Telluride lineup Announces Bold Awards Season Play

Telluride reveals a lineup that blends awards contenders discoveries and classics as the fall festival circuit heats up.

Telluride lines up bold bets for awards season

Telluride's 52nd edition will present about 60 features revivals and shorts from 30 countries running August 29 to September 1. Festival director Julie Huntsinger says the event aims for a community vibe where attendees can hang out watch films and discuss them. The program mixes high profile contenders with idiosyncratic discoveries and well chosen restorations, with an eye toward shaping Oscar conversations while maintaining a sense of discovery.

High profile titles from Venice and Cannes are in play, including Netflix projects like Ballad of a Small Player and Chloe Zhao's Hamlet, plus Yorgos Lanthimos's Bugonia. Some anticipated titles will not travel to Telluride, such as Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, while others may surface as secret screenings. Documentary work remains a staple, with portraits of public figures and serious investigations on offer. The festival also highlights international cinema and new voices, underscoring Telluride's role as a proving ground for both prestige and risk.

Telluride continues its tradition of balancing prestige with discovery. The festival serves as a launchpad for Oscar campaigns while giving space to rare documentaries and first-time filmmakers. But the event also exposes a tension: access costs for attendees and the reliance on star power to attract attention can tilt the field toward the already well connected. The result is a festival that rewards taste but risks becoming a gatekeeping event unless lines of inclusion are kept open.

Highlights

Telluride remains a proving ground for taste and risk