Press Release

Produced and organised by the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation, the 70th Edition directed by Marco Muller will embody pop, glamour and Mediterranean identity.

From action adventure to psychological thrillers, from horror to
romantic-comedy and the many facets of wide-ranging Sicilian cinema: these are just some
of the threads that the Director of the Taormina Film Festival, Marco Müller, has chosen to
weave together in conceiving a program to satisfy all types of audiences, from fans of pop
blockbusters to Italian cinema, under the stars of the Teatro Antico.
The Festival opens on Friday 12 July with a special event by the Nastri d’Argento to celebrate
its 70th anniversary with a tribute to Italian comedy including Christian De Sica, Carlo
Verdone and many others. Many international stars will attend the festival including Sharon
Stone, Nicolas Cage, Bella Thorne, and Rebecca De Mornay, to name just a few.
The heart of the Taormina Film Festival is the Gala that will host seven titles with a screening
every evening at the Teatro Antico, including four world premieres and a special focus on
new filmmakers with projects from first- and second-time directors. It kicks off 13 July with
the US horror film Saint Clare by Mitzi Peirone starring Bella Thorne, Rebecca De Mornay

and Ryan Philippe, followed by the action title Twisters by Lee Isaac Chung starring Daisy
Jessica Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell; psychological thriller The Surfer by Lorcan Finnegan
starring Nicolas Cage; Il giudice ed il boss, in which the director of Placido Rizzotto, Pasquale
Scimeca, dedicates to the memory of the anti-mafia hero Cesare Terranova; and three
emotional films including the British-Icelandic Touch, directed by the celebrated filmmaker
Baltasar Kormákur and starring the very popular Japanese model and singer Kôki, and two
Italian rom-coms L’invenzione di noi due by Corrado Ceron starring Lino Guanciale, Silvia
D’Amico and Paolo Rossi, and Finché notte non ci separi by Riccardo Antonarolistarring Pilar
Fogliati, Filippo Scicchitano and Valeria Bilello, which will close the festival.
Central to the Palazzo dei Congressi’s programming is the FOCUS MEDITERRANEO, that allows
the festival to open up to the world and enter into its most burning debates, starting with the
international premiere of From Ground Zero, the collaborative film coordinated by Rashid
Masharawi that presents the “tale of untold stories” signed by 22 young Palestinian
filmmakers who have filmed daily life in Gaza. The master of Israeli cinema Amos Gitai returns
to Taormina with Shikun, which portrays his vision of the country’s contradictions; while in
To A Land Unknown, Mahdi Fleifel delves into the world of illegal Arab immigrants in EU
countries. Two major French auteur movies are hosted by Focus Mediterraneo: the
international premiere of the director’s cut of Who Knows? (Va Savoir) by Jacques Rivette,
the Pirandellian film starring Sergio Castellitto, who will introduce the screening and world
premiere of Filmlovers! by Arnaud Desplechin, the English-language version of Spectateurs,
the film in which the French director celebrated the magic of cinema experienced in a movietheater. Following his Hollywood successes, Chilean-Swedish director Daniel Espinosa sets the
story of a human trafficker in the Italian South in his new film Madame Luna, while Thierry
de Peretti with In His Image returns to his native Corsica to recount the life, friendships and

loves of a young photographer during the political turmoil on the island from the late ‘70s
onwards.
Also at the Palazzo dei Congressi, a special space is dedicated to OFFICINA SICILIA. The festival
will show the most recent series Made in Sicily through the most significant moments, starting
with L’arte della gioia by Valeria Golino starring Tecla Insolia, Jasmine Trinca, Valeria Bruni
Tedeschi; Vanina – Un vicequestore a Catania by Davide Marengo starring Giusy Buscemi;
the first episodes of L’ora – Inchiostro contro piombo directed by Piero Messina; and the
apocalyptic Sicily of Anna by Niccolò Ammaniti. Alongside this wide range of films, an
impressive quintet of world premieres (four first-time directors and one second-time
director) reminds us that Sicily is a laboratory of ever-renewed experiences that pushes its
cinema forward, at 360 degrees: Quir by Nicola Bellucci; La bocca dell’anima by Giuseppe
Carleo; Tre regole infallibili by Marco Gianfreda; Pietra madre by Daniele Greco and Mauro
Maugeri, and Il ladro di stelle cadenti by Francisco Saia. Even well-established Sicilian talents
chose to experiment including Tony Sperandeo’s free-jazz performance in Aurelio Grimaldi’s
new film, La rieducazione which will receive its world premiere.

The offer by the TFF 70 is made even more valuable by the history of the festival which brings
us two gifts: the wonderful unmissable monologue by Toni Servillo from Mario Martone’s
second film, the mid length film Rasoi; and the 4K restoration of Picnic at Hanging Rock, the
masterpiece that made the Australian director Peter Weir famous almost 50 years ago, right
here in Taormina.

For this edition, the eight-time director of the Venice Film Festival has developed a program
with a broad cultural and geographical range, made up not only of films. Thanks to the
commitment of the artistic director of the Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, Gianna Fratta,
an internationally renowned artist, a parallel initiative will take place together with the film
festival: PROJECTIONS – Suoni e parole prima del film, a performative format between music,
theatre and multimedia events that offers, before the screenings at the Teatro Antico,
performances linked to the world of cinema.

2024 marks a turning point for the festival. The Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, which has
produced and organised the event for years, plans to implement new strategies to promote
the festival in the medium and long term. The special commissioner Sergio Bonomo, following
the strategic plans of the Regional Department for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment turismo
Sport e Spettacolo led by MP Elvira Amata, aimed at the development of filmmaking in Sicily.

Click here to download the programme and buy the tickets: https://taorminafilmfestival.com/