# Telluride Film Festival guest directors

The Guest Director position is held by a different individual each year who is invited by the Telluride Film Festival Directors to join them in the creation of the festival program. The guest director serves as a key collaborator in all of the festival's programming decisions, bringing new ideas and, quite often, overlooked films to Telluride. Below is a list of each guest director followed by the films the director specifically chose to highlight.

## Guest Directors

| Edition | Guest Director | Selection(s) (English Title) | Selection(s) (Original Title) | Director(s) | Production Countrie(s) | Year |
| 15th (1988) | Donald Richie | Japan's Cutting Edge | Japan's Cutting Edge | a 2-hour collection of Japanese film dating from 1981 to 1988 | a 2-hour collection of Japanese film dating from 1981 to 1988 | a 2-hour collection of Japanese film dating from 1981 to 1988 |
| 15th (1988) | Donald Richie | Remembering Sessue Hayakawa | Remembering Sessue Hayakawa | a two film montage of this film great's first roles in the 1914 film Wrath of the Gods | a two film montage of this film great's first roles in the 1914 film Wrath of the Gods | a two film montage of this film great's first roles in the 1914 film Wrath of the Gods |
| 15th (1988) | Donald Richie | The Dragon Painter | The Dragon Painter | William Worthington | United States | 1919 |
| 16th (1989) | Errol Morris | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | John McNaughton | United States | 1986 |
| 16th (1989) | Errol Morris | Make Way for Tomorrow | Make Way for Tomorrow | Leo McCarey | United States | 1956 |
| 17th (1990 | Bertrand Tavernier | Justin de Marseille | Justin de Marseille | Maurice Tourneur | France | 1935 |
| 17th (1990 | Bertrand Tavernier | Pursued | Pursued | Raoul Walsh | United States | 1947 |
| 18th (1991) | Laurie Anderson | Danzon | Danzon | María Novaro | Mexico | 1991 |
| 18th (1991) | Laurie Anderson | New Video Art | New Video Art | the first video projection program at the festival which included a series of modern video shorts. | the first video projection program at the festival which included a series of modern video shorts. | |
| 19th (1992) | G. Cabrera Infante | Laughter | Laughter | Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast | United States | 1930 |
| 19th (1992) | G. Cabrera Infante | Víctimas del pecado | Víctimas del pecado | Emilio Fernández | Mexico | 1951 |
| 19th (1992) | G. Cabrera Infante | La Virgen de la Caridad | La Virgen de la Caridad | Ramón Peón | Cuba | 1930 |
| 20th (1993) | John Boorman | Fear and Desire | Fear and Desire | Stanley Kubrick | United States | 1953 |
| 20th (1993) | John Boorman | Upstage | Upstage | Monta Bell | United States | 1926 |
| 21st (1994) | John Simon | Il Sorpasso | Il Sorpasso | Dino Risi | Italy | 1962 |
| 21st (1994) | John Simon | One Fine Day | Un certo giorno | Ermanno Olmi | Italy | 1969 |
| 21st (1994) | John Simon | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | Sydney Pollack | United States | 1969 |
| 22nd (1995) | Phillip Lopate | Floating Clouds | Ukigumo | Mikio Naruse | Japan | 1955 |
| 22nd (1995) | Phillip Lopate | The Hard Way | The Hard Way | Vincent Sherman | United States | 1943 |
| 22nd (1995) | Phillip Lopate | Welfare | Welfare | Frederick Wiseman | United States | 1975 |
| 23rd (1996) | B. Ruby Rich | B. Ruby Rich | B. Ruby Rich | B. Ruby Rich | B. Ruby Rich | B. Ruby Rich |
| 24th (1997) | Peter Von Bagh | Peter Von Bagh | Peter Von Bagh | Peter Von Bagh | Peter Von Bagh | Peter Von Bagh |
| 25th (1998) | Peter Bogdanovich | Peter Bogdanovich | Peter Bogdanovich | Peter Bogdanovich | Peter Bogdanovich | Peter Bogdanovich |
| 26th (1999) | Peter Sellars | Allah Tantou | Allah Tantou | David Achkar | Guinea, France | 1992 |
| 26th (1999) | Peter Sellars | Dust in the Wind | Dust in the Wind | Hou Hsiao-hsien | Taiwan | 1986 |
| 27th (2000) | Edgardo Cozarinsky | Edgardo Cozarinsky | Edgardo Cozarinsky | Edgardo Cozarinsky | Edgardo Cozarinsky | Edgardo Cozarinsky |
| 28th (2001) | Salman Rushdie | Metropolis | Metropolis | Fritz Lang | Germany | 1927 |
| 28th (2001) | Salman Rushdie | Alphaville | Alphaville | Jean-Luc Godard | France | 1965 |
| 28th (2001) | Salman Rushdie | Solaris | Solyaris | Andrei Tarkovsky | Soviet Union | 1972 |
| 29th (2002) | Alberto Barbera | Bitter Rice | Riso Amaro | Giuseppe De Santis | Italy | 1949 |
| 29th (2002) | Alberto Barbera | Bandits of Orgosolo | Banditi a Orgosolo | Vittorio De Seta | Italy | 1961 |
| 29th (2002) | Alberto Barbera | Il Posto | Il Posto | Ermanno Olmi | Italy | 1961 |
| 30th (2003) | Stephen Sondheim | They Were Five | La Belle Equipe | Julien Duvivier | France | 1936 |
| 30th (2003) | Stephen Sondheim | Un Carnet de Bal | Un Carnet de Bal | Julien Duvivier | France | 1937 |
| 30th (2003) | Stephen Sondheim | Panique | Panique | Julien Duvivier | France | 1946 |
| 31st (2004) | Buck Henry | Million Dollar Legs | Million Dollar Legs | Edward F. Cline | United States | 1932 |
| 31st (2004) | Buck Henry | Payday | Payday | Don Carpenter | United States | 1932 |
| 31st (2004) | Buck Henry | Hunger | Sult | Henning Carlsen | Denmark, Norway, Sweden | 1966 |
| 32nd (2005) | Don DeLillo | The Passenger | Professione: reporter | Michelangelo Antonioni | Italy | 1975 |
| 32nd (2005) | Don DeLillo | Wanda | Wanda | Barbara Loden | United States | 1970 |
| 32nd (2005) | Don DeLillo | The Spirit of the Beehive | El espíritu de la colmena | Víctor Erice | Spain | 1973 |
| 33rd (2006) | Jean-Pierre Gorin | Maldone | Maldone | Jean Grémillon | France | 1928 |
| 33rd (2006) | Jean-Pierre Gorin | Stormy Waters | Remorques | Jean Grémillon | France | 1941 |
| 33rd (2006) | Jean-Pierre Gorin | Summer Light | Lumière d'Ètè | Jean Grémillon | France | 1943 |
| 34th (2007) | Edith Kramer | The Way You Wanted Me | Sellaisena kuin sinä minut halusit | Teuvo Tulio | Finland | 1944 |
| 34th (2007) | Edith Kramer | Millions Like Us | Millions Like Us | Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder | United Kingdom | 1943 |
| 34th (2007) | Edith Kramer | Spring Shower (or Marie, a Hungarian Legend) | Tavaszi zápor | Pál Fejös | Hungary | 1932 |
| 35th (2008) | Slavoj Zizek | Nightmare Alley | Nightmare Alley | Edmund Golding | United States | 1947 |
| 35th (2008) | Slavoj Zizek | On Dangerous Ground | On Dangerous Ground | Nicholas Ray | United States | 1952 |
| 35th (2008) | Slavoj Zizek | Seconds | Seconds | John Frankenheimer | United States | 1966 |
| 36th (2009) | Alexander Payne | Day of the Outlaw | Day of the Outlaw | Stelios Roccos & James Burroughs | United States | 1959 |
| 36th (2009) | Alexander Payne | The Breaking Point | The Breaking Point | Michael Curtiz | United States | 1950 |
| 36th (2009) | Alexander Payne | Make Way for Tomorrow | Make Way for Tomorrow | Leo McCarey | United States | 1937 |
| 37th (2010) | Michael Ondaatje | The Ascent | Voskhozhdeniye | Larisa Shepitko | Soviet Union | 1977 |
| 37th (2010) | Michael Ondaatje | Confidence | Bizalom | István Szabó | Hungary | 1980 |
| 37th (2010) | Michael Ondaatje | Here’s Your Life | Här har du ditt liv | Jan Troell | Sweden | 1966 |
| 37th (2010) | Michael Ondaatje | Fat City | Fat City | John Huston | United States | 1972 |
| 37th (2010) | Michael Ondaatje | The Hustler | The Hustler | Robert Rossen | United States | 1961 |
| 37th (2010) | Michael Ondaatje | Mother Dao, the Turtlelike | Moeder Dao, de schildpadgelijkende | Vincent Monnikendam | Netherlands | 1995 |
| 38th (2011) | Caetano Veloso | The Apartment | The Apartment | Billy Wilder | United States | 1960 |
| 38th (2011) | Caetano Veloso | Aniceto | Aniceto | Leonardo Favio | Argentina | 2008 |
| 38th (2011) | Caetano Veloso | Vivre Sa Vie | Vivre Sa Vie | Jean-Luc Godard | France | 1962 |
| 38th (2011) | Caetano Veloso | The Grand Maneuver | Les Grandes Manœuvres | René Clair | France | 1955 |
| 38th (2011) | Caetano Veloso | Black God, White Devil | Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol | Glauber Rocha | Brazil | 1964 |
| 38th (2011) | Caetano Veloso | Nordeste: Cordel, Repente E Canção | Nordeste: Cordel, Repente E Canção | Tânia Quaresma | Brazil | 1975 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | Stalker | Stalker | Andrei Tarkovsky | Soviet Union | 1979 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | Beau Travail | Beau Travail | Claire Denis | France | 1999 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | Together | Tillsammans | Lukas Moodysson | Sweden | 2000 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | Lessons of Darkness | Lektionen in Finsternis | Werner Herzog | France, United Kingdom, Germany | 1992 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner | Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner | Werner Herzog | Germany | 1974 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | Baraka | Baraka | Ron Fricke | United States | 1992 |
| 39th (2012) | Geoff Dyer | Unrelated | Unrelated | Joanna Hogg | United Kingdom | 2007 |
| 40th (2013) | Don DeLillo | La Morte Rouge | La Morte Rouge | Victor Erice | Spain | 2006 |
| 40th (2013) | Don DeLillo | The Zapruder Film | The Zapruder Film | Abraham Zapruder | United States | 1963 |
| 40th (2013) | Phillip Lopate | Naked Childhood | L'enfance nue | Maurice Pialat | France | 1968 |
| 40th (2013) | Buck Henry | The Terminal Man | The Terminal Man | Mike Hodges | United States | 1972 |
| 40th (2013) | Michael Ondaatje | Elephant | Elephant | Alan Clarke | United Kingdom | 1989 |
| 40th (2013) | Michael Ondaatje | La Jetée | La Jetée | Chris Marker | France | 1962 |
| 40th (2013) | B. Ruby Rich | One Way or Another | De Cierta Manera | Sara Gómez | Cuba | 1974 |
| 40th (2013) | Salman Rushdie | Mahanagar | Mahanagar | Satyajit Ray | India | 1963 |
| 41st (2014) | Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan | California Split | California Split | Robert Altman | United States | 1974 |
| 41st (2014) | Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan | M | M | Joseph Losey | United States | 1951 |
| 41st (2014) | Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan | Man's Castle | Man's Castle | Frank Borzage | United States | 1933 |
| 41st (2014) | Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan | The Road to Glory | The Road to Glory | Howard Hawks | United States | 1936 |
| 41st (2014) | Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan | Wicked Woman | Wicked Woman | Russell Rouse | United States | 1953 |
| 41st (2014) | Guy Maddin and Kim Morgan | Il Grido | Il Grido | Michelangelo Antonioni | Italy | 1957 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | The Mother and the Whore | La maman et la putain | Jean Eustache | France | 1973 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | My Little Loves | Mes Petites Amoureuses | Jean Eustache | France | 1974 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | Wake in Fright | Wake in Fright | Ted Kotcheff | Australia | 1971 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | Cocksucker Blues | Cocksucker Blues | Robert Frank | United States | 1979 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | A Day in the Country | Partie de campagne | Jean Renoir | France | 1936 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | Uncle Yanco | Oncle Yanco | Agnès Varda | France | 1967 |
| 42nd (2015) | Rachel Kushner | The Mattei Affair | Il Caso Mattei | Francesco Rosi | Italy | 1972 |
| 43rd (2016) | Volker Schlöndorff | I Was Nineteen | Ich war neunzehn | Konrad Wolf | East Germany | 1968 |
| 43rd (2016) | Volker Schlöndorff | It Was in May (or It Was the Month of May) | Byl mesyats may | Marlen Khutsiev | Soviet Union | 1970 |
| 43rd (2016) | Volker Schlöndorff | The Barefoot Contessa | The Barefoot Contessa | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | United States | 1954 |
| 43rd (2016) | Volker Schlöndorff | Les Enfants terribles | Les Enfants terribles | Jean-Pierre Melville | France | 1950 |
| 43rd (2016) | Volker Schlöndorff | The Fire Within | Le Feu follet | Louis Malle | France | 1963 |
| 43rd (2016) | Volker Schlöndorff | Spies | Spione | Fritz Lang | Germany | 1928 |
| 44th (2017) | Joshua Oppenheimer | The Night of the Hunter | The Night of the Hunter | Charles Laughton | United States | 1955 |
| 44th (2017) | Joshua Oppenheimer | Titicut Follies | Titicut Follies | Frederick Wiseman | United States | 1967 |
| 44th (2017) | Joshua Oppenheimer | Hello Cinema | Salaam Cinema | Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Iran | 1995 |
| 44th (2017) | Joshua Oppenheimer | Hotel of the Stars | Hotel of the Stars | Jon Bang Carlsen | Denmark | 1981 |
| 44th (2017) | Joshua Oppenheimer | The Umbrellas of Cherbourg | Les Parapluies de Cherbourg | Jacques Demy | France | 1964 |
| 44th (2017) | Joshua Oppenheimer | Even Dwarfs Started Small | Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen | Werner Herzog | West Germany | 1970 |
| 45th (2018) | Jonathan Lethem | Angel | Angel | Ernst Lubitsch | United States | 1937 |
| 45th (2018) | Jonathan Lethem | Bigger Than Life | Bigger Than Life | Nicholas Ray | United States | 1956 |
| 45th (2018) | Jonathan Lethem | Never Cry Wolf | Never Cry Wolf | Carroll Ballard | United States | 1983 |
| 45th (2018) | Jonathan Lethem | The Tarnished Angels | The Tarnished Angels | Douglas Sirk | United States | 1957 |
| 45th (2018) | Jonathan Lethem | To Be or Not to Be | To Be or Not to Be | Ernst Lubitsch | United States | 1942 |
| 45th (2018) | Jonathan Lethem | The White Meadows | Keshtzarhaye sepid | Mohammad Rasoulof | Iran | 2009 |
| 46th (2019) | Pico Iyer | Late Autumn | Akibiyori | Yasujirō Ozu | Japan | 1960 |
| 46th (2019) | Pico Iyer | When a Woman Ascends the Stairs | Onna ga kaidan o agaru toki | Mikio Naruse | Japan | 1960 |
| 46th (2019) | Pico Iyer | The Makioka Sisters | Sasame-yuki | Kon Ichikawa | Japan | 1983 |
| 46th (2019) | Pico Iyer | Mr. and Mrs. Iyer | Mr. and Mrs. Iyer | Aparna Sen | India | 2002 |
| 46th (2019) | Pico Iyer | Under the Sun | V luchakh solnca | Vitaly Mansky | Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, Latvia, North Korea | 2015 |
| 47th (2020) | The 47th Telluride Film Festival did not occur in 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 47th Telluride Film Festival did not occur in 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 47th Telluride Film Festival did not occur in 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 47th Telluride Film Festival did not occur in 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. | The 47th Telluride Film Festival did not occur in 2020 due the COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| 48th (2021) | Barry Jenkins | West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty | West Indies ou les Nègres marrons de la liberté | Med Hondo | France, Mauritania, Algeria | 1979 |
| 48th (2021) | Barry Jenkins | Chocolat | Chocolat | Claire Denis | France | 1988 |
| 48th (2021) | Barry Jenkins | Looking for Langston | Looking for Langston | Isaac Julien | United Kingdom | 1989 |
| 48th (2021) | Barry Jenkins | Garden | Garden | Adi Barash | Israel | 2003 |
| 48th (2021) | Barry Jenkins | Russian Ark | Russkij kovcheg | Alexander Sokurov | Russia | 2003 |
| 48th (2021) | Barry Jenkins | Kahlil Joseph: Selected Works | Kahlil Joseph: Selected Works | Kahlil Joseph | United States | - |
| 49th (2022) | Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko | L'Atalante | L'Atalante | Jean Vigo | France | 1934 |
| 49th (2022) | Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko | Elegy of a Voyage | Elegiya dorogi | Aleksandr Sokurov | France, Russia, Netherlands | 2001 |
| 49th (2022) | Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko | Getting to Know the Big, Wide, World | Poznavaya belyy svet | Kira Muratova | Soviet Union | 1978 |
| 49th (2022) | Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko | Oasis | 오아시스 | Lee Chang-dong | South Korea | 2002 |
| 49th (2022) | Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko | Where Is the Friend's House? | Khane-ye dust kojast | Abbas Kiarostami | Iran | 1987 |
| 49th (2022) | Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko | The Wonders | Le meraviglie | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, Switzerland, Germany | 2014 |
| 50th (2023) | Steve McQueen | Zero for Conduct | Zéro de Conduite | Jean Vigo | France | 1933 |
| 50th (2023) | Mira Nair | The Music Room | Jalsaghar | Satyajit Ray | India | 1958 |
| 50th (2023) | Alfonso Cuarón | Jonah Who Will Be 25 on the Year 2000 | Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000 | Alain Tanner | France-Switzerland | 1976 |
| 50th (2023) | Rachel Kushner | Juvenile Court | Juvenile Court | Frederick Wiseman | United States | 1973 |
| 50th (2023) | Ethan Hawke | All That Jazz | All That Jazz | Bob Fosse | United States | 1979 |
| 50th (2023) | Adam Curtis | The Long Good Friday | The Long Good Friday | John Mackenzie | United Kingdom | 1980 |