Telluride Film Festival a Labor Day staple

TELLURIDE, Colo., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Danny Boyle's "127 Hours" and Peter Weir's "The Way Back" are just two of the high-profile dramas debuting at Colorado's Telluride Film Festival this weekend.

The festival, known for its down-to-earth atmosphere catering to "literate film geeks" in contrast to the high-pressure, high-glitz scenes at Utah's Sundance or France's Cannes, also includes an 11-language, 5 1/2-hour behemoth titled "Carlos," which likely won't entertain much of an audience outside the Rocky Mountains, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

Telluride, which has debuted hits such as "Slumdog Millionaire," "Brokeback Mountain" "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Juno," is a "unique film festival in that it is less dominated by industry insiders," Steve Gilula of Fox Searchlight told the Times. Fox has three pictures at this year's event, including "127 Hours," Boyle's story of how Aron Ralston (James Franco) was forced to cut off his hand after a hiking accident.

"In Telluride, you are getting an early indication of how an informed public is going to react to your film. So as a sneak preview festival, it doesn't compete with anyone else," Gilula said. "It's an intimate festival -- the talent is not shuttling in an out of limousines. And it's not the same pressure cooker of Toronto or Sundance, where everyone is immediately handicapping your Oscar and commercial chances."

The Telluride Film Festival opened Friday and runs through Monday.