Author Rachel Kushner named Guest Director at Telluride Film Fest

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Telluride Film Festival has named decorated author Rachel Kushner as its 2015 Creative Director, TheWrap reports.

Kushner, most recently a National Book Award finalist for her novel “The Flamethrowers,” joins previous directors like Alexander Payne, Salman Rushdie, Peter Bogdanovich, Laurie Anderson and Stephen Sondheim.

“Rachel was a natural choice as the 42nd TFF Guest Director,” festival executive director Julie Huntsinger said in a statement.

“Our audience will be as grateful as Tom and I have been to listen to her thoughts and insight and see the outstanding film choices she has made. We actually owe a huge debt of thanks to our past Guest Director Michael Ondaatje for urging us to work with her.”

Kushner is the author of “The Flamethrowers,” which was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award, the Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Prize, and on almost every Best Book list, including the New York Times Top Five Novels of 2013.

“Telluride has an incredible history and reputation, and I’ve long known of it as a unique entity that makes a place for writers — one more aspect of this exceptional film festival in the Colorado ‘Alps,’” Kushner said. “It still feels a bit dreamlike to me that I have been given this privilege to be a guest director — to indulge my love of cinema, to share with the world films I’ve long loved.”

The 42nd Telluride Film Festival runs over Labor Day weekend, September 4-7, 2015.