Former Venice Film Festival head Marco Müller has been named Artistic Director of Italy’s Taormina Film Fest.
The announcement was made today by the special commissioner of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation/ Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, Sergio Bonomo, who said: “Maestro Müller’s professional contribution will be a driving force of success for the prestigious film event”.
The festival’s 70th edition runs this year from July 12 to 19.
“I am happy to work in Sicily to rediscover my roots – I was born and raised in Rome, but my only quarter of Italian blood is from Palermo,” Müller said.
“I thank all the people, in the institutions and among friends of cinema, who have built for me this opportunity to experiment in Taormina the moving thought of how a useful popular festival can still be built. We will use the extraordinary Teatro Antico – which was always a source of jealousy for me when I was programming Locarno’s Piazza Grande – and other cinemas in Taormina.”
Müller will curate this year’s edition with a wider selection committee, including Sandra Hebron, Enrico Magrelli, Carmelo Marabello, and Édouard Waintrop, who will be joined by Joumane Chahine as consultant for international relations.
Taormina relaunched last year, with fest organizers drawing in some heavy star power. Guests included Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mads Mikkelsen from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Amber Heard from In the Fire, Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego from The Absence of Eden. Other honored guests included John Landis, Willem Dafoe and Abel Ferrara.
Cateno De Luca, Mayor of Taormina, added: “The Taormina Film Fest represents an appointment of great importance that brings prestige to our splendid city and enhances its cultural high value. A tradition that has been going on for 70 years and that has given Taormina unforgettable pages of film history. I hope that the Taormina Film Fest will always live up to its history and to the Taormina brand. I congratulate Maestro Müller on his appointment and wish him an excellent direction of the Festival being sure that he will be able to give us a prestigious 70th edition.”
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