The 2025 Telluride Film Festival Lineup

The Telluride Film Festival has announced its official program selections for its 52nd edition this morning.

Each year, Telluride serves as an unofficial kick-off to awards season (along with the overlapping Venice Film Festival) as 43 Best Picture nominees have screened at the festival over the last 16 years, with eleven going on to win Best Picture. Despite the high cost, the difficult travel, and the short duration of the festival (not to mention not knowing the lineup until now, a day before the festival actually begins), the festival always manages to be one of the most memorable of the year and constantly gives us new surprises and narratives for awards season. With a collection of a few world premieres, Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Sundance titles, this year’s lineup is mightily impressive. The Telluride Film Festival will run from August 29th – September 1st.

Here is this year’s lineup:

A PRIVATE LIFE (d. Rebecca Zlotowski, France, 2025)
ASK E. JEAN (d. Ivy Meeropol, U.S., 2025)
BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER (d. Edward Berger, Hong Kong/Macau, 2025)
BLUE MOON (d. Richard Linklater, U.S./Ireland, 2025)
BUGONIA (d. Yorgos Lanthimos, U.K., 2025)
COVER-UP (d. Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, U.S., 2025)
EVERYWHERE MAN: THE LIVES AND TIMES OF PETER ASHER (d. Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller, U.S./U.K., 2025)
GHOST ELEPHANTS (d. Werner Herzog, Angola/Namibia/U.S., 2025)
H IS FOR HAWK (d. Philippa Lowthorpe, U.K./U.S., 2025)
HAMLET (d. Aneil Karia, U.K., 2025)
HAMNET (d. Chloé Zhao, U.K., 2025)
HIGHWAY 99 A DOUBLE ALBUM (d. Ethan Hawke, U.S., 2025)
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (d. Mary Bronstein, U.S., 2025)
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (d. Jafar Panahi, Iran/France/Luxembourg, 2025)
JAY KELLY (d. Noah Baumbach, Italy/U.K./U.S., 2025)
KARL (d. Nick Hooker, U.K., 2025)
LA GRAZIA (d. Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2025)
LOST IN THE JUNGLE (d. Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Juan Camilo Cruz, U.S./Colombia, 2025)
LUMIÈRE, LE CINÉMA (d. Thierry Frémaux, France, 2024)
MAN ON THE RUN (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2025)
NOUVELLE VAGUE (d. Richard Linklater, France, 2025)
PILLION (d. Harry Lighton, U.K., 2025)
SENTIMENTAL VALUE (d. Joachim Trier, Norway/France/Denmark/Germany, 2025)
SHIFTY (d. Adam Curtis, U.K., 2025)
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE (d. Scott Cooper, U.S., 2025)
SUMMER TOUR (d. Mischa Richter, U.S., 2025)
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, David Schmidt, U.S., 2025)
THE BEND IN THE RIVER (d. Robb Moss, U.S., 2025)
THE CYCLE OF LOVE (d. Orlando von Einsiedel, U.K./India/Sweden, 2025)
THE HISTORY OF SOUND (d. Oliver Hermanus, U.S., 2025)
THE MASTERMIND (d. Kelly Reichardt, U.S., 2025)
THE NEW YORKER AT 100 (d. Marshall Curry, U.S., 2025)
THE RESERVE (d. Pablo Pérez Lombardini, Mexico/Qatar, 2025)
THE SECRET AGENT (d. Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil/France/Netherlands/Germany, 2025)
THIS IS NOT A DRILL (d. Oren Jacoby, U.S., 2025)
TUNER (d. Daniel Roher, U.S./Canada, 2025)
URCHIN (d. Harris Dickinson, U.K., 2025)

The following short films will screen in the main program:

ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS (d. Joshua Seftel, U.S., 2025)
ALL THE WALLS CAME DOWN (d. Ondi Timoner, U.S., 2025)
LAST DAYS ON LAKE TRINITY (d. Charlotte Cooley, U.S., 2025)
SALLIE’S ASHES (d. Brennan Robideaux, U.S., 2025)
SONG OF MY CITY (d. David C. Roberts, U.S., 2025)

Each year Telluride Film Festival pays tribute to individuals whose artistry has significantly contributed to the art of cinema. The 2025 Silver Medallion will be presented to Oscar-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach (with JAY KELLY); Oscar-nominated actor/writer/director Ethan Hawke (with BLUE MOON, HIGHWAY 99 A DOUBLE ALBUM); and award-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (with IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT). Programs will include a compilation of clips, an on-stage interview and a screening of the recipient’s new work.

Telluride Film Festival is proud to announce Emmy- and Academy Award–winning producer and filmmaker Ezra Edelman as this year’s Guest Director. A cherished Festival tradition, the Guest Director program invites a distinguished artist to curate a special selection of films, offering audiences a fresh lens through which to explore cinema history.

Edelman, acclaimed for his Academy Award–winning documentary O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA, brings his distinctive voice and passion for storytelling to the Festival with a handpicked selection of films. His curated program is presented in partnership with Turner Classic Movies (TCM), the Festival’s proud sponsor of the Guest Director section this year.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (d. Alan J. Pakula, U.S., 1976)
MALCOLM X (d. Spike Lee, U.S., 1992)
NETWORK (d. Sidney Lumet, U.S., 1976)
RASHOMON (d. Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1950)
THE INSIDER (d. Michael Mann, U.S., 1999)

“It is almost impossible to detect themes across culture at the moment given the absolutely fractured nature of our world,” remarks Festival director Julie Huntsinger. “Certainly, filmmakers are talking about myriad subjects. At Telluride though, there always seems to be a thread of beautiful humanism in the stories told and this year is no different. At the heart of every one of them is the essence of humanity that is profoundly illuminating and beautiful, even if they’re also heartbreaking. We’re thrilled with what these filmmakers are sharing and proud to welcome back some old friends as well as new voices. Long live cinema, long live the theatrical experience.”

TFF annually celebrates a hero of cinema who preserves, honors, and presents important, meaningful films. British Producer Tessa Ross will be recognized with the Festival’s Special Medallion, at the presentation of BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER.

We are delighted to welcome new sponsor Google to Telluride Film Festival’s shorts section, Filmmakers of Tomorrow, which includes Student Prints, screening six films from the best in student-produced work from around the globe; and Calling Cards, screening ten exceptional new works by promising filmmakers.

Telluride Film Festival’s Education Programs present students with the opportunity to experience film as an art form and to expand participants’ worldviews through film screenings and filmmaker discussions, including:

• Student Symposium – an immersive seminar for graduate and undergraduate students, underwritten by Golden Globes Foundation

• City Lights Project – pairing high school students and teachers with Festival films and guests, made possible by the Artemis Rising Foundation

• FilmLAB – leading filmmakers meet with American Film InstituteFellows

• FilmSCHOLAR – program for young critics and scholars in partnership with University of Wisconsin

Backlot, Telluride’s intimate screening room featuring behind-the-scenes movies and portraits of artists, musicians and filmmakers will screen the following programs, all free and open to the public:

ALL I HAD WAS NOTHINGNESS (d. Guillaume Ribot, France, 2025)
CAROL & JOY (d. Nathan Silver, U.S., 2025)
CHAPLIN: SPIRIT OF THE TRAMP (d. Carmen Chaplin, Spain/U.K./Netherlands, 2024)
EARTH TO MICHAEL (d. Nico López-Alegría, ZZ, U.S., 2025)
ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE (d. Oren Rudavsky, U.S., 2024)
KING HAMLET (d. Elvira Lind, U.S./Denmark, 2025)
MEGADOC (d. Mike Figgis, U.S./U.K., 2025)
SHOOTING (d. Netalie Braun, Israel, 2025)
THE GOLDEN SPURTLE (d. Constantine Costi, U.K./Australia, 2025)
THEIR EYES (d. Nicolas Gourault, France, 2025)

Telluride Film Festival’s Talking Heads programs allow attendees to go behind the scenes with the Festival’s special guests. The Conversations series, sponsored by Indian Paintbrush, is devoted to cinema and culture. The outdoor Noon Seminars feature a panel of guests discussing a wide range of film topics. These programs are free and open to the public.

Special Screenings and Festivities include:

• CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS 3D 2025: Restoration and Recreation (d. Werner Herzog, France/Canada/U.S./U.K./Germany, 2010)

• LEARNING TO FLY (d. Max Lowe, U.S./France/Switzerland/Italy/China/Hong Kong, 2025)

• STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! (d. Carl Dean, Tia Lessin, U.S., 2025)

• 4K restoration of THE GOLD RUSH (d. Charles Chaplin, U.S., 1925)

• The New Yorker At 100: A Gallery Exhibition, a curation of cinema-inspired cover art and cartoons from The New Yorker’s iconic archives

• Festival Poster Signing with Daniel Clowes

• Truth Be Told: Journalism and Filmmaking in the 21^st Century, a Special Panel presented by Turner Classic Movies

• Behind The Lens: AI and Filmmaking, presented by Google

• The SHOW App, sponsored by CRITERION

• Audi Drive Experiences, all weekend