Telluride Film Festival, one of America’s most respected film festivals uniquely known for revealing its festival program on opening day, finally revealed its line-up earlier last week.

The 43rd edition, taking place from September 2 – September 5 in Telluride, Colorado, will showcase some of this year’s finest works. Over 70 films will be presented, including the worldwide premiere of Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown, Gregory Monro’s brand new 60-minute documentary on American film icon Jerry Lewis, who participated in the film before turning 90 this past year.

Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin’s summary of the documentary:

In between the great cinematic comedians of the golden age of Hollywood and the modern era sits one giant figure who, at age 90, is still somewhat taken for granted: Jerry Lewis. Filmmaker Gregory Monro seeks to remedy that situation with this thorough documentary built around a recent interview with the star, well-chosen (and imaginatively edited) clips from his movies, kinescopes of television shows, newsreels, vintage interviews, rare nightclub performance footage, behind-the-scenes material and a variety of cogent “talking heads,” including Lewis critics and scholars, French performer and filmmaker Pierre Étaix and (wait for it) Jean-Luc Godard! From the opening moments of the film, Monro shows, rather than tells, why we should care about Jerry Lewis: because he is both thoughtful and irresistibly funny. 

The film will premiere at Telluride on Friday, September 2 at 2pm (Telluride Backlot) and on Sunday, September 4 at 7pm (Sheridan Opera House), followed by a Q&A with director Gregory Monro.

Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown is a French-Australian production, co-produced by French Connection Films, Arte France, INA (French National Archives), Lowlands Media and Inkwell Films, and in association with The French Film Board (CNC), Cine +, Avrotros, SNRT Morocco, Procirep & ANGOA.

For press inquiries, please contact Jim Le at:  jimle@frenchcx.com.