Telluride: No swap meet; ‘Adam Resurrected,’ ‘American Violet’ to debut

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The Telluride Film Festival prides itself on attracting far more movie lovers than Hollywood sales agents and acquisitions executives (not that the latter don’t love movies, but in a different, less authentic way).

This year’s Telluride lineup does not threaten to overturn that historical trend, and indeed many of the top sellers and buyers are nowhere in sight as the festival opens Friday night.

American distributors say the Telluride slate does not at first glance appear to carry any movies capable of meeting the ever-escalating box-office threshold for specialized films; buyers such as Miramax and Fox Searchlight aren’t really interested in movies that might gross less than $10 million.

But representatives from smaller distributors are targeting several new films that will enjoy their first showings in Telluride.

Those include ‘Adam Resurrected,’ which stars Jeff Goldblum as a concentration camp survivor; ‘American Violet,’ a fact-based drama about a single mother swept up in a drug raid who says she’s innocent; and ‘Pirate for the Sea,’ a documentary about environmental activist Paul Watson.

Those Telluride films here that already have distribution are largely being handled by smaller companies; Sony Pictures Classics and IFC Films combined previously bought more than half a dozen movies here.

-- John Horn

Previously:

Another ‘Juno’ for Telluride Film Festival?

Telluride Film Festival 2008 (PHOTOS)

Film festival bombs & bargains (PHOTOS)