Amber Heard Says New Film Is 'About Love' at First Movie Premiere Since Johnny Depp Trial (Exclusive)

The actress spoke with PEOPLE at the 69th Taormina Film Festival in Italy about her new film 'In the Fire'

Amber Heard is excited about her new film.

Just over a year after the conclusion of her defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp, the 37-year-old actress attended the 69th Taormina Film Festival in Italy to support the premiere of her movie In the Fire, where she raved about the project while speaking with PEOPLE.

“It’s a beautiful movie about the almost supernatural effect and force of love. It is about the boundaries that love can cross and its creation, and really about the overwhelming power that love has,” Heard says. “I don’t want to sound cheesy about it, but it’s a movie about love."

During the premiere on Saturday, Heard walked the red carpet in a long black dress that featured a belt across her waist.

She had her hair styled in tight curls that fell around her shoulders and wore a bold red lipstick.

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Related: Amber Heard to Make First Major Appearance Since Johnny Depp Trial at Film Festival in Italy

In the supernatural thriller, Heard plays a "pioneering psychiatrist who sets out to treat a desperate child at a time when psychiatry is not yet a respected science," per a press release.

"Set in 1899, the film follows a 38-year-old American psychiatrist as she arrives on a rich farm in Colombia after being called to solve the case of a disturbed child following increasingly insistent accusations that the child is the devil," a synopsis reads.

"While the woman tries to psychoanalyze the child, the nefarious events intensify and her 'cure' becomes a race to save the little boy from the fury of his fellow citizens, and perhaps, even from himself," the synopsis adds.

In the Fire director Conor Allyn and costar Eduardo Noriega also attended the premiere at the Taormina Film Festival on Saturday, alongside Heard.

The premiere marks Heard's first appearance promoting a movie since the end of the defamation trial brought against her by her by Depp, 60. The trial ended June 1, 2022, when a seven-person jury reached a verdict that largely sided with the Pirates of the Caribbean actor, though Heard won one of her three defamation counterclaims.

After news of the $1 million settlement she paid to Depp earlier this month — and the five charities he'll donate the money to — Heard was photographed smiling while out in Madrid. (The actress previously relocated to Spain and now lives there with her 2-year-old daughter Oonagh.)

When she announced the settlement, Heard said it was "not an act of concession" and "there are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."

She later added, "I cannot afford to risk an impossible bill — one that is not just financial, but also psychological, physical and emotional. Women shouldn't have to face abuse or bankruptcy for speaking her truth, but unfortunately it is not uncommon."

Heard also said she was "choosing the freedom to dedicate my time to the work that helped me heal after my divorce."

Related: Amber Heard Breaks Silence on Moving to Spain After Johnny Depp Trial: 'I Love Living Here'

In April, a source told PEOPLE that Heard "couldn't wait to leave the U.S. with her daughter" after the Virginia defamation trial with Depp. The source added that Heard "gets more privacy" in Spain.

"The trial was beyond stressful for her and she just wanted to start fresh out of the country," said the source. "She is excited about working and filming again. She was exhausted and disappointed about the trial. She felt she was mistreated."

In The Fire is not the only film project Heard has on the horizon. She is expected to return as Mera in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which opens in December. The actress appeared in a trailer for the film shown at at CinemaCon 2023 that has not yet been released to the public.

Heard revealed this past December that she'd reached a settlement and dropped their appeals to the Virginia verdict, writing at the time that she felt it was "an opportunity to emancipate myself from something I attempted to leave over six years ago and on terms I can agree to."

Depp's first movie since the trial, Jeanne Du Barry, had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France last month. It is also slated to be screened at the Taormina Film Festival.

The 69th Taormina Film Festival runs from June 23 to July 1.

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