industry.

 

4.1 The Significance of Preserving Cinephilia

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This dedication has been recognized and appreciated as a much-needed preservation of cinephilia in an era where film is widely seen as a struggling art form[52] which is “increasingly threatened by a whole constellation of cultural forces”[53]. Telluride has been called a “cinematic oasis”[54], “a standing rebuke to such fatalism and gloom” with “a way of dispelling pessimism”[55] and “reason for hope”[56]. French actress Isabelle Huppert described the festival as preserving “a certain idea of cinema”[57]. B Ruby Rich also noted that Telluride provided a less encumbered viewing experience, bringing out its value as a space to celebrate films with minimized distraction. Moreover, the sheer effort required to get to Telluride sustains a traditional form of cinephilia which is rare these days. A central element of such cinephilia is the effort required to pursue one’s passion, which makes the experience more precious in the cinephile’s memory[58]. Such effort is also evident in the volunteering work as discussed earlier. This is why attending Telluride is sometimes described as a “pilgrimage” and such inconveniences as “part of the charm”[59].

 

Jeffrey Ruoff summarizes the critical function of film festivals this way: “Festivals nourish world cinema, sustaining its evolution as an art form as well its militant dimension.” As such a function becomes increasingly overshadowed by industry goals and celebrity culture, there is a “creeping anxiety” that cinephilia is endangered[60]. Koehler exemplifies this by pointing out that there is an “aversion to cinephilia” and an “unwillingness” to prioritize cinephilia at festivals. He argues that festivals have a crucial task “to defend cinema” and a central purpose of “exploring new cinema, rediscovering old cinema and challenging the audience to encounter and wrestle with both”, which is precisely the commitment of Telluride. Such trends intensify Telluride’s significance in the film festival circuit and world cinema.

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5. The Pressure of Growth on an Intimate Festival

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Telluride’s recognition has brought about extraordinary growth – every year, the festival sells out earlier than the previous[61] and in 2016, the record was broken again when passes were completely sold out only seven weeks after sales opened[62]. Yet, in light of Telluride’s physical and financial limitations, such growth can potentially become too much to handle and even pose a threat to its authenticity. Joe Morgenstern mentions that Telluride “needs to fix a flawed system” which over-relies on patron funding, a looming threat to its “populist ideals”[63]. As far back as 1998, Bill Pence admitted that Telluride is a “monster of its own creation” from a financial and logistical perspective [64]. Fast-forward to 2015, Huntsinger acknowledges that Telluride’s “biggest challenge now” is “nervous tension” that has been brought about by rising interest in the festival as it struggles to accommodate the demand[65]. However, she displayed optimism, stating that attendance is cyclical and with added free concerts, screenings and programs, more people who don’t have passes can still enjoy Telluride[66]. Turan also lauded Telluride’s resilience, saying that “its stubborn spirit and refusal to bend had helped it weather its storm”[67].

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Conclusion

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            Telluride has earned a prominent place in the film festival circuit, owing to a balance between its significance to the industry – as a conducive place for discovery and criticism of films, and its importance to cinephilia – as a haven where pure appreciation of cinematic art prevails. However, this balance could be increasingly difficult to maintain as the festival gains more and more attention, and its growth could conversely become a problem. With uncompromising passion, Telluride has undeniably left its mark on film festival history, but in upcoming years, tackling this capacity problem without jeopardizing its cinephilic mission will be crucial to continuing its legacy.

 

 

Notes

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[1] Pond, Steve. "Watch Out, Oscar: Awards Season Gets Jump Start With Fall Film Festivals." The Wrap. September 1, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.thewrap.com/watch-out-oscar-awards-season-gets-jump-start-with-fall-film-festivals/.

[2] Tapley, Kristopher. "Telluride Wrap: Colorado Fest Opens Gate to Kudos Season." Variety. September 8, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://variety.com/2015/film/awards/telluride-wrap-colorado-fest-opens-gate-to-kudos-season-1201587683/.

[3] Hernandez, Eugene. "Celebrating Cinema as an Art, Telluride Unveils ’09 Fest." IndieWire. September 3, 2009. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/celebrating-cinema-as-an-art-telluride-unveils-09-fest-246628/.

[4] "TFF 43 Announces 2016 Lineup." Telluride Film Festival. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/news.

[5] "TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL." Fest300: The World's Best Festivals. Accessed November 15, 2016.

[6] Wright, Celine. "Telluride Film Festival Is a Labor of Cinephilia for Its SHOWCorps." The Baltimore Sun. August 23, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/la-et-mn-ca-telluride-film-buffs-20130825-story.html.

[7] Ruoff, Jeffrey. "TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL: ORIGINS." Fandor Daily. August 28, 2014. Accessed November 15, 2016. https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/telluride-film-festival-origins.

[8] "PROGRAM GUIDE." Telluride Film Festival. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/show/program_guide.

[9] Beete, Paulette. "Small But Mighty." NEA ARTS MAGAZINE, 2011. Accessed November 15, 2016. https://www.arts.gov/NEARTS/2011v3-celebration-look-art-festival/small-mighty.

[10] Young, Damon. "Hotel Colorado." Film Quarterly 63, no. 2 (2009): 57-59. Accessed November 15, 2016. doi:10.1525/fq.2009.63.2.57.

[11] "2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival Award: Telluride Film Festival." San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/2012-san-francisco-silent-film-festival-award-telluride-film-festival.

[12] Brooks, Brian. "10 Best Fests: A Directory." IndieWire. May 12, 2010. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.indiewire.com/2010/05/10-best-fests-a-directory-55135/.

[13] Feinberg, Scott. "Toronto Film Festival's Anti-Telluride Policy May Be Backfiring (Analysis)." The Hollywood Reporter. July 24, 2014. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/toronto-film-festivals-anti-telluride-720646.

[14] Horn, John. "A Film Festival That's Actually about Films." Los Angeles Times. August 30, 2006. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/30/entertainment/et-telluride30.

[15] Eaves, Hannah. "The Hidden Festival: Telluride 2005." PopMatters. September 23, 2005. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.popmatters.com/feature/050923-telluridefilm2005/.

[16] Feinberg, Scott. "Telluride: The Movies the Filmmakers Want to See." The Hollywood Reporter. August 29, 2014. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-movies-filmmakers-want-see-729042.

[17] O’Rourke, Paul. "That’s A Wrap—Telluride Film Festival #43." Telluride Publishing. September 8, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.telluridemagazine.com/?p=3278.

[18] Schear, Theo. "REELYDOPE Recap: Telluride 2016." REELYDOPE. September 16, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://reelydope.com/2016/09/16/reelydope-recap-telluride-2016/.

[19] Campbell, Lindsey. "Telluride Film Festival: August 31 – September 3 2012." Synoptique 1, no. 1 (2013): 67-73.

[20] "TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL." Fest300.

[21] Beete, Paulette. "Small but Mighty, Part 2." NEA ARTS MAGAZINE, 2011. Accessed November 15, 2016. https://www.arts.gov/NEARTS/2011v3-celebration-look-art-festival/small-mighty-part-2.

[22] Ruoff, "TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL: ORIGINS."

[23] Clemente, Maribeth. "Telluride Film Festival Celebrates Forty Years." Bonjour Colorado. August 30, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://bonjourcolorado.com/2013/08/telluride-film-festival-celebrates-forty-years/.

[24] Wardlow, Ciara. "AT TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2016, OPPOSITE FILMS ATTRACT THE SAME AUDIENCE." The Wellesley Times. September 14, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://thewellesleynews.com/2016/09/14/at-telluride-film-festival-2016-opposite-films-attract-the-same-audience/.

[25] Rich, B. Ruby. "Outrages and Obsessions: A Report on Festival Season." Film Quarterly 67, no. 1 (2013): 67-72. Accessed November 15, 2016. doi:10.1525/fq.2013.67.1.67.

[26] Schiller, Christopher. "Telluride Film Festival Report." Script Magazine. September 4, 2014. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.scriptmag.com/festivals-2/telluride-film-festival-report.

[27] Clemente, Maribeth. "Telluride Film Festival: A Moviegoer's Lovefest." Bonjour Colorado. September 22, 2008. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://bonjourcolorado.com/2008/09/telluride-film-festival-moviegoers-lovefest-2/.

[28] Chhabra, Aseem. "Telluride Film Festival: The Mecca for Lovers of Cinema." Rediff Movies. August 28, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.rediff.com/movies/column/telluride-film-festival-the-mecca-for-lovers-of-cinema/20130828.htm.

[29] Conley, Chip. "WHY TELLURIDE IS THE BEST FILM FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD." Fest300: The World's Best Festivals. September 18, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2016. https://www.fest300.com/magazine/why-telluride-is-the-best-film-festival-in-the-world.

[30] Keegan, Rebecca. "From Hanks to Huppert, Cinephiles Find Common Ground at Telluride." Los Angeles Times. September 5, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-telluride-film-festival-wrap-20160823-snap-story.html.

[31] Beete, "Small But Mighty."

[32] Wright, "Telluride Film Festival Is a Labor of Cinephilia"

[33] Beete, "Small But Mighty."

[34] Wright, "Telluride Film Festival Is a Labor of Cinephilia"

[35] "TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL." Fest300.

[36] Eaves, "The Hidden Festival"

[37] Beete, "Small but Mighty, Part 2."

[38] Feinberg, "Toronto Film Festival's Anti-Telluride Policy"

[39] Hertz, Barry. "TIFF Backs down from Premiere Feud with Telluride." The Globe and Mail. June 4, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/awards-and-festivals/tiff/tiff-backs-down-from-its-feud-over-premieres-with-telluride/article24797321/.

[40] "TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL." Fest300.

[41] Eaves, "The Hidden Festival"

[42] Horn, "A Film Festival That's Actually about Films."

[43] Malcolm, Derek. "The Most Exclusive Film Festival of All." The Guardian. September 6, 2001. Accessed November 15, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/06/features.telluridefilmfestival.

[44] Feinberg, Scott. "Telluride: A Film Fest That Knows How to Party." The Hollywood Reporter. August 31, 2014. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-a-film-fest-knows-729301.

[45] Turan, Kenneth. Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made. University of California Press, 2002.

[46] Feinberg, "Telluride: A Film Fest That Knows How to Party."

[47] Scarberry, Lane. "What the Telluride Film Festival Brought Us in 2015." Screencraft. September 22, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. https://screencraft.org/2015/09/22/what-the-telluride-film-festival-brought-us-in-2015/.

[48] Ruoff, Jeffrey. "When Film Is a Festival." The Huffington Post. September 8, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-ruoff/when-film-is-a-festival_b_8092396.html.

[49] Keegan, "From Hanks to Huppert"

[50] Koehler, Robert. "Cinephilia and Film Festivals." Dekalog 3: On Film Festivals, July 28, 2009, 81-97. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.scifilondontv.com/FFA/Dekalog3/Dekalog3_05Koehler.pdf.

[51] Kohn, Eric. "Telluride Announces 2015 Lineup, Including ‘Steve Jobs,’ ‘Black Mass’ and Rooney Mara Tribute." IndieWire. September 3, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.indiewire.com/2015/09/telluride-announces-2015-lineup-including-steve-jobs-black-mass-and-rooney-mara-tribute-58619/.

[52] Sims, David. "Reports of Cinema’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated." The Atlantic. October 4, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/10/reports-of-cinemas-death-are-highly-exaggerated/502838/.

[53] Morgenstern, Joe. "Telluride: Good Movies, Welcome Back." The Wall Street Journal. September 8, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/telluride-good-movies-welcome-back-1473365146.

[54] Wardlow, "OPPOSITE FILMS ATTRACT THE SAME AUDIENCE"

[55] Scott, A. O. "Cinema Is Dead? Telluride Says Not Yet." The New York Times. September 5, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/movies/telluride-film-festival.html?_r=0.

[56] Morgenstern, "Telluride: Good Movies, Welcome Back."

[57] Keegan, "From Hanks to Huppert"

[58] Valck, Marijke De. Film Festivals From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia. Amsterdam University Press, 2007.

[59] Beete, "Small But Mighty."

[60] Czach, Liz. "Cinephilia, Stars, and Film Festivals." Cinema Journal 49, no. 2 (2010): 139-45. Accessed November 15, 2016. doi:10.1353/cj.0.0194.

[61] Cagin, Seth. "Telluride Film Festival Has Arrived." Telluride Daily Planet. September 3, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.telluridenews.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_4eb75082-528e-11e5-b298-bb2b1a3062b4.html.

[62] Tapley, Kristopher. "Telluride Film Festival Sells Out Passes in Record Time." Variety. April 21, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://variety.com/2016/film/in-contention/telluride-film-festival-2016-sells-out-passes-1201758017/.

[63] Morgenstern, Joe. "At Telluride, the Movies Reawaken." The Wall Street Journal. September 4, 2014. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/review-telluride-film-festival-1409860086.

[64] Turan, Kenneth. "Cinema Paradiso." Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1998. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/aug/31/entertainment/ca-18099/3.

[65] Cagin, "Telluride Film Festival Has Arrived."

[66] Horn, John. "Telluride Film Festival at 40: Many Celebrants, Some Growing Pains." Los Angeles Times. August 29, 2013. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-telluride-film-festival-20130829-story.html.

[67] Turan, Sundance to Sarajevo