Taormina Film Festival Revs Up For Starry Reboot Edition; Updated List Of Expected Guests & Film Lineup
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Italy’s Taormina Film Festival kicks off its 69th edition Friday evening against the backdrop of its landmark Teatro Antico amphitheatre with a “Pavarotti Forever” benefit event headlined by Placido Domingo and Vittorio Grigolo.
It’s not the typical opening for a film festival, but it is in keeping with the eclectic programming of incoming artistic director Barrett Wissman, whose interview with Deadline on his plans for the festival can be read here.
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Much is riding on the edition, with Wissman being brought in to raise its local and international profile after a turbulent decade, which was compounded by the Covid pandemic.
Topping the bill over the first weekend is the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny in the presence of Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s the first time a major Disney production has touched down at the festival since Inside Out in 2015. Indiana Jones, which had its world premiere in May at Cannes, will hit theaters globally next week.
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A handful of U.S. indie shorts and features are world premiering at Taormina, kicking off with Conor Allyn’s supernatural thriller In the Fire, accompanied by star Amber Heard and co-stars Eduardo Noriega and Luca Calvani.
It will mark Heard’s first film promotion tour of duty since she attended the premiere of Gully at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2019.
Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden will also world premiere towards the end of the festival in the presence of the director and co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona.
A raft of young acting talents and influencers will walk the red carpet at the Teatro Antico for an innovative event entitled Influential Shorts, curated by Bella Thorne.
RELATED: ‘Paint Her Red’ Trailer: First Look At Bella Thorne’s Directorial Debut Heading To Taormina
As well as the world premiere of her own short debut Paint Her Red, the evening will also feature the European premiere of Eva Vik’s futuristic film Serpentine, starring supermodel Barbara Palvin, as well as by Senegalese-Italian TikTok star Khaby Lame and Saudi filmmaker Maram Taibah, who are attending.
Supermodel Adriana Lima will also be putting in appearance with FIFA: A Love Letter to Rwanda by Craig Goodwill, in which she appears and also executive produced. FIFA president Gianni Infantino will also be a guest.
Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner A Thousand and One will make its European premiere, accompanied by director A.V. Rockwell and star Teyana Taylor.
A second Sundance title, Eddie Alcazar’s psychedelic sci-fi thriller Divinity, will also get its European premiere with the director, Thorne, Karrueche Tran and Moises Arias in attendance.
William Baldwin is expected at the festival for the world premiere of hybrid family movie Billie’s Magic World by Italian director Francesco Cinquemani. Alec Baldwin, who also features in the cast is not expected in town.
Taormina will also world premiere a trio of Italian comedies with starry casts and strong local appeal, spanning Giorgio Amato’s The Undecided Groom, which opens the film program on Saturday; Davide Minnella’s Bad Conscience; and Edoardo Leo and Massimiliano Bruno’s ensemble work The Worst Days.
The closing weekend of the festival will host Cannes opening film Jeanne du Barry, accompanied by French director and lead actress Maïwenn, but without her co-star Depp, as well as a screening of Roberto Andò’s Strangeness, starring Toni Servillo, Valentino Picone, Salvatore Ficarra.
The closing night will also feature a special celebration of Italy’s Nastri D’Argento Awards, which Wissman sees as a first step to getting their annual ceremony to return to Taormina in the future.
Other highlights include a retrospective devoted to Abel Ferrara, looking at his long collaboration and friendship with Willem Dafoe through a joint masterclass and screenings of films such as Pasolini, Siberia, 4:44 Last Day on Earth and Tommaso.
There will also be a celebration of John Landis’ work showing a selection of his classic films including National Lampoon’s Animal House, Trading Places, The Blue Brothers and An American Werewolf In Paris.
Landis, whom Barrett says has superstar status in Italy, will be in town and give a masterclass entitled “Comedy in Film.”
The program will also feature a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros showing 20 of its iconic films — including Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Ben-Hur, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Dark Night and Inception — across the week.
The Taormina Film Festival runs June 23-July 1.
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