What Might Be Screening at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival?

Next week, I’m headed to Colorado and the Telluride Film Festival. I’ll do my annual Telluride preview post beforehand, talking about the festival in a more holistic manner. Today, however, as I pour over the lineups of other fests, I have something specific on my mind. Just what might be screening this year at Telluride? Below, I have a few ideas about what might end up playing at the fest, though keep in mind, it’s all just educated guesswork for another week.

One of the fun parts of Telluride is the fact that the lineup is kept a secret until the start of the festival. Basically, at some point while on the plane, I get an email with the film list. The lineup and schedule then becomes what you desperately digest while on the road from wherever you land to Telluride proper. 2025 will obviously be no exception, though there is a slight bit of extra mystery this time around, as several titles are legitimate question marks for inclusion.

There are clues to be found by looking at the premiere designations for other festivals. The Venice Film Festival begins slightly before Telluride and continues on during it, so they’re a different animal (though you can look at their schedule to see if certain flicks can logistically make the leap with their talent). The ones to look at at the New York Film Festival and especially the Toronto International Film Festival. The movies there that aren’t world premieres certainly feel on the table, especially when TIFF labels something a Canadian premiere as opposed to a North American one.

As for my best guesses, I’m going off of my own hunches, some studio intel (my lips are sealed and my sources are safe), as well as Michael’s Telluride Film Blog, a useful resource for things like this. Between all of that and festival designations, I’m figuring that we’ll see Telluride feature, among other things, Ballad of a Small Player, Bugonia, It Was Just an Accident, Hamlet, Hamnet, The History of Sound, Jay Kelly, Nouvelle Vague, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Train Dreams, and Tuner. Throw in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (I’m fairly confident it’s playing, which is very sweet of the festival to do for me) and that’s thirteen notable titles that make sense for Telluride. That doesn’t even include legitimate question marks like Die My Love (which hasn’t gone anywhere besides the Cannes Film Festival and could be primed for this spot), The Mastermind (likewise), and Pillion. Even if only half of those movies wind up playing, and trust me, it will be almost all of them, that would make for a great festival.

So, it’s just a waiting game now. The Telluride Film Festival will feature some of the year’s best in cinema, in one of the most beautiful locations in the world. Look for tons on Telluride next week and the week after, before I turn around and head to TIFF. I’m already exhausted, but I’m excited too, so sit tight.

Stay tuned to see next what what plays at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival!