The latest in an increasingly long line of film festivals getting canceled due to the ongoing pandemic is the Telluride Film Festival, which was going to kick off over Labor Day weekend. Though the festival may not go forward as planned, we do know some of the films that would have premiered at Telluride, such as Chloé Zhao‘s “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand.
IndieWire has the scoop, reporting that the Telluride 2020 program includes Zhao’s follow-up to her 2018 pseudo-documentary film “The Rider” about an injured rodeo performer. Before Zhao debuts with her first Marvel movie “The Eternals,” she was going to world premiere “Nomadland” at Telluride. The film follows unemployed workers traveling the country as they look for work, with McDormand playing a sixty-something woman looking for a new job after being hit by the Great Recession.
Other films reportedly part of the lineup include Francis Lee‘s “Ammonite,” which is also both a Cannes and TIFF selection, Wes Anderson‘s “The French Dispatch” which was going to Cannes, Steve McQueen‘s anthology films “Mangrove” and “Lovers Rock,” and Gianfranco Rosi‘s documentary “Notturno.”
[Update July 20: A previous version of this story noted that “Soul” was one of the selections. The Playlist has confirmed that was not the case.]
Though Cannes didn’t happen this year and Telluride is following suit, both TIFF and the Venice Film Festival are still planning a program. Sadly, it will be a heavily reduced program and a hybrid presentation, combining a physical and virtual component to the program. Earlier this month, an open letter signed by leaders at both festivals, as well as the New York Film Festival was published, promising that the major fall festivals will collaborate and move away from competing with each other.