Telluride Film Festival Potential Lineup: ‘Conclave,’ ‘Emilia Perez’

The 51st Telluride Film Festival is set to be a star-studded event, with several notable films expected to premiere at the top of awards season.

As is customary, the full lineup, including screening schedules, isn’t announced until the day before the festival begins. This year’s festivities run from August 30 to September 2. So longtime attendees, both journalists and film buffs, are now looking to the Venice, Toronto and New York film festivals for clues about what to expect at the Colorado festival.

The Toronto Film Festival lineup offers reliable clues. The films’ labels as “world,” “international,” “North American,” or “Canadian” offer even more important hints about what might be stopping in Telluride over the Labor Day weekend festivities. The timing of the Toronto International Film Festival (September 5-15) leaves no other festival to claim premiere titles in advance, making these guesses pretty reliable, given any last-minute changes.

Among the festival’s headliners is the thriller Conclave (which had its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival), directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”). The film features a star-studded cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini — beloved stars who never won an Oscar. Alongside Conclave is another Fox documentary, Piece by Piece (Toronto International Film Festival), directed by Morgan Neville, about the life of musician and producer Pharrell Williams.

Amazon MGM’s “Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of writer-director Ramiel Ross’s acclaimed novel Colson Whitehead, is also set to have its world premiere in Colorado after being named the opening night film at the New York Film Festival without any “premiere” designation in its press release. Surprisingly, director Steve McQueen, who has previously brought films like Best Picture winner “12 Years a Slave” to the festival, will have its North American premiere in New York, following its world premiere at the British Film Institute in London in October.

Neon, which has had great success bringing films like Anatomy of a Fall and Parasite to the festival, is looking to make a splash with Joshua Oppenheimer’s feature directorial debut, The End (TIFF), a musical about the end of the world starring Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon, and the funny but poignant Palme d’Or winner, Anora (TIFF), from writer-director Sean Baker, who previously attended with The Red Rocket.

Paramount Pictures' musical biopic “Peter Man,” starring British singer Robbie Williams, is expected to be a “potential factor” in the race after being awarded “Canadian” status in the Toronto International Film Festival's program.

Netflix has at least two potential Oscar contenders to excite audiences: “The Piano Lesson,” the latest adaptation of August Wilson’s play by debutant Malcolm Washington and starring John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson and Daniel Deadwyler. Also on the block is “Emilia Pérez” (TIFF Canadian), from legendary director Jacques Audiard, which won the Cannes Best Actress Award for its four stars, Carla Sofia Jackson, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz.

Some hot-selling titles could also make an appearance on Telluride’s slate, notably Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” with Angelina Jolie in the lead role as famed opera singer Maria Callas. Larraín opened early in the Venice schedule (Aug. 29), and has been a festival favorite among Telluride programmers with “El Conde” (2023), “Spencer” (2021), “Neruda” (2016) and “No” (2012) all screening there. The author received an honor there in 2016. “Maria” will premiere on the same night as Halina Rein’s erotic thriller “Babygirl,” written and directed by Halina Rein and starring Nicole Kidman. However, multiple sources say diverse The film will not be shown in Telluride.

Scott McGeehy and David Siegel’s “The Friend,” starring Naomi Watts, Carla Gugino and Owen Teague, will have its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, suggesting that Telluride is a likely stop for the film as it seeks U.S. distribution. Early rumblings suggest the film will be widely received.

Telluride doesn’t typically screen many Sundance or Cannes adaptations unless there’s a compelling reason, such as a director or star who’s been honored at the festival (Casey Affleck for “Manchester by the Sea” for example) or a film that resonates deeply with the festival. The festival seems likely to screen films like Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine Is Light” (Toronto International Film Festival) alongside “Anora.” In addition, Venice looks likely to screen Alain Giraudie’s “Misericordia” (Toronto International Film Festival).

Searchlight Pictures’ Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet as the iconic musician, will not screen at Telluride or any other fall festival. The film is expected to bypass all of those festivals as it enters post-production after wrapping filming in June, aiming for a December release, similar to the schedule for 2019’s “1917.”

Other films expected include Mohammad Rasoulof's “The Sacred Fig Seed,” with strong bets on Ali Abbasi's “The Apprentice,” starring Donald Trump and still not in the U.S., and possibly Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis.”

The films that won’t make it to Telluride are: Amy Adams’ “Nightpitch,” Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language “The Room Next Door,” and Rodrigo Prieto’s “Pedro Páramo,” which is competing to be Mexico’s official film in the international feature film category. Don’t expect to hear about Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator 2,” Robert Zemeckis’s “Here,” or John Crowley’s love story “We Live in Time.”

With the Telluride festival closing on September 2, that also means the omission of Brady Corbett’s “The Brutalist” with Adrien Brody, Jon Watts’ “Wolfs” with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” with Daniel Craig, and Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. All of those films will be screened in Venice from September 1 to 4, leaving little time to make the long trip from Europe to the United States.

Even with these known variables, anything can change. Final lineups have yet to be determined. Telluride is known for offering “TBA” titles on the schedule via its mobile app, which has led to late titles like Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” appearing later in the festival.

Questions also revolve around which filmmakers will receive the coveted Silver Medal, which is awarded to three outstanding artists. The winners are honored with a special tribute, a screening of a film about their most significant contributions, and a Q&A session. The festival typically honors a mix of craftspeople, directors, and actors.

Here are some previous honors in the expanded Best Picture era and how they relate to Oscar attention:

Among the expected films, there are many participating candidates, such as Jacques Audiard, Samuel L. Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Ralph Fiennes, and others. Among these are: Varieties Of the Oscar nominees, Denzel Washington (producer of “The Piano Lesson” could get an early start on “Gladiator Part II”), Saoirse Ronan (in two films this year with “Blitz” and “The Out Run”) or Aunjanue Ellis Taylor (with four titles this year with “Nickel Boys,” “Expecting Forgiveness,” “The Deliverance” and “The Supremes in Earl’s All You Can Do”) would also be good candidates for the honor.

Last year, the main program featured four Best Picture nominees: “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Holdovers,” “Poor Things” and “The Zone of Interest.” Usually, a stop at a festival in Venice, the Toronto International Film Festival or Telluride is crucial to winning Best Picture. However, the last three winners, “CODA” (2021), “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022) and “Oppenheimer” (2023), managed to do so without any of them in attendance. Is this a new trend or will the season return to business as usual? With no festival awards to hand out, a more relaxed atmosphere and the stress of walking the red carpet removed, the Telluride Film Festival is letting itself speak for itself.