Telluride Film Festival lineup includes ‘Conclave,’ ‘Saturday Night,’ ‘The Piano Lesson’

Edward Berger’s “Conclave,” Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” Malcolm Washington’s “The Piano Lesson,” RaMell Ross’s “Nickel Boys,” and Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End” will world premiere at the 51st edition of the Telluride Film Festival, fest organizers announced on Thursday.

In addition to the world premieres, several expected awards contenders will have North American bows in the small Colorado town over Labor Day weekend, including Pablo Larrain’s “Maria” (which premieres Thursday at the Venice Film Festival), Sean Baker’s “Anora” (this year’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner), and Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” (a Cannes winner for its ensemble of actresses and a jury prize winner at the prestigious event).

In addition to its lineup of features, Telluride organizers also bestow the Telluride Silver Medallion to “a trio of artists who have made significant contributions to the film industry.” This year’s honorees are the French filmmaker Audiard, four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (who stars in and produced “The Outrun”), and three-time Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker. Each tribute program includes a selection of clips, the presentation of the Silver Medallion award, and an on-stage interview.

“This brief weekend of cinematic bliss reminds us every year that movies really are magic,” says Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “The process of assembling our line-up is both daunting and rewarding, and it never fails to bring the most fantastic sense of satisfaction once we’re finished. Our anticipation matches that of the audience. We’re delighted to now share what we found to be the most exciting, interesting and profound works on film of this year. Our Telluride Film Festival community is remarkable, and we’re so grateful for the passion and enthusiasm they bring. May the community of film lovers continue to grow and find their way to movie theaters everywhere.” 

The full lineup is below.

· ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (d. Payal Kapadia, France-India-Netherlands-Luxembourg, 2024)

· ANORA (d. Sean Baker, U.S., 2024)

· APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS (d. Petra Costa, Brazil-U.S.-Denmark, 2024)

· BETTER MAN (d. Michael Gracey, Australia, 2024)

· BIRD (d. Andrea Arnold, U.K., 2024)

· BLINK (d. Daniel Roher, Edmund Stenson, U.S.-Canada, 2024)

· CARVILLE: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID! (d. Matt Tyrnauer, U.S., 2024)

· CONCLAVE (d. Edward Berger, U.K., 2024)

· DISCLAIMER (d. Alfonso Cuarón, U.K.-U.S., 2024)

· DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT (d. Embeth Davidtz, South Africa, 2024)

· EMILIA PÉREZ (d. Jacques Audiard, France, 2024)

· IN WAVES AND WAR (d. Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, U.S., 2024)

· JEAN COCTEAU (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2024)

· LEONARDO DA VINCI (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, U.S., 2024)

· MARIA (d. Pablo Larraín, Germany-Italy-U.S.-Hungary-France-Greece, 2024)

· MARTHA (d. R.J. Cutler, U.S., 2024)

· MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (d. Adam Elliot, Australia, 2024)

· MISERICORDIA (d. Alain Guiraudie, France-Spain-Portugal, 2024)

· NICKEL BOYS (d. RaMell Ross, U.S., 2024)

· NO OTHER LAND (d. Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Palestine-Norway, 2024)

· ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO (d. Kevin Macdonald, U.K., 2024)

· PIECE BY PIECE (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2024)

· SANTOSH (d. Sandhya Suri, U.K.-Germany-France, 2024)

· SATURDAY NIGHT (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2024)

· SEPARATED (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2024)

· SEPTEMBER 5 (d. Tim Fehlbaum, Germany, 2024)

· SOCIAL STUDIES (d. Lauren Greenfield, U.S., 2024)

· THE END (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Ireland-Germany-Italy-Sweden-Denmark-U.K., 2024)

· THE FRIEND (d. David Siegel, Scott McGehee, U.S., 2024)

· THE OUTRUN (d. Nora Fingscheidt, U.K.-Germany, 2024)

· THE PIANO LESSON (d. Malcolm Washington, U.S., 2024)

· THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Germany-France-Iran, 2024)

· THE WHITE HOUSE EFFECT (d. Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, Pedro Kos, U.S., 2024)

· WILL & HARPER (d. Josh Greenbaum, U.S., 2024)

· ZURAWSKI V TEXAS (d. Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault, U.S., 2024)

The following short films will be screened in the main program:

· A SWIM LESSON (d. Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, U.S., 2024)

· ALOK (d. Alex Hedison, U.S., 2024)

· THE TURNAROUND (d. Kyle Thrash, Ben Proudfoot, U.S., 2024)

In keeping with tradition, the full Telluride lineup was revealed just one day before the festival is set to begin. But while Telluride organizers maintain an air of secrecy around their plans throughout the summer, many 2024 selections were widely predicted to appear in the lineup after the slates for the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival, respectively, were announced. For example, when “Nickel Boys” was announced as the opening night film at this year’s New York Film Festival it did not have a premiere designation. This nuance led many to assume its world premiere would happen elsewhere, particularly Telluride once it was certain “Nickel Boys” wouldn’t play in Toronto (thus eliminating New York as its “North American premiere”). Similarly, Reitman’s “Saturday Night” was set to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, but as a “Canadian premiere” – a designation that meant its world premiere would happen elsewhere.

Telluride is often seen as a premier launching pad for awards contenders. Last year’s festival included the world premieres of “Nyad,” “The Holdovers,” and “Rustin” (all of which landed several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture for “The Holdovers”) and the North American bows for “Poor Things,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” and “The Zone of Interest.”