‘Women Talking’ Soars at Telluride, Sarah Polley Could Be Third Consecutive Female Director Oscar Winner

UPDATE, 1:16 PM: Just under a year after it all started, Miramax and Quentin Tarantino have pulled the plug on their legal face-off over Pulp Fiction NFTs

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The Telluride Film Festival wrapped on Labor Day, with many of the season’s mystery films getting a first look from critics, journalists and festivalgoers. But what did we learn from the four-day fest? Do we have an Oscar frontrunner? Four narrative films world premiered in the Colorado mountains – “Women Talking” from MGM/UAR, “Empire of Light” from Searchlight Pictures and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and “The Wonder” from Netflix. Other Venice titles also made their North American debuts such as Netflix’s “Bardo” and Focus Features’ “Tar.” Here are five things we learned at Telluride.

Super has taken North American rights to Colm Bairéad’s award-winning drama The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin), which was recently announced as Ireland’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards and selected for the 2022 European Film Awards.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Alexander Rodnyansky, the producer of Oscar nominated films “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” has boarded the next project from Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov (pictured), whose film “Goliath” has its world premiere at Venice Film Festival on Thursday in the Horizons Extra section. The new project, “Nosorog,” tells a contemporary story of Tamara, a distraught woman on a desperate search for her missing son in a small town consumed by violent riots. To help get her son back, she hires a shady detective, Brayuk, with unexpected consequences. Rodnyansky joins producers Aliya Mendygozhina and Olga Khlasheva on the project, which is a co-production between the State Center of Support of the National Cinema of Kazakhstan and Kazakh film company Golden Man Media.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of Oscar-winner Phil Tippett’s directorial debut Mad God, the film’s producers Tippett Studio and Ultra 8 Pictures are teaming up on Tippett Productions, a new Canadian-based venture.

HBO Documentary Films has acquired U.S. television and streaming rights to Oscar winner Laura Poitras’s film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, fresh from its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and sneak preview at Telluride.

Zack Sharf Tom Hanks revealed on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via The Independent) that a sequel to “Forrest Gump” was a serious possibility for only 40 minutes. The Oscar-winning drama was based on the 1986 novel, which led to the 1995 book sequel “Gump and Co.” The film adaptation of the first book was a box office powerhouse, earning $678 million worldwide and becoming the top-grossing film in the U.S. in 1994. Hanks won the Oscar for best actor, while the film took home the prize for best picture and four more Academy Awards. “I will say that, with a long time in between, we did take a stab at talking about another ‘Forrest Gump’ that lasted all of 40 minutes,” Hanks said. “And then we never…we said, ‘Guys, come on.’”

FOOTBALL hero Ian Wright has scored his first role in a major movie — a cameo playing himself. The ex-Arsenal striker, 56, was approached directly by Oscar-winning Brit Daniel Kaluuya to appear in futuristic Netflix flick The Kitchen. And the Match of the Day pundit, who was Arsenal’s record goalscorer, was quick to seize the chance.

Writer/Director Florian Zeller had such great success with his 2020 film adaptation of his stage play, The Father which won six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, winning for his and co-writer Christopher Hampton’s screenplay, as well as Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins, that he was able to move very quickly in getting a film version going for his next play, 2018’s Le Fils. The result, The Son, premiering today at the Venice Film Festival in competition, is the second of a three part stage and film series on stories dealing with mental health, in this case a troubled 17 year old boy who has been deeply affected by the divorce of his parents and is suffering severe problems. Of course The Father dealt with one elderly man’s devastating descent into dimentia and the effect that had on his family, and it was an intimate film production for Zeller, largely taking place in the man’s apartment, yet still managed to be cinematic despite its stage origins.

Tilda Swinton takes over the red carpet in a dazzling lavender gown at the premiere of The Eternal Daughter during the 2022 Venice International Film Festival on Tuesday (September 6) in Venice, Italy.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Director Paul Haggis is scheduled to face a civil trial in New York next month on an accusation that he raped publicist Haleigh Breest after a film premiere in 2013. The trial will come nearly five years after the suit was filed, and just a couple of months after an Italian court dismissed a similar accusation against the director. Breest’s lawyers are now seeking information about the Italian case, which they may seek to introduce at the New York trial. In a motion filed on Tuesday, they asked Judge Sabrina Kraus to order Haggis’ lawyers to turn over records related to the case.

Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith have been one of the most recognizable power couples in Hollywood for over two decades.MORE: Jada Pinkett Smith reveals exciting update in family as Red Table Talks kicks off new seriesThe two met in 1994 on the set of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, going on to marry in 1997 and having two children together, Willow and Jaden Smith.Before Will was married to Jada, though, he was married to Sheree Zampino, the mother of his first child, Trey Smith, from 1992 to 1995, and though their marriage was short lived, not only have they maintained a friendship, but Jada and Sheree get along too.WATCH: Jada holds back tears as she addresses alopecia with grieving mother whose child died by suicide MORE: Willow Smith breaks silence on dad Will Smith's Oscars altercationAs the actress prepares to bring back yet another season of her show, Red Table Talk, she surprised fans when she revealed that one of the guests would be none other than her husband's ex-wife herself.The star took to Instagram to share a clip for the upcoming installment, which included a teaser from the episode in which the two reunite.As the trailer announced some of the upcoming guests, a preview of Sheree at the iconic red table is shown, and Jada announces her appearance, looking to the camera and saying: "Sheree… once the wife of Will."A post shared by Red Table Talk (@redtabletalk)The dramatic new season trailerThen the video montage quickly cuts to a seemingly tense conversation between them, which teases they did not hold back.MORE: Will Smith's ex praises Jada Pinkett-Smith for coparenting and 'loving' her sonMORE: Jada Pinkett Smith praises daughter Willow Smith after latest achievement"Do you think there's anything else we have

Naman Ramachandran Vice has signed a worldwide license deal for director and producer Jason Loftus’ “Eternal Spring: The Heist of China’s Airwaves,” Canada’s entry in the Oscars’ international feature film category. Sales agent Sideways Film, which represents the production on behalf of Lofty Sky Entertainment, has also scored domestic deals on the film with Arte for France and Germany, RTS for Switzerland, VG for Norway, Current Time for Russian language European territories and Al Jazeera Doc for the Middle East and North Africa. Through the lens of celebrated comic book artist Daxiong (“Justice League”), the documentary explores a plot by Falun Gong adherents in China to hack state television and expose repression.

Clayton Davis There’s no denying Olivia Wilde can direct the hell out of a movie. And with her latest behind-the-camera effort, “Don’t Worry Darling,” the actress turned filmmaker constructs a sexy and suspenseful thriller. It’s a film that should resonate with moviegoers, who may show up to check out an easy-on-the-eyes ensemble that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Chris Pine. At the very least, it’s a film that will continue to generate plenty of chatter (there’s already a ton of pre-release headlines being made, some of them even about the movie itself). However, like most popcorn thrillers, the chances of the Academy checking the film off on their ballots is as farfetched as the movie’s attempt to make Harry Styles look unattractive in one critical scene. Nice try but I don’t buy it.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning star Mark Rylance and his wife Claire van Kampen, a playwright, composer and director, have teamed with Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Entertainment on a TV project, the actor revealed to Deadline.

Clayton Davis Roughly a year ago, Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” launched out of Telluride, and there was something about that film’s emotional expansiveness and the irresistible pull of its unapologetic nostalgia that made it clear it was going to be a force to be reckoned with at the Oscars. I got the same sense watching Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” at its Telluride premiere this past weekend. It has a similar open heartedness even if the setting for the movie is an English seaside town and not the war-torn streets of Northern Ireland. Cinema seeps through “Empire of Light.” Mendes’ latest doesn’t just swoon for the images that flicker across screens; it also pays tribute to the physical buildings that house our most cherished artform and the sense of escapism that gets triggered every time you sit down in one of those palaces. If you are a movie lover, it’s hard to resist “Empire of Light’s” charm and stylized beauty.

As the 49th Annual Telluride Film Festival comes to a close on this Labor Day holiday, it once again could be a fest that ignites the Oscar chances of a number of films that have either had their World Premieres or North American Premieres this weekend. As part of the so-called Fall Festival Trifecta of Venice/Telluride/Toronto (the latter beginning this Thursday), this is where the six month+ awards season officially starts, even if the even longer Emmy season doesn’t conclude until a week from today.

Clayton Davis “Tár” is a musical, but not in the way you might think. Set to a rhythmic beat of classical orchestration, writer and director Todd Field triumphantly returns to the director’s chair some 16 years after “Little Children” (2006) and 21 years after his debut “In the Bedroom” (2001). In the process, Field proves the third time is the charm and “Tár,” which screened at Venice and Telluride, has emerged as a major Oscar contender. At the forefront of this epic drama is another fiery and near perfect turn from Cate Blanchett, who is poised to earn her eighth acting Oscar nomination and could even nab a potential third statuette.

Clayton Davis If Colin Farrell doesn’t get an Oscar nom this year for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” he never will. That was all I could think after watching his work in Martin McDonagh’s latest dark comedy. And who would have thought that Farrell and Brendan Gleeson would become the perfect comedic duo of our day? I thought the pair’s magic in “In Bruges” (2008) was a one-hit wonder, but with “The Banshees of Inisherin,” the two men have recaptured their old alchemy. The latest pitch black romp from “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” director and scribe McDonagh harnesses the simplest premise in recent memory: a man tries to understand why his best friend doesn’t want to talk to him anymore. What unfolds within that premise are moral complexities and refreshing takes on love and forgiveness.

Mercury Prize have been released, with Self Esteem, Little Simz and Wet Leg among the favourites.The 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award were announced earlier this summer.Self Esteem’s ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ is currently favourite to clinch the prize on aggregate bookies’ website Oddschecker, with odds of 27-10, closely followed by Little Simz’ ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’ at 3-1 while Wet Leg’s self-titled debut album has odds of 9-2.Gwenno’s ‘Tresor’ is further back at 12-1 while Yard Act’s ‘The Overload’ is 14-1. Nova Twins’ ‘Supernova’ is coming in at 16-1 while Kojey Radical‘s ‘Reason To Smile’ is at 22-1, closely followed by albums by Sam Fender, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler.Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’ is tied at 28-1 with Joy Crookes‘ ‘Skin’ while Fergus McCreadie currently has odds of 40-1 with ‘Forest Floor’.Speaking about her nomination, Self Esteem recently told NME.

Rooney Mara and Claire Foy join their co-stars for a special event at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival over the weekend in Telluride, Co.

More than 50 years ago Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr won the Oscar for Original Song, for “Let It Be.” Tonight, they added Emmys to their extraordinary careers, for producing the Disney+ documentary series The Beatles: Get Back.

Sarah Polley, at the Telluride Film Festival for the world premiere of Women Talking, her latest film as a director, acknowledged how lucky she was as an actress to have worked with so many female filmmakers. They told her to be “fierce” when they saw that she wanted to work behind the camera.

TELLURIDE – The events at a secluded Mennonite colony in Bolivia during the late ‘00s spurred headlines around the world. Men from the extremely conservative religious group had raped multiple women in their community while they slept.

TELLURIDE – The events at a Mennonite colony in Bolivia during the late ’00s spurred headlines around the world. Men from the extremely conservative religious group had raped multiple women in their community while they slept.

No documentary has ever won the Oscar for Best Picture. In fact no documentary has ever been nominated. If ever there was an opportunity to change that statistic, at least in terms of a nomination it could be the remarkable, emotional, and uplifting Good Night Oppy which transcends the genre to become a richly rewarding cinematic experience, kind of a cross between Wall-E and The Martian. this all actually happened, but it is quite unusual in that it is truly feel-good, and it has all been brought to new life in an irresitible new film that in a time of divisiveness and negativity will remind you of the very best of us.

infamous Oscar slap, and he did not hold back.“Will did the impression of a perfect person for 30 years, and he ripped his mask off and showed us he was as ugly as the rest of us,” Rock said during his set in Liverpool’s M&S Arenon on Thursday. However, Rock found that Smith’s Oscar-night act of violence made him more relatable. “Whatever the consequences are… I hope he doesn’t put his mask back on again, and lets his real face breathe.

Cate Blanchett steps out in two chic looks at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

Venice Film Festival officially kicked off the fall Oscar race on Thursday afternoon with Todd Field’s “Tár,” a drama starring Cate Blanchett as a famous composer embroiled in a public scandal. The film was showered with an ecstatic six-minute standing ovation as the crowds at the Sala Grande Theatre kept chanting “Bravo!“ even surprising Blanchett at times.As Venice chief Alberto Barbera took her hand, Blanchett bowed — but the clapping went on. When the applause finally ended, a misty-eyed Blanchett turned to someone on her team and said: “Let’s get a drink.”Surely, Blanchett’s work in “Tár” will be one of the most toasted performances of Oscar season. The rave reviews for the film all but guarantee the actor, who has two Academy Awards acting wins, will land her eight Oscar acting nomination this winter.

Clayton Davis Telluride Film Festival’s official 2022 lineup has been announced, revealing world premieres of Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and Sebastián Lelio’s “The Wonder.” In its 49th year, the festival will pay tribute to two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, whose new film “TÁR,” from director Todd Field, will debut stateside after premiering at the Venice Film Festival. In addition, the festival will also tribute Academy Award nominee Polley (adapted screenplay for 2006’s “Away from Her”) and acclaimed documentarian Marc Cousins, who has two films dropping at the fest. One is “My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock,” which is based on a fictional monologue between Cousins and the master of suspense. The other is “The March on Rome,” depicting the ascent of fascism in Europe during the 1930s.

The 49th Telluride Film Festival opens Friday in a much-awaited edition that is set to feature world premieres of Searchlight’s Oscar hopeful Empire of Light from director Sam Mendes, starring Olivia Coleman and Colin Firth; Women Talking from director Sarah Polley, starring Rooney Mara and Frances McDormand in the ensemble; Sebastian Lelio’s The Wonder, starring Florence Pugh; and Sony/Netflix’s sizzling new version of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover with Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell; among other films.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “Tár” is going to get people talking, but its star Cate Blanchett has made clear that she’s “not interested in agitprop.” The Oscar winner is in Venice for the world premiere of the Todd Field-directed movie, and was in good spirits as she addressed journalists at a Thursday press conference. The Focus Features pic stars Blanchett as fictional Lydia Tár, a globally renowned, gay and sometimes tyrannical conductor of a German orchestra, who finds herself in the crosshairs of a perilous #MeToo scandal. The film is Field’s first movie in 16 years, following the acclaimed “Little Children” (2006) and his breakout “In the Bedroom” (2001).

Clayton Davis Jennifer Fox, the Oscar nominated producer of “Michael Clayton” (2007), has been tapped to produce the 13th Governors Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Marking her fourth time producing the event, Fox will assemble the annual ceremony where Euzhan Palcy, Diane Warren and Peter Weir will receive Honorary Oscars and Michael J. Fox will accept the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. “We’re thrilled to have Jennifer back at the helm to help us kick off Oscar season with a tribute fitting to these four extraordinary individuals,” says Janet Yang, Academy President. “Her contribution in past years has only elevated this truly special and joyous event.”

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media After Warner Bros. executives signed off on the risky decision to bankroll their $90 million look at the life of Elvis Presley with a little-known actor portraying the hip-swinging rocker, producer Gail Berman reached for her phone. She wanted to immortalize the moment for Austin Butler, the man who reportedly beat out the likes of Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller to land the kind of role that can make a career. “I needed to take a photo of all these people sitting around after they made a decision that was going to mark a major change in Austin’s life,” says Berman. “It was wonderful that they saw from his screen test just how good he was, and that they were ready to support him on this journey.”

Poland has selected Jerzy Skolimowski’s Cannes-winning title EO as its official submission to the International Oscar race this year.

Ralph Eggleston, a longtime animator and art director who worked on several Pixar films starting with Toy Story and won an Oscar for directing the animated short For the Birds, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer in Lake Charles, LA, Pixar announced. He was 56.