Telluride Wrap-Up: Feinberg and Canfield on 2026's Rocky Mountain Highs and Lows

The Hollywood Reporter's executive editor (awards) and senior entertainment writer discuss the fest's world premieres, surprise screening, sales titles — and what and whose Oscar prospects shifted the most over Labor Day weekend. 's executive editor Scott Feinberg and senior entertainment writer David Canfield, both longtime attendees of the fest, huddled to discuss and dissect their Labor Day weekend at the movies. Dave, I'm still catching my breath and not thinking entirely clearly after four days of running around in the high altitude. But I can't recall a stronger edition of the fest in the 15 years that I've been coming — the films were almost uniformly great, the surprise screening really packed a punch, and the vibes overall were really good. I just ran into Sid Ganis, the longtime studio exec and former president of the Academy, who has been attending for 36 years, and he felt the same way, so maybe I'm not crazy. How was it for you? 'Alpha Gang' Review: Cate Blanchett, Léa Seydoux and Dave Bautista Get Stranded in a Sci-Fi Comedy That's All Flash and Zero Substance Absolutely agree. This was the strongest, deepest lineup the festival has assembled in the years I've been attending. The most common refrain I heard around town was: So many great movies, so little time — arguably a legitimate problem for a program this packed playing out over just four days. Few would mind an extra day! You had an ideal mix of buzzy world premieres; the best of Cannes and Sundance ; and, of course, a smattering of Oscar players asserting themselves. I heard so many films cited as highlights — including by high-profile attendees: Ira Sachs loved Mike Leigh'sNothing on the schedule was in higher demand than Sunday's closely-guarded 'surprise screening,' which turned out to be the world premiere of, which just premiered at Venice) about the notorious Theranos scammer Elizabeth Holmes. Somehow, it not only lived up to but exceeded the great expectations of festivalgoers who had been promised somethinghave been through the roof. Jeremy Barber, the UTA partner who reps Oppenheim, described it to me as 'one of the best festival screenings I haveFEINBERG The film employs Fielder's patented style of inserting himself into strange situations and then organizing reenactments of them to help him work through his thoughts, and it also features numerous shocking twists and turns that left people's jaws on the floor — one being the significant participation of an A-list actress, who elevates it from a triple to a home run. Members of the Academy's doc branch who were at the screening seemed to love it — two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, for instance, posted on Instagram, 'My God, I barely blinked for three hours… entirely original and all-consuming. Legit next level. ' But I think, which tends to be conservative, and lobby the full Academy in pursuit of best picture and acting noms: no doc has ever landed either, but then again, there has never been a doc quite like this one. , both of which we can talk about more in a moment. They really led this Telluride — a major comeback after they largely sat out last year, save the lovely but lower-profileIndeed. It came out of the gate with a 14-minute standing ovation following its world premiere at Venice, then came to Telluride as the, and with each showing here Oscar buzz grew for the film and particularly for its lead, John Malkovich, the revered stage and screen vet. Malkovich was feted by the fest with its Silver Medallion, which recognized not only his performance as a dying CIA agent reflecting on his life in Martin McDonagh's dramedy, but his entire body of work. I think there's a strong likelihood that the Academy will take his full career into account when weighing its best actor options. Malkovich, for his part, said during, 'I don't think much about awards. I'm not in competition with all of the wonderful colleagues that I've had making movies across the world. I'm just grateful and delighted that I was a part of this. 'from Andrew Scott. Oprah wasn't the only one it left in tears, rest assured. Scott, never Oscar-nominated, is astounding as the late Scottish actor Ian Charleson in an '80s-set biopic that follows him simultaneously playing Hamlet at the National Theatre and dying of AIDS. I'm not sure how far the movie can go around him, but regardless,Scott's performance is one of the greatest I have ever seen in a film, and he absolutely deserves to be in the thick of the best actor conversation along with Malkovich,, which Telluride audiences really enjoyed. I still can't believe that, as you noted in. Sony Classics chiefs Michael Barker and Tom Bernard couldn't have been clearer to me that they are all-in on righting that wrong.that might just be enough to get Mike Leigh back into the awards conversation as he's long deserved .. I think the film might well crack the best picture top 10, and Jack O'Connell, who plays newsman Larry Lamb, and Guy Pearce, as Rupert Murdoch, have real shots lead and supporting acting noms, respectively. Interestingly enough, some of the films that generated the most excitement in Telluride weren't world premieres but imports from the Cannes Film Festival.took off like a rocket here a few years ago . The buzz crystallized on Sunday morning at. There were tears, rounds of roaring applause and many famous faces in the audience. This one has got the goods. And that same day, some of the best reviews ever for a Netflix original film rolled in across the Atlantic from Venice for, which chronicles three generations of Spaniards linked together by the last, unfinished play of the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, is exciting a lot of people because it's a sort of film that we don't see very often anymore: a sweeping romantic epic, with a huge ensemble and high production value, that assumes its audience is smart and can keep up with it. It actually reminded me a lot of, the directorial debut of and acting showcase for Jordan Firstman, also emerged as a best picture player after its scrappy, lauded Cannes launch in the Un Certain Regard section; it's a subversive crowdpleaser that audiences couldn't seem to get enough of. It's a lot of fun, as are the people involved with it. Nobody was at more screenings or parties than Firstman, who rolled deep with a group that included Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva, Alaska Riley, Miss Benny, Saturn Risin9, 14-year-old Reggie Absolom and 73-year-old Colleen Camp. While the risqué elements of the film will turn off some, the energy and charisma of its talent might turn on even more.team — Saturn Risin9, Colleen Camp, Alaska Riley, Miss Benny, Jordan Firstman, Alex Coco, Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva and Reggie Absolom — before the North American premiere of their film.hummed along just fine, too, but these are dense, confronting works from masters of the form that will have to play the long game this season. To go back to Netflix for a moment: a film I greatly admire, Marie Krutzer's, also made the leap from the Croisette but seemed less assured in maintaining its momentum. Its terrific star, Léa Seydoux, was all over Telluride , and who could argue with her being a two-time Oscar winner? , the story of director Guy Nattiv's own grandmother. It had its world premiere here and received raves from all of the trades, particularly for Coon's haunting turn. She has been celebrated for her work on TV — in fact, she'll be at the Emmys next week as a nominee for— but has had limited opportunities in films. I really hope Bleecker Street will have the resources to give her — and the Emmys-bound leading lady of another of its films,Sandra Hüller received a tribute — one Q&A for which you moderated — with two starring vehicles here,in Cannes, and she's excellent in the film, but it felt a little quiet for an Oscar campaign. Then I sawhere, and it was my top discovery of the festival. Beautifully directed by Markus Schleinzer, it's a stark 17th-century folktale about a mysterious female soldier disguised as a man. Hüller is mesmerizing in what initially feels like a silent-film performance, magnificently expressive and physical, before the emotional wallop of the final act. It may be her best work, which is saying something. Mubi has good folks working on this one, and I have to imagine if enough Academy members seeTelluride tends to show a lot of animated and documentary films. This year, there were few of the former — Laika brought clips of its not-yet-locked, which features a lot of Telluride and had a Q&A moderated by local homeowner Oprah, was also very well received, as was another Nat Geo doc,Telluride has long been a great festival for documentaries. But again, with just four days, it was virtually impossible to make room for some of the most anticipated nonfiction titles — namely,, the former of which clocks in just under six hours and the latter at … 16. Whew. Even broken up into parts, it's a daunting ask with so much else to see. But per critics, at least, those who made the time were generously rewarded. Critics were not so generous to the handful of narrative sales titles that launched in this year's program, like. It's always a curious, small grab bag of films seeking distribution in the Rockies. I moderated a nicely attended Q&A for Ira Sachs' movingMany more sales titles — narrative and doc — are set to premiere in Toronto in the coming days, and I suspect several may make some noise there, including Cody Fern's debutI also caught that one recently and think that Sarah Paulson could make a real run at a best actress nom if the right distributor swoops it up. , which is advertised as an action-thriller, has any awards prospects, but I'd happily see Mahershala Ali in anything. I'm looking forward to Chris Rock's— when Peter Farrelly brought a crowd-pleasing film to TIFF eight years ago, it won the audience award and went on to win the best picture Oscar (you may rememberJosh Heuston to Star in Amazon MGM's 'Throttled' Adaptation of Lauren Asher's Bestselling 'Dirty Air' SeriesThe Hollywood Reporter is a part of PMX Global, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All rights reserved.