The Telluride Film Festival loves a good secret. For example, the fest doesn’t reveal its film lineup until out-of-towners are already en route to the Rockies, and it doesn’t confirm the identity of its annual kickoff screening until festivalgoers are already seated in the venue — however, enterprising people can usually figure out that information ahead of time. This year, however, the fest had considerable success in keeping secret the identity of a “surprise screening” that was scheduled for Sunday night at 6:15 p.m. local time at the fest’s largest venue, the Werner Herzog Theatre.
Fest attendees were abuzz with speculation for days. For the vast majority of them, all that was known heading into the screening — for which lines of considerable and perhaps unprecedented length began forming hours ahead of time — was that it was a film (a) with a runtime just shy of three hours; (b) that was not included in the lineup; (c) that had not been screened, or even announced for a screening, at any other film fest; and (d) from which the principal creative talent would be in attendance.
Rumors soon began spreading like wildfire. Some suspected that it would be the world premiere of Digger, the forthcoming Alejandro González Iñárritu/Tom Cruise film, given that Iñárritu has premiered prior films at the fest and Cruise owns a home in Telluride. Others heard that it was something to do with the legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was scheduled to be in town on Sunday night. And then, as word got out that it was an A24 production, speculation grew that it would be the film that Frank Ocean was long ago reported to be writing and directing for the label.
