18th Telluride by the Sea Festival to Bring LA LA LAND & More to The Music Hall

The secret is out: six diverse, original films with international casts of both seasoned actors and fresh new faces, directed by some of the world's most acclaimed filmmakers, are coming to The Music Hall's Telluride by the Sea Festival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire-transforming the charming Seacoast town into a mecca for cinephiles for three exciting days, Friday, September 16 - Sunday, September 18, 2016. In keeping with the tradition, a limited number of individual film tickets go on sale, noon Friday, September 2. Patron and Weekend passes are already on sale.

Telluride by the Sea 2016, its 18th year, is filled with all stars: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Ethan Hawke, and Amy Adams; international stars: Isabelle Huppert, Gael García Bernal, and André Marcon; and new work from directors DAMIEN Chazelle (Whiplash), Mia Hansen-Løve (The Father of My Children), and Denis Villeneuve (Sicario). For passholders only, the Loft will feature Lost & Found, three films that have been rediscovered by the Telluride Film Festival.

According to Chris Curtis, Film & Outreach Manager for The Music Hall, "It's that time again! The excitement is palpable and growing! Come see these six brand new films before your friends, family, or colleagues in New York or LA are able!"

Why buy the pass rather than just the individual film ticket? Curtis continues, "When many buy their pass, they don't know yet what the films will be and this is part of the mystique and magic. It is a testimonial to the quality of films we get year after year. It's the anticipation - not knowing what you are buying, but having innate confidence that it will be worth it, based on previous years of experience. Whether you buy a pass knowing the weekend's titles or not knowing, when you commit to the whole weekend, it pays off."

ABOUT LOST & FOUND - FOR PASSHOLDERS ONLY

From its inception in 1974, the Telluride Film Festival has been at the forefront in rediscovering films and filmmakers hitherto forgotten or relegated to the dust-bin of the "film buff". Perhaps the most famous of these was the resurrection of Abel Gance's Napoleon in 1979 which went on to play with full orchestral accompaniment in the major capitals of the world. Counted among those brought back to the public eye were, among others, Chuck Jones, Joel McCrea, and Michael Powell whose magical I Know Where I'm Going! is part of this series. Also included are the 1930 neo-realist classic People on Sunday and the beloved 1973 Spanish allegorical work The Spirit of the Beehive.

Lost & Found will be hosted and introduced by Trevor Bartlett, voted New Hampshire's Best Film Critic by NH Magazine, and is a regular contributor of movie reviews for The Sound. He's worked in the Telluride (Colorado) Film Festival curatorial staff, and produced Portsmouth's Telluride by the Sea at The Music Hall for many years.

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2016 Telluride by the Sea Schedule

Friday, September 16

5:30pm: Queues begin on Chestnut St.

5:45-6:55pm: Live Music on Street: John Mayer Five

6pm: doors open for Patron Pass Holders

7pm: La La Land (end approx. 9:20pm)

Patron Party at Brazo following film

Saturday, September 17

9:30am: Lost & Found (Loft Series): People on Sunday (end approx. 11am)

1pm: Things To Come (end approx. 2:50pm)

4pm: Neruda (end approx. 6pm)(1h47 + intro)

8pm: Arrival (end approx. 10:10pm)(1h56 + intro)

Sunday, September 18

9-11am: Patron Brunch at The District

10:30am: Lost & Found (Loft Series): I Know Where I'm Going!

1:30pm: Graduation (end approx. 3:45pm)

4pm: Lost & Found (Loft Series): The Spirit of the Beehive

6:45pm: Maudie (end approx. 8:55pm)

Festival Wrap Party for passholders on The Music Hall stage with food provided by The Portsmouth Brewery

2016 Telluride by the Sea Film Descriptions

La La Land

US, 2h6m, courtesy of Lionsgate

Written, directed and choreographed by Academy Award nominee DAMIEN Chazelle (Whiplash). Tells the story of ambitious Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and moody Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for crushing hopes and breaking hearts. Set in modern day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams. With music by Justin Hurwitz and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Things to Come

France, 1h40m, courtesy of IFC

Natalie (Isabelle Huppert) has entered middle age with a meticulously ordered life: a compatible husband (André Marcon), healthy grown children, and a career to which she is passionately devoted. When sudden unexpected changes test Natalie's intellectual convictions, she is forced to confront emotional experiences she thought long resolved. Huppert, surely one of cinema's greatest actors, is at her effortlessly hypnotic best, deploying the special genius she has for demonstrating the inseparability of feeling and thought. Her brilliant performance meshes perfectly with the calm, subtle observation of writer-­director Mia Hansen-­Løve.

Neruda

Chile, 1h47m, courtesy of The Orchard

Chile's acclaimed poet and leftist Senator Pablo Neruda, charged with treason, goes into hiding. Director Pablo Larraín (No) sees these events through the eyes of a resentful cop giving obsessive chase. The marvelous Luis Gnecco plays Neruda with eloquence and comic intelligence, and Gael García Bernal does the same as his pursuer, a secret sharer of Neruda's imagination. Working from Guillermo Calderón's script, with its echoes of Brecht, Bolaño and Borges, Larraín fashions a lyrical political essay that's also a sly tribute to the tropes of film noir and an intricate meditation on the irresolvable tension between aesthetic and political desire.

Arrival

UK, 113m, courtesy of Weinstein

Government agents drag a linguist (the superb Amy Adams) to a secret site where one of 12 alien crafts has landed, and instruct her to communicate with the Others. The wordless anxiety of trying to cope with the unknown, turns out to be far more compelling, not to mention believable, than Hollywood's usual sci­-fi. Director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Sicario) works from Eric Heisserer's fiendishly intelligent adaptation of Ted Chiang's story, and masterfully employs silence, misdirection, intellectual sophistication and a minimization of overt violence to tell the story. Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker and Michael Stuhlbarg offer solid support. This is Science fiction that takes Science fiction seriously.

Graduation

Romania, 2h6m, courtesy of IFC

Romeo (Adrian Titieni), a decent, conscientious doctor, has dedicated himself to helping his daughter Eliza (Maria­-Victoria Dr?gu?) finish high school. Her degree will enable her to study overseas, offering her the opportunities denied to Romeo and his wife Magda (Lia Bugnar). A single arbitrary moment of violence threatens these efforts, and each of Romeo's potential solutions violates the principles he has strived to teach his daughter. Using fastidious long takes, Palme d'Or­-winning writer­-director Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) plunges us into this ambiguous moral labyrinth with Romeo, our souls at risk with his.

Maudie

Canada, 1h55m, courtesy of TBD

Stunted early on in childhood by the effects of acute arthritis and a repressed, poverty­-stricken family, Maude Lewis somehow taught herself to become one of Canada's most beloved folk artists. After only a few moments of screen time, Sally Hawkins has convinced us of Maude's tenacity, eccentricity and singular humor. Ethan Hawke employs his trademark charm as Everett Lewis, a gruff, inarticulate fish peddler with severe anger­-management issues. After Everett inadvertently enables Maude to leave her stultifying family home, he begins supporting her in what grows into a curious, tender love story born of desperation, need, and luck.

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The Telluride Film Festival has been, for the last 43 years, a celebration of THE ART OF film: honoring the great masters of the cinema, discovering the rare and unknown, bringing new works by the world's greatest directors and the latest in American independent film to a small mountain town in Colorado. The New York Times called Telluride "the smallest, most original, and most stimulating of the major festivals," while ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT simply said it was "the world's best festival."

The Music Hall and the Telluride Film Festival collaborate on an exclusive presentation of six new features, brought directly from their Colorado debuts. This unique and intimate Portsmouth event treats audience members from across the Northeast to an exclusive peek into the Telluride experience - packing one September weekend in Portsmouth with the latest international cinema, private parties, great music, delicious food, and inspired conversations with other cinephiles of all ages, tastes, and backgrounds. According to Patricia Lynch, executive director of The Music Hall, "Portsmouth is the perfect town for this perfect weekend. With its charming mix of history, salt air, and film lovers, Portsmouth buzzes when Telluride by the Sea arrives. The streets are filled with people stopping one another to talk about the films, the restaurants are jumping. It's a moving party!"

Ticket Information:

PATRON PASS $210 - ENTITLES THE BEARER TO:

Primary seating for all films

Opening night post-show party at Brazo

VIP access to Founders Lobby all weekend

no lines

Sunday Brunch at The District

Wrap PARTY ON stage at the Historic Theater with food provided by The Portsmouth Brewery

Price of pass includes a $75 tax-deductible donation

Admission to passholder-only Lost & Found films in the Loft (seating limited!)

Patron Pass Seat Saver

WEEKEND PASS - $90 ENTITLES THE BEARER TO:

Preferred seating for all films

Wrap PARTY ON stage at the Historic Theater with food provided by The Portsmouth Brewery

Admission to passholder-only Lost & Found films in the Loft (seating limited!)

Please note: Seating is General Admission. Patron Passholders are admitted first, Weekend Passholders second, and Individual ticket holders last. Show up early for best seating options. Lost & Found films are in the Loft. Seating limited to 85. Patron Passholders are admitted first. Seating is NOT guaranteed. Saving of seats or places in line is prohibited, except for Patron Passholders using designated seat-savers. Use of photographic, video, recording, or broadcast equipment is strictly prohibited.

INDIVIDUAL FILM TICKETS $15

A limited number of individual tickets will be available at noon Friday September 2.

Patron and Weekend Passes are on sale now at the B2W Box Office @ the Historic Theater located at 28 Chestnut Street, in downtown Portsmouth, by phone at 603.436.2400, or online at TheMusicHall.org.

The Music Hall is a community-supported nonprofit performing arts center featuring entertainment from around the corner to around the world. It was recently named Editors' Choice "Best All-Around Entertainment" by Yankee Magazine. With two theaters in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire - one, the 1878 Victorian-era Historic Theater, the other the modern and intimate Music Hall Loft - it is an active and vital arts center, dedicated to the cultural life of the Seacoast community.