Telluride Film Festival really doesn't have anything to do with Delta Rising but more to do with our love of film and this most spectacular jewel - Telluride.We flew from San Jose to LAX. Then LAX to Montrose, CO where we take the shuttle to Telluride (~9000ft). We sat next to Fred Ward on the plane and had a terrific conversation about his life in acting and other fields (he worked on BART in the 60's as a union strong guy) and the plane had many noteworthy directors, writers and actors on board.
FRIDAY:
Today is the first film day. We started the day off with this amazing brunch way up on the side of a grassy mountain slope with spectacular views of the rugged peaks and the valleys around Telluride. We sat at a table with Michael Lerner and the directors of the films Farewell and Sleep Furiously and had a spirited conversation about their films while we ate amazing cheeses, baked goods, locally grown foods in this unbelievable place.
After the brunch we went to a special screening of "An Education" directed by Lone Scherfig and also introduced the audience to an amazing young actress, Carey Mulligan. What a terrific sweet film this was. It's about a young English girl battling whether or not going to Oxford is the life she wants or whether spending her young years visiting Paris, seeing Jazz and being in the company of a bit of an older man is more appealing. Really terrific. We spent some time with Michael Lerner (Life During Wartime, Entourage many others) and he made a point about there being a crack here and there in the story and I just thought - I don't care..this film had me at the opening credits.
TUESDAY
Okay so I am back home now. What a spectacular time we had. We saw 15 films and not one of them was bad. I am going to do a crude ranking system here using a 5 star system to say how I felt about the films. Please check out the descriptions on IMDB or google.
An Education - Terrific - ****
The Last Station - Awesome Love Story between Tolstoy and his wife - *****
The White Ribbon - Layered, Tense but Long - ***
The Road - Powerful, dark with never ending hope - ****
Up in the Air - Funny, Sad - a very vunerable George Clooney - ****
The Prophet - Prison, where the meek end up kicking ass - ****
It came from Kuchar - Very funny, San Francisco Kuchar Bros - ****
Farewell - Tense KGB vs CIA - ****
Life during wartime - Funny, weird, quirky - *****
Bad Lieutenant - Corruption turns into Keystone Cops - ****
Samson and Deliliah - 30 lines of dialogue, aboriginal life - ****
The Jazz Baroness - Personal story about Nica and Monk - ****
Fish Tank - Tough, gripping - ****
Though I enjoyed all the films I probably walk away from the festival remembering The Last Station the most. This was a powerful and compelling story about Tolstoy and his wife during his last days, filled with love, hope anger and ultimately redemption. This has an amazing performance by Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren and especially James McEvoy.
Buffy and I had the great fortune to sit and have a quiet glass of wine and appetizers with Darryl Hannah while we were there where we talked about many of the environmental challenges we are facing today. She is a brave, earnest sweet person and it was a special moment for Buffy and I.
I am always sad to leave Telluride, but I was dying to get back home to my son Cooper and as I went in to work a bit late I got to see him and hold him for 5 minutes. And I wanted to make sure that we raise him to find a path that is his own and to dream big and free, Telluride can bring that out in a person.
We are off to the New Hampshire Film Festival in October where Delta Rising will be featured. Hope to see you all there! - Michael
