In response to the attacks of 9/11, a world-class musician is moved to make an album, a pan-African celebration of the generous spirit he knows exists within the Islam he loves.
The album, “Egypt,” won a Grammy. But the legendary Youssou Ndour was vilified in his home country of Senegal.
When Tom Luddy, co-founder and co-director of this weekend’s Telluride Film Festival, took Salman Rushdie, a longtime friend of the festival, to a screening of a film about Ndour’s journey, he hadn’t prepped the author.
Marked for death by Islamic authorities for his novel “The Satanic Verses,” Rushdie was taken with Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s portrait of the artist as a courageous man, “Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love.”
On that same day, Luddy and Rushdie also saw the first narrative feature directed by Indian actress Nandita Das. “Firaaq” was based on the sectarian disaster that took place in February 2002 when a train carrying Hindu militants was set on fire in the Gujarat station. In retaliation for the attack, violence spilled into Gujarat’s entire Muslim community. As many as 2,000 people were killed.
“Firaaq” and “Youssou Ndour” are just the most obvious evidence of the rich serendipity in store for those who make the pricey trek to the town nestled in the San Juans, where the festival’s moving pictures unfold amid the powerfully picturesque landscape.
For some, the festival begins a yearly rite of passage: from the popcorn of summer to the golden ambitions of award season; from the business of moneymaking to the artistry of moviemaking; from “flicks” to “film.”
That’s all a bit too easy.
For instance, one of this year’s honorees is David Fincher. Others include actress Jean Simmons (“Spartacus” and “Elmer Gantry,” which will be shown as part of the tribute); Swedish director Jan Troell (much lauded by the late Ingmar Bergman but little known); and movie critic and filmmaker Richard Schickel.
The 46-year-old Fincher has pop-culture bona fides. He begin his career in music videos, inherited the second sequel in the high-profile “Alien” franchise and frightened us with “Se7en.” You may have seen the sneak preview during the Olympics of his upcoming film, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald novella and starring Brad Pitt as a character who is born as an 80-year-old and ages backward. In addition to onstage Q&As with Fincher, a director’s cut of “Zodiac” will be shown.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the festival’s symposium, which reaches beyond the event’s usual suspects to promote film love in college students. The City Lights program, started in 2000, does the same for high school students and their teachers.
An immersive experience, the program brings students together with filmmakers. “We encourage (students) to be courteous and tough,” says Kate Sibley, Education Programs dean. “And they are.”
It can be a transformative experience, says Sibley, who will host students Nos. 951 to 1,000 this weekend.
One alum, Brian Dannelly (festival of ’95), applied, was accepted and, says Sibley, was so changed that he left the festival, applied to the American Film Institute, got into its directors program, graduated and made a movie: 2004’s “Saved.”
Though pleased to have such a testimonial, Sibley adds, “We aren’t about making filmmakers. “This program is intended to impart the love of film as an art. We’re out to make future audiences and to help students to get a greater worldview. Movies never give us reality, but they do provide a window onto the rest of the world.”
Who’s good starring in what
At a glance, this year’s festival films promise impressive performances.
• Kristin Scott Thomas has been wracking up fine turn after fine turn (“Tell No One,” Paul Schrader’s “The Walker”).
In Philippe Claudel’s “I’ve Loved You So Long,” she plays a just-released convict who comes to live with her younger sister, played by Elsa Zylberstein (who will attend along with Claudel).
• And speaking of Paul Schrader, that festival mainstay returns with “Resurrecting Adam,” starring Jeff Goldblum in what is rumored to be a masterful turn as a Holocaust survivor institutionalized in an Israeli mental hospital.
• Sally Hawkins won the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear for her portrayal of the endearing — or annoying — protagonist in Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky.”
• Newcomer Nicole Behaire, says Luddy, is “fantastic in ‘American Violet,’ ” a film based on the true story of a black Texas community swept up by cops in a drug bust.
In addition, my list includes:
• “Gomorrah”: Matteo Garrone’s Cannes-lauded film about corruption and brutality based on Roberto Saviano’s best-selling investigation into Naples’ mafiosi.
• “Waltz With Bashir”: Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman’s animated film about 1982’s Israel-Lebanon war (it would make an intriguing double bill with last year’s graphic wonder, Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis”).
• Last but hardly least, there are the three noirs selected by this year’s guest director, post-modern ruminator and film pervert, Slavoj Zizek (author of “In Defense of Lost Causes”): Edmund Golding’s “Nightmare Alley”; Nicholas Ray’s “On Dangerous Ground”; and John Frankenheimer’s “Seconds.”
The eclectic thinker is himself the subject of a film: Sophie Fiennes’ “The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema.”
(Editor’s note: As is the tradition, the festival’s passes have been sold out for some time now. For other ways to catch some movies and panels, try .)
Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com; also on blogs.denverpostcom/madmoviegoer
