Time For Another Rocky Mountain High: Thoughts as I Head Back to the Telluride Film Festival

Well, here we go again folks. If you read this on the day it’s published, I’ll be en route to the Telluride Film Festival. Yes, I’m headed to the airport this morning (and then the rental car counter) for another Rocky Mountain high…sort of. I’m headed to the mountains of Colorado once again, not to ski, but to the hallowed streets of Telluride for the prestigious Telluride Film Festival. After last year’s successful outing, I’m returning again for the 52nd installment of the festival! With Telluride about to kick off on Friday (tomorrow), and as I’m going to be there the rest of the week/weekend, I figured I’d muse a little bit about all of this today…

For those who don’t know, last year was my third one at Telluride, largely due to the cost of attending. Since the festival is basically the only one that charges the press to attend, I’d long been opposed to that. The first year was an experiment, with the second more or less confirming what I suspected, but lo and behold, after the third one, I’m fully hooked. Not only is it a fest that impacts awards season in a major way, it’s also just a wonderful experience, one I’m actually bummed I didn’t allow myself to do sooner.

So, what makes Telluride such a consistently big deal year in and year out? Well, a lot of it is how beautiful the town is, but also how small it is, compared to how big the Oscar players that screen there are. For a while, a film that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards was always playing there, and it remains a hallmark of the fest. So, most studios consider it an excellent place to hawk their best wares.

At Telluride, what will I be seeing? Well, as always it’s a secret! At least until later on this morning, that is. I have my suspicions, as I’ve detailed on some recent episodes of the Awards Radar Podcast (including here and today’s forthcoming episode), but it’s all going to be revealed soon enough. Whatever ends up in the lineup, it’ll be some of the highest profile titles of 2025. Once it’s known, I’ll be arranging my schedule to fit as much in as possible, with reviews to come as soon as humanly possible. There’s no rest for the weary kind, after all!

It’s going to be a busy time, my friends. I’ll in Telluride until Monday morning, then back home for only about 36 hours or so, before I whisk myself off to Canada and the Toronto International Film Festival once again on Wednesday. More on that next week, but this week is all about Telluride, and rightly so. Exciting times are forthcoming, friends. Stick around and sit tight for all of the movies, as they’re likely to impact the Oscar season in a major way. It’s all about to happen…

Stay tuned for all of my coverage and reviews from the 2025 Telluride Film Festival!