The Telluride Film Festival Guest Director is a position held by a different individual each edition, invited by the festival's artistic director to join them in the creation of the festival program.

Below is a list of each guest director followed by the films the director specifically chose to highlight.

List of guest directors and selected films

1980s YearGuest DirectorEnglish TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country1988(15th)Donald RichieJapan's Cutting EdgeVariousJapanRemembering Sessue HayakawaThe Dragon Painter (1919)William WorthingtonUnited States1989(16th)Errol MorrisHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)John McNaughtonUnited StatesMake Way for Tomorrow (1937)Leo McCarey

1990s YearGuest DirectorEnglish TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country1990(17th)Bertrand TavernierJustin de Marseille (1935)Maurice TourneurFrancePursued (1947)Raoul WalshUnited States1991(18th)Laurie AndersonDanzon (1991)María NovaroMexicoNew Video Art1992(19th)G. Cabrera InfanteLaughter (1930)Harry d'Abbadie d'ArrastUnited StatesVictims of Sin (1951)Víctimas del pecadoEmilio FernándezMexicoThe Virgin of Charity (1930)La Virgen de la CaridadRamón PeónCuba1993(20th)John BoormanFear and Desire (1952)Stanley KubrickUnited StatesUpstage (1926)Monta Bell1994(21st)John SimonThe Easy Life (1962)Il SorpassoDino RisiItalyOne Fine Day (1969)Un certo giornoErmanno OlmiThey Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)Sydney PollackUnited States1995(22nd)Phillip LopateFloating Clouds (1955)浮雲Mikio NaruseJapanThe Hard Way (1943)Vincent ShermanUnited StatesWelfare (1975)Frederick Wiseman1996(23rd)B. Ruby Rich1997(24th)Peter Von Bagh1998(25th)Peter Bogdanovich1999(26th)Peter SellarsAllah Tantou (1992)David AchkarGuinea, FranceDust in the Wind (1986)戀戀風塵Hou Hsiao-hsienTaiwan

2000s YearGuest DirectorEnglish TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country2000(27th)Edgardo Cozarinsky2001(28th)Salman RushdieMetropolis (1927)Fritz LangGermanyAlphaville (1965)Jean-Luc GodardFranceSolaris (1972)СолярисAndrei TarkovskySoviet Union2002(29th)Alberto BarberaBitter Rice (1949)Riso AmaroGiuseppe De SantisItalyBandits of Orgosolo (1961)Banditi a OrgosoloVittorio De SetaIl Posto (1961)Ermanno Olmi2003(30th)Stephen SondheimThey Were Five (1936)La Belle EquipeJulien DuvivierFranceUn Carnet de Bal (1937)Panique (1946)2004(31st)Buck HenryMillion Dollar Legs (1932)Edward F. ClineUnited StatesPayday (1932)Don CarpenterHunger (1966)Sult / SvältHenning CarlsenDenmark, Norway, Sweden2005(32nd)Don DeLilloThe Passenger (1975)Professione: reporterMichelangelo AntonioniItalyWanda (1970)Barbara LodenUnited StatesThe Spirit of the Beehive (1973)El espíritu de la colmenaVíctor EriceSpain2006(33rd)Jean-Pierre GorinMaldone (1928)Jean GrémillonFranceStormy Waters (1941)RemorquesSummer Light (1943)Lumière d'Ètè2007(34th)Edith KramerThe Way You Wanted Me (1944)Sellaisena kuin sinä minut halusitTeuvo TulioFinlandMillions Like Us (1943)Sidney Gilliat and Frank LaunderUnited KingdomSpring Shower (1932)Tavaszi záporPál FejösHungary2008(35th)Slavoj ŽižekNightmare Alley (1947)Edmund GoldingUnited StatesOn Dangerous Ground (1952)Nicholas RaySeconds (1966)John Frankenheimer2009(36th)Alexander PayneDay of the Outlaw (1959)Stelios Roccos and James BurroughsUnited StatesThe Breaking Point (1950)Michael CurtizMake Way for Tomorrow (1937)Leo McCarey

2010s YearGuest DirectorEnglish TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country2010(37th)Michael OndaatjeThe Ascent (1977)ВосхождениеLarisa ShepitkoSoviet UnionConfidence (1980)BizalomIstván SzabóHungaryHere Is Your Life (1966)Här har du ditt livJan TroellSwedenFat City (1972)John HustonUnited StatesThe Hustler (1961)Robert RossenMother Dao, the Turtlelike (1995)Moeder Dao, de schildpadgelijkendeVincent MonnikendamNetherlands2011(38th)Caetano VelosoThe Apartment (1960)Billy WilderUnited StatesAniceto (2008)Leonardo FavioArgentinaVivre sa vie (1962)Jean-Luc GodardFranceThe Grand Maneuver (1955)Les Grandes ManœuvresRené ClairBlack God, White Devil (1964)Deus e o Diabo na Terra do SolGlauber RochaBrazilNordeste: Cordel, Repente E Canção (1975)Tânia Quaresma2012(39th)Geoff DyerStalker (1979)СталкерAndrei TarkovskySoviet UnionBeau Travail (1999)Claire DenisFranceTogether (2000)TillsammansLukas MoodyssonSwedenLessons of Darkness (1992)Lektionen in FinsternisWerner HerzogFrance, United Kingdom, GermanyThe Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974)Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers SteinerGermanyBaraka (1992)Ron FrickeUnited StatesUnrelated (2007)Joanna HoggUnited Kingdom2013(40th)Don DeLilloLa Morte Rouge (2006)Víctor EriceSpainThe Zapruder Film (1963)Abraham ZapruderUnited StatesPhillip LopateNaked Childhood (1968)L'enfance nueMaurice PialatFranceBuck HenryThe Terminal Man (1972)Mike HodgesUnited StatesMichael OndaatjeElephant (1989)Alan ClarkeUnited KingdomLa Jetée (1962)Chris MarkerFranceB. Ruby RichOne Way or Another (1974)De Cierta ManeraSara GómezCubaSalman RushdieMahanagar (1963)Satyajit RayIndia2014(41st)Guy Maddin and Kim MorganCalifornia Split (1974)Robert AltmanUnited StatesM (1951)Joseph LoseyMan's Castle (1933)Frank BorzageThe Road to Glory (1936)Howard HawksWicked Woman (1953)Russell RouseIl Grido (1957)Michelangelo AntonioniItaly2015(42nd)Rachel KushnerThe Mother and the Whore (1973)La maman et la putainJean EustacheFranceMy Little Loves (1974)Mes Petites AmoureusesFranceWake in Fright (1971)Ted KotcheffAustraliaCocksucker Blues (1979)Robert FrankUnited StatesA Day In The Country (1936)Partie de campagneJean RenoirFranceUncle Yanco (1967)Oncle YancoAgnès VardaFranceThe Mattei Affair (1972)Il Caso MatteiFrancesco RosiItaly2016(43rd)Volker SchlöndorffI Was Nineteen (!968)Ich war neunzehnKonrad WolfEast GermanyIt Was in May (1970)Byl mesyats mayMarlen KhutsievSoviet UnionThe Barefoot Contessa (1954)Joseph L. MankiewiczUnited StatesLes Enfants terribles (1950)Jean-Pierre MelvilleFranceThe Fire Within (1963)Le Feu folletLouis MalleSpies (1928)SpioneFritz LangGermany2017(44th)Joshua OppenheimerThe Night of the Hunter (1955)Charles LaughtonUnited StatesTiticut Follies (1967)Frederick WisemanHello Cinema (1995)سلام سینماMohsen MakhmalbafIranHotel of the Stars (1981)Jon Bang CarlsenDenmarkThe Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)Les Parapluies de CherbourgJacques DemyFranceEven Dwarfs Started Small (1970)Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangenWerner HerzogWest Germany2018(45th)Jonathan LethemAngel (1937)Ernst LubitschUnited StatesBigger Than Life (1956)Nicholas RayNever Cry Wolf (1983)Carroll BallardThe Tarnished Angels (1957)Douglas SirkTo Be or Not to Be (1942)Ernst LubitschThe White Meadows (2009)کشتزارهای سپیدMohammad RasoulofIran2019(46th)Pico IyerLate Autumn (1960)秋日和Yasujirō OzuJapanWhen a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)女が階段を上る時Mikio NaruseThe Makioka Sisters (1983)細雪Kon IchikawaMr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002)Aparna SenIndiaUnder the Sun (2015)В лучах солнцаVitaly ManskyRussia, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, North Korea

2020s YearGuest DirectorEnglish TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country2021(48th)Barry JenkinsWest Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (1979)West Indies ou les Nègres marrons de la libertéMed HondoFrance, Mauritania, AlgeriaChocolat (1988)Claire DenisFranceLooking for Langston (1989)Isaac JulienUnited KingdomGarden (2003)גןAdi BarashIsraelRussian Ark (2002)Русский ковчегAlexander SokurovRussiaKahlil Joseph: Selected WorksKahlil JosephUnited States2022(49th)Kantemir Balagov and Kira KovalenkoL'Atalante (1934)Jean VigoFranceElegy of a Voyage (2001)Элегия дорогиAlexander SokurovFrance, Russia, NetherlandsGetting to Know the Big, Wide World (1978)Познавая белый светKira MuratovaSoviet UnionOasis (2002)오아시스Lee Chang-dongSouth KoreaWhere Is the Friend's House? (1987)خانه دوست کجاستAbbas KiarostamiIranThe Wonders (2014)Le meraviglieAlice RohrwacherItaly, Switzerland, Germany2023(50th)Steve McQueenZero for Conduct (1933)Zéro de ConduiteJean VigoFranceMira NairThe Music Room (1958)JalsagharSatyajit RayIndiaAlfonso CuarónJonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976)Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000Alain TannerFrance-SwitzerlandRachel KushnerJuvenile Court (1973)Frederick WisemanUnited StatesEthan HawkeAll That Jazz (1979)Bob FosseUnited StatesAdam CurtisThe Long Good Friday (1980)John MackenzieUnited Kingdom2024(51st)Kenneth LonerganArch of Triumph (1948)Lewis MilestoneUnited StatesBarry Lyndon (1975)Stanley KubrickUnited States, United KingdomDoctor Zhivago (1965)David LeanUnited Kingdom, Italy, United StatesGrand Hotel (1932)Edmund GouldingUnited StatesMy Darling Clementine (1946)John Ford

References