7/20/2020 - Taormina FilmFest's eighth day
Eighth and penultimate day tomorrow - Saturday 18 July - of the 66th Taormina FilmFest, directed by Leo Gullotta and Francesco Calogero, in theaters and streaming on MYmovies.it until July 19, produced and organized by Videobank S.p.A. courtesy of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation, under the patronage of the Regional Tourism, Sports and Entertainment Department. A varied programming in Room A of the Palazzo dei Congressi in Taormina, daily hosts - with free admission and by reservation - the projections of the international competition for first and second works, while the online schedule offers a richer programming, available for 24 hours, accompanied from a daily in-depth strip, on the Festival's Facebook page at 8.45 pm with video documents, archive images, suggestive emotional shots and guest interventions, to narration of a festival that is only partially virtual. Tomorrow also the Ancient Theater of Taormina will be protagonist again, and with exceptional guests: the actress Monica Bellucci and the stylists Dolce & Gabbana and with the special performance of Il Volo, will present the absolute preview of the film "Devotion", directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, who uses the unreleased music of the unforgettable Maestro Ennio Morricone, in an evening hosted by the Sicilian Region, Taormina Film Fest and Fondazione Taormina Arte, and presented by the festival's artistic director, Leo Gullotta. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana once again choose Maestro Giuseppe Tornatore to tell their unconditional love for beauty through the expert eye of his camera. The relationship of deep friendship and mutual esteem between the two stylists and the Oscar-winning director - always present in the most important moments in the history of Dolce & Gabbana and author of memorable spots - returns to intertwine on the big screen after the cameo in the bus scene. "The man of the stars" (1995) and materializes in the making of the film. Filmed largely in the heart of Palermo and at the foot of the great Cathedral of Monreale - a crossroads of cultures and several times inspiration for the creations of the stylists thanks to its artistic syncretism - the work tells the infinite love of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana for Sicily, an inexhaustible source of their creativity, and the tireless passion for their work: an intimate journey to discover an authentic dimension far from the spotlight of fashion.As for the programming of the festival, again tomorrow, in Hall A of the Palazzo dei Congressi, at 18.00, the special event with the screening of "THE DAY WE DIED". After the Parisian attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, in Copenhagen everyone leads a normal life: nobody can imagine what is going to happen. The story follows four people linked to the terrorist attacks of February 2015: two victims, the terrorist and the SWAT foreman who shot the terrorist. The latter is played by Game Of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who will meet the audience at 6 pm in room A of the Palacongressi, while the following evening at the Ancient Theater he will receive the Taormina Arte Award. Instead, Lars Brygmann plays Finn Nørgaard, the Danish filmmaker killed in the attacks: the director Ole Christian Madsen knew Nørgaard and did a lot of research on the real people affected by the attack.At 9.30 pm for the feature film competition, "HEART AND BONES". In the Australian film that closes the competition, director Ben Lawrence tells us the story of a war photographer who is preparing to set up his latest exhibition: suddenly, a South Sudanese refugee appears at his door, asking him not to expose any photograph of the massacre in his village, which took place fifteen years earlier. The two men immediately make friends, and as they sift through the archive they make a sensational discovery: the refugee's daughter, believed to be dead, may still be alive. As they discover new elements, they both begin to question their past and their own lives. In the role of the photographer is Hugo Wallace Weaving, known for his interpretations in the Matrix trilogy, in those of The Lord of the Rings and in The Hobbit, but also in the films V for Vendetta, Captain America - The first Avenger and in the road movie Priscilla, the queen of the desert, who in 1994 gave him great world fame.Online programming on Mymovies.it begins at 2.00 pm with "EVA". The only Italian documentary in competition, Elettra Pierantoni's film tells a singular parable of life. Eva is in fact an ex torera, and is Italian. He wants to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his public debut by facing, once again, a bull. Its story is decidedly original. Eva falls in love with Spain and the bullfight as a teenager in Italy, where no one could understand her passion, and on her eighteenth birthday she leaves for ain. It is hard to be a young foreigner in a nationalist environment dominated by men: so, after a few years of unsuccessful attempts, Eva gives up. Yet he never stopped dreaming about "the bull", and for this reason Eva wants to fight for the last time after twelve years.


At 3.30 pm for the Indieuropean section, "MARIA SOLINHA". A director arrives in Cangas Morrazo, Galicia, to reconstruct the tragic story of María Solinha, accused of witchcraft and burnt by the Inquisition in the seventeenth century. History repeats itself, and in the twenty-first century the protagonist of the drama is made the subject of aggressions similar to those suffered by María Solinha. Recurring is the figure of the dragon, a metaphor for the anxieties and threats to which women are subjected. "El dragón sigue existiendo, aunque is changing de aspecto": it changes its appearance, but the dragon still exists. Ignacio Vilar's seventh film has the peculiarity of being shot entirely in Galician, one of the four official languages ​​of Spain, and an idiom that is rarely listened to in the cinema.

 

At 19:00 always streaming and simultaneously with room A of the Palazzo dei Congressi in Taormina, at 18:00 the projection of "THE DAY WE DIED" and, at 21.30, "HEART AND BONES".

The films will be judged and awarded by three juries, composed as follows: FEATURE FILM JURY composed of the actress Emmanuelle Seigner (also President of the Jury), the director Mimmo Calopresti, the producer Ingrid Lill HÇ¿gtun, the producer Antonio Pérez Pérez and the actress Joana Preiss . The DOCUMENTARY JURY is chaired by director Goran Devic and also composed by director Antonio Falduto and director Christian Bisceglia. The INDIEUROPEA JURY is made up of students from the Master of Translation, Adaptation and Subtitling of the University of International Studies of Rome.

The closing ceremony of the edition - with the participation of the Sicilian Symphony Orchestra, exceptionally conducted by Alvise Casellati and of the band The Magic Door - will take place on July 19 and will feature the winners of the three competitive sections and with the delivery of the traditional Awards Cariddi, Taormina Arte Award - among these the one given to Laura Delli Colli, President of Nastri d'Argento and SNGCI National Union of Italian Film Journalists - and the Polyphemus Masks, prizes made by the Goldsmith Master Michele Affidato.

Radio Monte Carlo is the official radio of the event. The media partners of the event also included Eurovision, the South Publishing Company (Giornale di Sicilia / Gazzetta del Sud), La Sicilia Multimedia and Mymovies.it. Hotel Metropole Taormina is the official hotel of the event.

For more information and purchase tickets
www.taorminafilmfest.it