Telluride, Colorado: A Lack of Theaters Yeilds an Impromptu Open Air Cinema at the Telluride Film Festival

The Telluride Film Festival, held each Labor Day weekend in a remote Colorado mining town, creates six temporary screening venues alongside the year-round Sheridan Opera House. Among them: an open-air cinema built in the park for the cool mountain nights. The others include a Victorian theatre emerging from the Masonic Hall, a high school auditorium transformed into the Palm Theater, a gym reborn as the Méliès-inspired Galaxy, and intimate spaces serving as the Pierre and Backlot theaters.

Nearly a century ago, the Marx Brothers, Sarah Bernhardt, Houdini, and Lillian Gish performed at the Sheridan for the town's miners. Today the restored Opera House remains the heart of the festival -- its antique sign reading simply “SHOW” the inspiration for the event's traditions. Each venue is built to give films a distinct character; the open-air cinema infuses its programme with the particular zest of a Telluride night.