The beloved Telluride at Dartmouth film series returns this month with an international lineup that will also serve as a warmup for the Hopkins Center for the Arts as its expansion and renovation wraps up.
“Our partnership with Telluride is one of the highlights every year. For decades, it has given our audiences early access to groundbreaking films and the conversations they spark,” says Mary Lou Aleskie, Howard Gilman ’44 Executive Director of the Hop.
The five-day Dartmouth event features advance screenings of titles from the prestigious Colorado film festival, which was held over Labor Day weekend. This year’s series includes a French murder mystery starring Jodie Foster, a prize-winning Norwegian comedy drama, and a soulful road movie with an A-list cast led by George Clooney and Adam Sandler.
The film series will take place just a few weeks before the Hop’s grand opening celebration in October, which will include star-studded performances and special activities for students.
The acoustics have been optimized throughout the Hop, including in Spaulding Auditorium, where the films are slated to screen.
“It was really important that Telluride at Dartmouth be part of this warmup period to test everything we needed to in the building in advance of the grand opening,” says Johanna Evans ’10, the Hop’s director of programming initiatives.
Originally designed for unamplified music, Spaulding’s acoustics can now be adjusted as needed—it’s also been outfitted with upgraded seating and a new stage.
“We wanted to make sure that Spaulding is indeed still the best place to see a movie in the Upper Valley, and maybe even all of Vermont and New Hampshire,” says Evans, who spearheads the Hopkins Center film program.
And recent testing confirmed it, she says. “A 27-foot screen with surround sound and being able to sit in the dark with almost 800 people is a unique and special experience that we really wanted to bring back.”
Hop officials are excited about this year’s lineup, which reflects a theme that has developed over time in the Dartmouth series: movies about moviemaking.
Joachim Trier’s new release, Sentimental Value, stars a director past his prime who tries to make a comeback film using material from his own family life. In Jay Kelly, directed by Noah Baumbach, the “last great movie star,” played by George Clooney, reflects on his career in a loving lampoon of the movie industry. And Nouvelle Vague is a retelling of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, in the style of that revolutionary film.
“I recommend watching Breathless before seeing this movie, so you can appreciate what the director, Richard Linklater, is trying to do,” says Evans. Nouvelle Vague, which screens on Sept. 21, “will end the Telluride at Dartmouth series on an energetic note.”
The films
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m.: In Sentimental Value, a comedy drama, two sisters reunite with their estranged father, a once-renowned movie director. Directed by Joachim Trier, the Cannes Grand Prix winner stars Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Renate Reinsve, and Stellan Skarsgård. English/Norwegian, subtitled.
Thursday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m.: A Private Life, directed by Rebecca Zlotowski, stars Jodie Foster as an American psychoanalyst in Paris who takes the investigation of her patient’s suspicious death into her own hands. French, with English subtitles.
Friday Sept. 19, 7 p.m.: Jay Kelly is named for the lead character, a movie star played by George Clooney, who takes an introspective road trip with his beleaguered manager, portrayed by Adam Sandler. The cast in Noah Baumbach’s poignant comedy also includes Jim Broadbent, Billy Crudup, Laura Dern, Isla Fisher, Greta Gerwig, Riley Keough, Emily Mortimer, and Patrick Wilson.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 2 p.m.: The Secret Agent, an unpredictable epic, earned Kleber Mendonça Filho the Best Director award at Cannes. Wagner Moura plays the lead, a widower with a young son on the run in 1970s Brazil during the military dictatorship. Portuguese, with English subtitles. Gerd Gemünden, the Sherman Fairchild Professor of the Humanities, interviewed Mendonça Filho for the Dartmouth festival, and highlights from their conversation will be screened after the film.
Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m.: In La Grazia, from director Paolo Sorrentino, Toni Servillo portrays a fictional Italian president struggling with difficult moral choices and reckoning with his political legacy as he nears the end of his tenure. Italian, with English subtitles.
Sunday, Sept. 21, 4:30 p.m.: Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater’s new release, reimagines the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, shot in the style of the French New Wave crime drama. It stars Guillaume Marbeck as Godard and Adrien Rouyard as his collaborator François Truffaut. French, with English subtitles.
Passes, which include entrance to all six films, went on sale to Hop members on Sept. 2, and will be available to the general public on Sept. 4. Tickets to individual movies go on sale to all on Sept. 9.
Unlike in past years, Telluride at Dartmouth 2025 will have reserved seating.
“We’re confident that there is no bad seat in Spaulding to see a movie,” Evans says. “Everyone’s going to have an excellent experience, seeing some of this year’s best cinema and potential Oscar contenders.”