Today, Friday, September 4, sees the opening of the 42nd annual Telluride Film Festival, which will give North American audiences their first look at some of the most anticipated films of the Fall in advance of key September fests like Toronto and New York. The event, which wraps on Monday, September 6, just released its lineup yesterday, available now via the fest’s program guide. The following presents highlights from the nineteen documentary features on offer this year:
Show, the festival’s main program, showcases nine feature docs, including: Ken Wardrop’s MOM AND ME, a film about mothers and sons; Davis Guggenheim’s HE NAMED ME MALALA (pictured), about the rural Pakistani girl turned inspirational advocate for education and equality; Charles Ferguson’s TIME TO CHOOSE, which tackles climate change; and Sydney Pollack’s unreleased 1972 AMAZING GRACE, on the making of Aretha Franklin’s most popular album.
Backlot, which spotlights films about filmmakers and artists, presents an additional five new docs, plus two retrospective works. Among the newer films are: Tatiana Brandrup’s CINEMA: A PUBLIC AFFAIR, which details what happens when a Moscow film museum runs afoul of capitalism; Pamela Tom’s TYRUS (pictured), about the now-supercentenarian Disney illustrator Tyrus Wong; Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman’s Sundance doc SEMBENE!, on the influential African filmmaker; Stig Björkman’s INGRID BERGMAN – IN HER OWN WORDS; and Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT.
Listed separately from these are Jennifer Peedom’s SHERPA (pictured), which looks at mountain-climbing from the sherpas’ perspective, presented in an open air theatre; and, from Rachel Kusner, this year’s Guest Director, her selections include Robert Frank’s 1979 Rolling Stones tour film, COCKSUCKER BLUES.
what (not) to doc 