Carlo Verdone. Christian De Sica. Sharon Stone. Bella Thorne. Nicolas Cage. Giuseppe Tornatore, These are just some of the stars who will be present at the 70th edition of the Taormina Film Festival scheduled from 12 to 20 July in the town of Messina.
“Others will also arrive which I won’t announce for now” states, crypticly, the new director of the island festival Marco Müller: “To set up the program we looked at the tradition of the festival: we will bring the Silver Ribbons back to the city – continues Müller – but we will have debutants, semi-rookies and we will have agreements to allow younger people to follow the Festival. It will be a young event that does not forget its origins.”
Speaking of youth, as usual, the producer underlines “there will be some world premieres thanks to the support of large American distributions: the opening film will be Saint Clare, world premiere with the presence of a stellar cast as well as director Bella Thorne. Then we will project Twisters by Lee Isaac Chung, which is released immediately after the festival worldwide. We wanted to insist on an auteur cinema that is able to open up to a market discourse – explains the artistic director – and at the same time valorize a commercial cinema with its own artistic quality. The Festival must have an international scope”.
The section “Focus Mediterraneo” also has an international dimension: – continues Müller – there will be the return of Amos Gitai with Shikunwe will screen a collective Palestinian film, From ground zero of young Palestinian filmmakers living under the bombs. Then we will rediscover a classic that began its journey in Taormina: Who knows by Jacques Rivette in director’s cut, unpublished version introduced by Sergio Castellitto; Daniel Espinoza will come to tell us the story of a human trafficker between Calabria and Sicily because Sicily, today more than ever, is the laboratory of cinematic modernity. It is no coincidence that Giuseppe Tornatore will also return with the Guttuso’s Diary, an innovative work that balances between documentary and fiction”.
Then there is also space for “the films that have made the festival great in the past: Razorsmedium-length film by Martone, Picnic at Hanging Rock di Peter Weir which contributed to consolidating the fame of Taormina as an extraordinary launch platform for cinematographic works”. Müller then promises “four first works and a second work by very young directors who tell Sicily between fantasy films and visual poems”.
As expected, Italian comedy will not be missing: “two previews will be screened: The invention of the two of us by Corrado Ceron and Until night do us part by Riccardo Antonaroli”.
Speaking of Italian comedy, Carlo Verdone and Christian De Sica will receive a Special Silver Ribbon on the opening night of July 12th in the setting of the ancient theater. A particular recognition, explains Laura Delli Colli, President of the National Union of Italian Film Critics – Silver Ribbon Awards, “for the two perhaps most iconic protagonists, most loved by the public in terms of comedy, as well as the best way to celebrate the anniversary with those who have lived in Taormina for many years and have many memories. But we will have three other prizes that talk about the history of Taormina: there will be Giovanni Veronesi, Maurizio Lombardi and Pilar Fogliati with Romeo and Juliet: maybe the sentimental comedy was missing in Italy, we thought it was nice to restart the relaunch of the genre from Taormina. Then, there will be the Nino Manfredi Award, a character very linked to Taormina”.
Gianna Fratta, in addition, as Artistic Director of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation, underlined the Festival’s desire to “animate the city throughout the day through masterclasses, screenings, debates, shows to give the public and tourists an awareness of everything that surrounds cinema. We will propose a show on Callas, a tribute to the opera, we will talk about Tosca, we will have a meeting at the Teatro Antico with Omar Sosa, on July 16 we will have a show with Ficarra and Picone and live music by Crivelli from the orchestra of the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina, on July 17 there will be an evening dedicated to cinema soundtracks, on July 19 at the Teatro Antico there will be the show Il segreto di Ofelia spettacolo. The strategy is to think of cinema as a multidisciplinary art, in continuous dialogue with other cultural forms for a more global vision that can open up to the territory”.
For Elvira Amata, however, Regional Councilor for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment of the Sicilian Region, the Taormina Film Festival “boasts a long history and today opens a new season. We hope it will be a driving force for tourism as well as culture. Our goal is not only to attract travelers, but also employment. For this reason, we will establish advanced training courses for cinema workers in Sicily. Another objective is the deseasonalisation of tourist flows, so that there are arrivals not only in the summer season, but all year round”.
Sergio Bonomo, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation, was also present at the presentation press conference: “The Festival represents a unique opportunity to promote the whole of Sicily for the potential of the film sector. The Foundation is at the forefront in enhancing the artistic and cultural heritage of Sicily and reserves particular attention to the younger generations as demonstrated by the Officina Sicilia space”.
The 70th edition of the Taormina Film Festival is an event promoted and organized by the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation with the support of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment of the Sicilian Region, the Sicilia Film Commission, the Municipality of Taormina and the MiC, Ministry of Culture – General Directorate of cinema and audiovisual and the Municipality of Taormina and the CSC Experimental Center of Cinematography.
