HWY 99 Telluride Premiere
8/29/2025
Highway 99: A Double Album officially made its world premiere at Telluride on at the historic Sheridan Opera House.
Hwy 99 is a sweeping, three-hour biographical tribute to country music legend Merle Haggard. It tracks his journey from his troubled youth and incarceration in Oildale, California, to the height of his music career.
Structurally, the documentary plays out like an illustrated double album, weaving Haggard’s life story through 26 of his greatest songs. It incorporates rare archival footage alongside new tribute performances by major artists like Norah Jones, Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash, and Jason Isbell.
The premiere was part of a major milestone for Hawke at the festival. Alongside debuting his directorial work for Highway 99, he starred as Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s film Blue Moon, which also had its North American premiere at the same festival. Hawke was awarded the festival’s prestigious Silver Medallion tribute.
The screening itself was a three-hour, star studded party opening to rave reviews:
VARIETY: A heartfelt, trenchant and long-overdue screen immortalization. Hawke goes to the tender, conflicted heart of Merle Haggard in the rich documentary he’s deserved.
AWARDS RADAR: A tribute that you won’t be able to resist. Anyone willing to take this journey with Hawke will be rewarded, tapping into something that’s hard to describe.
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: A rousing and soulful pilgrimage. Not every documentarian’s first-person contributions enrich the proceedings, but here the quest hits all the right notes, and the gathering of voices feels like a place to begin rather than a mere summing-up.
SCREEN DAILY: Sprawling and emotional, Highway 99 is a layered tribute highlighted by a series of performers covering Haggard’s songs while discussing his impact as an authentic, irreplaceable musical figure.
THE WRAP: The interview subjects can be honest and even tough at times; there’s no whitewashing going on, but it should come as no surprise that most everybody is here to praise one of country’s greatest songwriters and singers. Revelations are sprinkled throughout these three hours, and so are hits… and Hawke is right when he says that they deserve a party.