My Ten Favorite Telluride Moments

The 49th Telluride Film Festival takes place later this week. I have been attending the Labor Day weekend gala since 2015. I hope that every cinephile gets to experience the majesty of Telluride at least once in their life. The scenery is breathtaking, the flow is laid back, and the films Julie Huntsinger and her team select are always first-rate. Due to health concerns, I won’t be in attendance this year. Sasha and Clarence will be on the ground covering the films and other fantastic events that make Telluride the greatest film festival in the world. I am eagerly anticipating their thoughts and reactions as they get first looks at what will certainly be some of the best films of the year. And why not be excited about this festival? In the era of the preferential ballot, ten of the thirteen films to win Best Picture played at Telluride along the way (The Hurt Locker, Green Book, and CODA did not). The Oscar race officially begins this weekend!

I’ve done a lot of reflecting in the month since my stroke. This post was originally planned to be a ranking of the ten films I’ve loved most at the festival. It was intended to kick off my Telluride coverage by looking back on what else had played there in the time since 2015. While there have been so many all-time favorite movies discovered in the mountain village, I’ve realized the beauty of the festival is less in the films and more in the small moments shared between friends. The love and passion for this art that brings many of us over a thousand miles away from our families to cramp into intimate, makeshift theaters on short rest and even less food – that’s what it’s all about. I will be missing the people more than anything else. There have been so many memorable moments, meetings, and conversations there.

So rather than rank my ten favorite films from Telluride since 2015 (a daunting task anyway), I’d rather share with you some of the experiences I’ve had that will last a lifetime. Our memories are what life comes down to, no matter how long or short that time is, each one filled with the significance that we create from them for ourselves. Sharing these moments allows our stories to outlast our existence and define our legacy, and there is something so boundlessly sacred about that.

10. I Bought Tea for Rachel McAdams (2015)

I was a lot more sheepish at my first Telluride than I am today. You won’t find me in any selfies with movie stars at the 2015 festival. But while waiting in line at the concession stand, I realized Rachel McAdams was standing in front of me. McAdams was there to promote Spotlight. The film would go on to win Best Picture and garner McAdams her first Academy Award nomination. I had already seen the film and, like many others, fell hard for it. While we waited for a few patrons in front of us, I decided to strike up conversation with her, telling her how much I loved the movie. She was extremely pleasant and colloquial. When her time came to place an order, I mouthed to the volunteer that I would pay for whatever she wanted. When they told McAdams that it was covered by the man behind her, she was very appreciative of the action. I joked with her that I should be thanking her – because now I get to brag that I bought Rachel McAdams tea!

9. Billie Jean King Introduces Battle of the Sexes (2017)

There have been a few occasions where Telluride celebrated a figure that is larger than life. My very first screening at Telluride was He Named Me Malala (2015), where the young titular activist appeared via satellite following the screening. Last year, we had the real-life heroes behind The Rescue – the divers who saved the lives of 12 young soccer boys and their coach in a flooded cave in Thailand. Awe-inspiring to say the least. But perhaps the most astonishing appearance was in 2017, when tennis and female rights icon Billie Jean King took center court to serve out the world premiere of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Battle of the Sexes. Star Emma Stone joined King to introduce the film, and it was just an incredible experience to be in her presence.

8. The Lost Daughter Party (2021)

To paraphrase Peter Venkman, “call it fate, call it luck, call it karma.” Returning back to my condo after a late-night screening, I was lucky enough to run into Clayton on his way to a Netflix party for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter. He was able to get me in, and there I was, just a kid from Akron, partying with Ed Harris, Gyllenhaal, Dakota Johnson (no relation), and Peter Sarsgaard. The event opened with cocktails and included the greatest filet mignon I have ever eaten. The night closed with Maggie and Peter starting a dance party, where Dakota and Red Rocket star Simon Rex danced seductively, inciting all sorts of excitement.

7. Haley Bennett Sang to Me (2021)

This is no lie, and Clarence Moye and Clayton Davis are my witnesses. Haley Bennett, the star of 2021’s Cyrano, came from the same small Ohio town that I had lived in a few years back. I was very excited when she and Taylor Russell (star of another Telluride classic, Waves) sat behind us at a screening at the Werner Herzog theater. I made small talk with Bennett before bringing up our common hometown, and from there we hit it off. I don’t remember how it happened – I’m still in a daze from it all – but Haley started singing to me. Directly to me. I didn’t know the song, but I knew that this is what angels sounded like.

6. Marty’s Ode to Agnès (2019)

The 2019 Telluride was special for a few reasons, but none more so than the presence of my birthday twin, Martin Scorsese. My fifth time at Telluride marked the first time I had been invited to the Patron’s Brunch, a lavish event where all the stars and directors mingle and eat before the madness begins. Scorsese was in attendance, though we all respected him enough to leave him at peace at the table he was seated at. He was at Telluride to present Adam Driver with a tribute ahead of the actor’s film, Marriage Story. He was also scheduled to pay homage to the late Agnès Varda prior to a screening of Varda by Agnès, a documentary biographing the life of the French cinema icon. Marty led a master-class conversation on Varda’s indelible imprint on film history. The audience was bestowed more knowledge in that 40 minutes of film-studies than the average person will receive in a lifetime.

5. Michael Keaton’s Birthday (2015)

Spotlight made its North American premiere on September 5, 2015. When the cast and filmmakers presented the film, it was announced that it was also star Michael Keaton’s 64th birthday. The audience began singing happy birthday to the legend, and true to form, Keaton dropped down and started doing pushups until the singing came to a close. It was an incredible bonding experience for an audience who, a couple hours later, would be openly weeping together as the credits rolled.

4. Kathleen Kennedy (2019)

There are few more powerful people in Hollywood than Kathleen Kennedy. Producer of over 60 films – both prestige and blockbusters – including E.T., Jurassic Park, and Back to the Future, Kennedy is now the President of Lucasfilm and oversees all things Star Wars. She has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (the Academy’s most prestigious honor), and has been honored by the Producers Guild of America, just to name a few citations. So, it was quite mind-boggling when Kennedy sat down beside me at the North American premiere of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite. She was immediately friendly, striking up conversation and asking what I do. I introduced myself and shook her hand. She said, “I’m Kathleen Kennedy,” to which I replied, “Oh, I know who YOU are!” We joked about E.T. losing to Gandhi at the 1982 Oscars, the future of Star Wars, and other things cinematic before taking in the eventual Best Picture winner from that year. We briefly shared our thoughts on the film afterwards, but I was more blown away by how pragmatic and delightful she was then anything I saw at the festival that year.

3. Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz (2018)

Afterparties are something I rarely make time for at Telluride. Between the hustle of watching movies and the bustle of writing about them, there is barely time for food and rest. There are exceptions for everything though, and considering that Damien Chazelle’s La La Land was my favorite movie of the 2010s, how could I pass up the chance to meet the young phenom? The party followed the North American premiere of First Man, my favorite film of the year and among my top 20 of the decade. I was in awe throughout the entire premiere and hoped to have a quick hello with the auteur. What I got instead was a half hour of uninterrupted time talking about his films and how he followed along with our work (both on Awards Circuit, where I wrote at the time, and Awards Daily). He talked about how he won all his Oscar pools thanks to sites like ours, and how satiric it all felt to be on the other side of things now. Film composer and frequent Chazelle collaborator Justin Hurwitz joined us a little while later. I wish I would have recorded that conversation. Hurwitz film score for First Man is one of the most singular and unforgettable accompaniments of all time. He described how he created an instrument to capture that eerie sound in such a way that left me dumbfounded. For a moment, it felt like we were just a couple of friends back home shooting the breeze and waiting for whatever happened next.

2. A Conversation with Guillermo del Toro (2017)

After the North American premiere of The Shape of Water, director Guillermo del Toro was scheduled to do a Q&A. The director was so excited and so passionate about the art of filmmaking that the Q&A ran long. To make room for the next screening at that location, the staff required us to leave. del Toro graciously announced to the audience that he would be happy to stay and talk longer on the steps outside the theater with anyone interested. I was so in love with his film that I scrapped my plans for the next showing I was slated to attend, and boy, am I glad I did. The Mexican director sat with us for another half hour talking about color schemes, casting choices, and many other elements that went into the film. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that will leave me rooting for the man throughout his career.

1. Friends (2015-2021)

It may be a bit of a saccharine choice for number one, but I can’t help but be nostalgic about the people I’ve met and worked with over the years. I followed many of them on Twitter years before knowing them. Admiring their work. Debating their takes on films. Competing with their predictions. Then slowly, like some form of groupie, I wiggled my way into their friendship. I will never forget the first time I met Sasha. It was at the screening of that first film I saw in 2015. I was William Miller and she was Penny Lane. We’ve been each other’s sidekick at each festival since. Then finally meeting her good friend Michael, who would bunk with us the next few years, and Clarence, who made us a quartet in 2021. Meeting my longtime editor and friend, Clayton Davis, along with so many others I won’t mention in fear of leaving anyone out. The point is the friendships I’ve made out there with all of you has been the best part of this entire gig. Finding those with similar passions and interests has made me feel plural. That’s the legacy I am happy to leave behind, whenever my time comes: the relationships we’ve built together. Of all things, it’s the priceless moments with friends that I will keep closest to my heart and the biggest reason my heart aches to miss Telluride this year.