Telluride Inside... and Out

TIO remembers: Telluride Bluegrass 2009

The snow has started here in Telluride. Winter is upon us with snow sports, music, theatre, dinners out with friends. Before the season gets too busy Telluride Inside... and Out would like to share highlights of this past Summer.

Our first offering is this video retrospective of the 2009 Telluride Bluegrass Festival. You'll see Festival regulars: Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush, John Cowan, and others. We've included some performers not usually associated with Telluride, such as Elvis Costello, Mike Farris, and Todd Snider. In addition there are shots of Planet Bluegrass folks, some intimate pictures of Festival goers, and crowd shots. Check it out: you may see yourself, and probably will see someone you recognize.

It was a great season in Telluride. Enjoy the show, watch for more event recaps, and see you next Summer.

Academy Awards and the Telluride Film Festival

Jason Reitman

There is a lot of conversation about how much effect the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival have on the Oscar nominating procedure. I don't pretend to have inside information on this subject, but TIO had the opportunity not only to view some great films at Telluride, but to witness audience reaction in the theaters and to converse with film buffs in the lines outside. Our take on the Oscar season? For an in depth look at what TIO said right after the festival see Susan's review from September 14.

We called out Jason Reitman's "Up in the Air", starring George Clooney, as a contender in several categories.

Telluride Blues & Brews Festival: It's been rainin' in the mountains...

Yes, Telluride saw a little rain these past few days. Did that stop the dancing?  Not on your life. Telluride Inside... and Out caught this happy couple tripping the light fantastic. This is not your mother's ballroom. Hard not to move at Telluride Blues and Brews with sounds like those coming from Vieux Farke Toure.

By the way, wash those feet before you come into the house. OK?

Baddest blues maverick Otis Taylor featured at Telluride Blues & Brews

[click "Play" to hear Otis Taylor messin' with Susan Viebrock]

Run the list in alphabetical order and his name appears towards the bottom, but Otis Taylor is top of mind for the many fans of Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, September 18-20.

Blues, the ultimate roots music, still has legs, very long legs, and singer/songwriter/troubadour/storyteller Otis Taylor is one reason why.

Telluride Blues & Brews Festival: Jackie Greene

[click "Play" to listen to Jackie Greene on his music]

[double click to view in larger format]

Into the fame game? There's no shortage of legends at the 16th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, 
this weekend, September 18 – 20: Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal to name drop three. Then there's the skinny, soft-spoken man-boy who bears an uncanny resemblance to another icon, who, on more than one occasion has also performed in Telluride. But at this point in Jackie Greene's meteoric career, any allusion to Bob Dylan is so much horse exhaust.

Telluride Film Festival: Young Russians on their films

[double click to view in larger format]

Following their visit to Telluride and total immersion in the Telluride Film Festival, four young Russian directors are heading for Boulder, Colorado, to present their work and meet fellow students at the University of Colorado before traveling on to New York for a screening at Tribeca Cinemas.

Natalya Govorina's "Sanatorium," was named Best Narrative Film at the 2008 Moscow Festival of Short Film.

Telluride Blues & Brews Festival: The Lee Boys

[click "Pay" to hear Eileen's interview with Alvin Lee]

The 16th annual Telluride Blues and Brews Festival takes place September 18- 20 on the Fred Shellman Memorial Stage in Telluride's Town Park.  The Lee Boys, out of Miami, have been given the revered opening spot for Sunday’s musical lineup.  Out to prove there is no resting on Sunday, The Lee Boys guarantee to have the soulful crowd on their feet within moments of hearing their sacred steel musical styling.  Rooted in gospel, The Lee Boys' music is infused with rhythm & blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop and country as well as influences from the world music scene.

Telluride Film Festival: Young Russian filmmakers

[double click to view in larger format]

Film is a window on the world. The Telluride Film Festival uses the medium to enhance participants worldview, one reason the directors require an artistic as well as a screen presence. In-depth Q & A sessions follow many of the screenings.  Free seminars in town parks  and "Conversations" at the courthouse feature celebrated guests talking about cinema, culture, and the culture of cinema. Programs such as City Lights and the Student Symposium offer high school and college students respectively a weekend of immersion in film and film discussion. Sunday at the Palm provides local teachers with curriculum ideas to incorporate monthly film selections into lesson plans.

In this context, From Russia with Love is not the second film in the James Bond series. From Russia with Love describes a partnership between the Telluride Film Festival and CEC ArtsLink to co-host a group of emerging filmmakers from Russia for a residency that brought them first to Telluride over the long Labor Day festival weekend. Last year, the young Russian directors screened their films at the Telluride Film Festival. This year they came as observers. (New projects will be screened in Boulder, Colorado and New York.) Participants were selected for their cinematic accomplishments in a competitive nomination process.

36th annual Telluride Film Festival: Review

Anne Thompson, George
Gittoes, Nicholas Cage,
and Jason Reitman
at Labor Day seminar

The Telluride Film Festival invented downsizing: for 36 years, the directors of the event have selected just 20 – 30 movies from among the hundreds submitted to them each year, which explains why the celluloid celebration appeals to discriminating cinephiles. Elitist? Unapologetically. This year as every year, the Telluride Film Festival shunned the usual suspects, going out on a limb to inspire and educate.

The Telluride Film Festival is also about making connections. Over the long Labor Day weekend, the tail end of moviedom's so-called popcorn season (Memorial Day – Labor Day), actors, directors, cinematographers, producers, distributers, and buffs chat like long lost friends on Main Street, the Gondola, and in lines, about what gladdened, saddened and maddened.

Telluride Film Festival: "Life During Wartime"

Director Todd Solondz, whose "Life During Wartime," had its North American premiere this past weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, is distinguished as an independent filmmaker who dares to go places others fear to tread. Solondz takes on universal themes – "Life During Wartime" is about forgiving and forgetting –  in character-driven stories whose denizens are quirky in the extreme. In high relief under bright lights, these eccentric individuals become Everyman, warts and all. The character actors in "Life During Wartime," both young and old, are fearless, giving flawless performances of very flawed individuals.