Italy • d: Paolo Sorrentino • R • 133m • Italian w/ English subtitles

How does an austere moral purist cope with arriving at an age where all certainties are fading? Mariano De Santis (Toni Servillo) is at the end of his tenure as President of Italy, still grieving eight years after the death of his wife and angrily obsessing over her infidelity decades earlier. His brilliant, middle-aged lawyer-daughter, Dorotea (Anna Ferzetti), has brought legislation for him to sign that challenges his beliefs. As the clock ticks, the President must also decide on two pardon requests that pose hazardous moral challenges. Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino and Servillo, two of cinema’s greatest collaborators, once together made IL DIVO, a sharp satire about Italy’s corrupt seven-time prime minister Giulio Andreotti. This time, they’ve invented a politician, one with very relatable fears and doubts, whom we can all love. Late in the film, we see Mariano’s dream of being weightless, a sublime vision of power and powerlessness that captures the essence of a delicate, unforgettable tragi-comedy.

About the Telluride Film Festival

The Telluride Film Festival has been, for the last 50 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.”

About Telluride By The Sea

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.

Schedule
Fri., 9/12 • 7pm • JAY KELLY
Sat., 9/13 • 12:30pm • NOUVELLE VAGUE
Sat., 9/13 • 3pm • LA GRAZIA
Sat., 9/13 • 7pm • BUGONIA
Sun., 9/14 • 12pm • THE SECRET AGENT
Sun., 9/14 • 3:30pm • SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Sun., 9/14 • 7:15pm • A PRIVATE LIFE