Half of the fun of the fall festival deluge is determining which films are going to screen at the Telluride Film Festival and which ones won’t. The organizers do not release the full program until the day before, but the qualifications of “World” vs. “New York” vs. “Canadian” premieres at the Toronto and New York Film Festivals often, but not always, give the lineup away. This year, to no one’s surprise, the narrative world premieres are led by Chloe Zaho’s “Hamnet,” Edward Berger’s “Ballad of a Small Player,” and Scott Cooper’s “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.”
Other world premieres include acquisition titles Philippa Lowthorpe’s “H is for Hawk” starring Claire Foy and produced by Lena Headley and Plan B, Aneil Karia’s new contemporary incarnation of “Hamlet” starring Riz Ahmed, and Daniel Roher’s “Tuner” starring Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman. The latter two films will also screen at TIFF the following weekend.
Notable documentaries set to screen at Telluride include Werner Herzog’s “Ghost Elephants,” as well as Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’s “Cover-Up.”
This year’s tributes and special medallion recepients include Noah Baumbach, who will screen his new dramedy “Jay Kelly” directly from Venice; Jafar Panahi, whose Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just A Little Accident” will be part of the festival program; Ethan Hawke, who stars in Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon”; and Tessa Ross, a BBC and Film 4 veternaln and producer of such films as “Conclave,” “The Iron Claw,” “The Wonder,” and an executive producer of a slew of acclaimed works including “12 Years A Slave,” “Under the Skin,” “127 Hours,” “In Bruges,” and “Billy Elliott,” among other works.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” will join “Jay Kelly” as major Venice premieres to take the quick trip to the Colorado Mountains.
Other films include Sundance stand-out Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” starring Rose Byrne, as well as a slew of Cannes titles, including Harry Lighton’s “Pillion,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” Oliver Hermanus’ “The History of Sound,” Harris Dickinson’s “Urchin,” Linkaler’s other 2025 endeavor, “Nouvelle Vague,” and Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind.”
Talent expected to attend the festival include Bruce Springsteen, George Clooney, Josh O’Connor, Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy Allen White, Colin Farrell, Laura Dern, Elle Fanning, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, and Mescal.
A complete list of this year’s selection, including archive screenings, is as follows:
A PRIVATE LIFE (d. Rebecca Zlotowski, France, 2025)
ASK E. JEAN (d. Ivy Meeropol, U.S., 2025)
BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER (d. Edward Berger, Hong Kong/Macau, 2025)
BLUE MOON (d. Richard Linklater, U.S./Ireland, 2025)
BUGONIA (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.K., 2025)
COVER-UP (d. Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, U.S., 2025)
EVERYWHERE MAN: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF PETER ASHER (d. Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, U.S./U.K., 2025)
GHOST ELEPHANTS (d. Werner Herzog, Angola/Namibia/U.S., 2025)
H IS FOR HAWK (d. Philippa Lowthorpe, U.K./U.S., 2025)
HAMLET (d. Aneil Karia, U.K., 2025)
HAMNET (d. Chloé Zhao, U.K., 2025)
HIGHWAY 99 A DOUBLE ALBUM (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2025)
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (d. Mary Bronstein, U.S., 2025)
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (d. Jafar Panahi, Iran/France/Luxembourg, 2025)
JAY KELLY (d. Noah Baumbach, Italy/U.K./U.S., 2025)
KARL (d. Nick Hooker, U.K., 2025)
LA GRAZIA (d. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2025)
LOST IN THE JUNGLE (d. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Juan Camilo Cruz, U.S./Colombia, 2025)
LUMIÈRE, LE CINÉMA (d. Thierry Frémaux, France, 2024)
MAN ON THE RUN (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2025)
NOUVELLE VAGUE (d. Richard Linklater, France, 2025)
PILLION (d. Harry Lighton, U.K., 2025)
SENTIMENTAL VALUE (d. Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Denmark/Germany, 2025)
SHIFTY (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2025)
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2025)
SUMMER TOUR (d. Mischa Richter, U.S., 2025)
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, David Schmidt, U.S., 2025)
THE BEND IN THE RIVER (d. Robb Moss, U.S., 2025)
THE CYCLE OF LOVE (d. Orlando von Einsiedel, U.K./India/Sweden, 2025)
THE HISTORY OF SOUND (d. Oliver Hermanus, U.S., 2025)
THE MASTERMIND (d. Kelly Reichardt, U.S., 2025)
THE NEW YORKER AT 100 (d. Marshall Curry, U.S., 2025)
THE RESERVE (d. Pablo Pérez Lombardini, Mexico/Qatar, 2025)
THE SECRET AGENT (d. Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany, 2025)
THIS IS NOT A DRILL (d. Oren Jacoby, U.S., 2025)
TUNER (d. Daniel Roher, U.S./Canada, 2025)
URCHIN (d. Harris Dickinson, U.K., 2025)
The following short films will screen in the main program:
• ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS (d. Joshua Seftel, U.S., 2025)
• ALL THE WALLS CAME DOWN (d. Ondi Timoner, U.S., 2025)
• LAST DAYS ON LAKE TRINITY (d. Charlotte Cooley, U.S., 2025)
• SALLIE’S ASHES (d. Brennan Robideaux, U.S., 2025)
• SONG OF MY CITY (d. David C. Roberts, U.S., 2025)
The 2025 Telluride Film Festival runs from August 29 to September 1. Look for complete coverage on The Playlist.
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