Today marks the close of the 36th Telluride Film Festival, presented by the National Film Preserve. Twenty-four feature films played in the Festival’s main program, not including three Sneak Previews added throughout the four-day event. Telluride Film Festival’s celebration of art and film, set amongst the beauty of the Rockies, opened Friday, September 4 and closed today, September 7, 2009.

The following unannounced Sneak Previews screened at the 36th Telluride Film Festival:
UP IN THE AIR (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2009); MY SON MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE? (d. Werner Herzog, U.S./Germany, 2009); PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (d. Oren Pell, U.S., 2008).

Festival guests Nicolas Cage, Andrew Eaton, Michael Haneke, Julian Jarrold, Katie Jarvis, James Marsh, Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan, Warwick Thornton and Anand Tucker participated in the Festival’s Conversations series, allowing Festival attendees to listen and participate in discussions ranging from cinema to culture to politics, and everything in between.

Seminar topics included: “Real Lives Becoming Reel Characters” with Christian Carion, Anne Fontaine, Michael Hoffman, James Marsh, Carey Mulligan, and Barbara Sukowa; “The Challenges of Portraying Complex Heroines on Screen” with Brenda Blethyn, Michael Lerner, Helen Mirren, Lone Scherfig, and Margarethe Von Trotta; and “The Edge of Humor: When Does the Laughter Stop” with Nicolas Cage, George Gittoes, Jason Reitman and Paul Schneider.

Previously announced Silver Medallion honorees were Viggo Mortensen, Anouk Aimée and Margarethe von Trotta. The Special Medallian went to Lobster Films’ Serge Bromberg.

Films previously announced that played in the official 36th Telluride Film Festival program:
A PROPHET (d. Jacques Audiard, Germany/Austria/France, 2009); AN EDUCATION (d. Lone Sherfig, U.K., 2009); BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS (d. Werner Herzog, U.S., 2009);BRIGHT STAR (d. Jane Campion, U.K./Australia/France, 2009); COCO BEFORE CHANEL (d. Anne Fontaine, France, 2009); FAREWELL (d. Christian Carion, France, 2009); FISH TANK (d. Andrea Arnold, U.K., 2009); GIGANTE (d. Adrián Biniez, Uruguay, 2009); HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOUT’S INFERNO (d. Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, France, 2009); LIFE DURING WARTIME (d. Todd Solondz, U.S., 2009); LONDON RIVER (d. Rachid Bouchareb, U.K./France/Algeria, 2009) ; RED RIDING – three-part series: 1974 (d. Julian Jarrold, U.K., 2009); 1980 (d. James Marsh, U.K., 2009); 1983 (d. Anand Tucker, U.K., 2009); ROOM AND A HALF (d. Andrey Khrzhanovsky, Russia, 2009); SAMSON & DELILAH (d. Warwick Thornton, Australia, 2009); SLEEP FURIOUSLY (d. Gideon Koppel, U.K., 2007); TERRA MADRE (d. Ermanno Olmi, Italy, 2009); THE JAZZ BARONESS (d. Hannah Rothschild, U.K. 2009); THE LAST STATION (d. Michael Hoffman, U.K., 2009); THE MISCREANTS OF TALIWOOD (d. George Gittoes, Australia/Pakistan, 2009); THE ROAD (d. John Hillcoat, U.S., 2009); THE WHITE RIBBON (d. Michael Haneke, Germany/Australia/France, 2009); VINCERE (d. Marco Bellocchio, Italy, 2009); VISION (d. Margarethe von Trotta, Germany, 2009); WINDOW (d. Buddhadeb Dasgupta, India, 2009)

To view the entire 36th Telluride Film Festival program, visit www.telluridefilmfestival.org.