Veteran film festivals curator and chief Marco Mueller, who over the past decades has headed both the Venice and Rome fests – among several other events – is operationally back in Italy where he is expected to be appointed artistic director of Sicily’s storied but troubled Taormina Film Festival.
According to several sources Mueller, who in more recent years relocated to China, is expected to sign a contract on Thursday to become Taormina fest chief. The event is run by the Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia foundation currently being managed by Sergio Bonomo. Bonomo is a former board member of the foundation who was put in charge of Taormina Arte by the local government in January after political squabbles caused another board member to resign and the board to fall apart.
Mueller, 70, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Over the years he has amassed plenty of experience at Rotterdam, Locarno,...
According to several sources Mueller, who in more recent years relocated to China, is expected to sign a contract on Thursday to become Taormina fest chief. The event is run by the Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia foundation currently being managed by Sergio Bonomo. Bonomo is a former board member of the foundation who was put in charge of Taormina Arte by the local government in January after political squabbles caused another board member to resign and the board to fall apart.
Mueller, 70, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Over the years he has amassed plenty of experience at Rotterdam, Locarno,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
If location truly was everything, the Taormina Film Festival would be the biggest in the world.
Here on “Isola bella” (Sicilian for “beautiful island”) you have it all: The sun, the sea and sunsets that look CGI-ed in their beauty (one of the reasons The White Lotus picked the region as a backdrop for its latest season). Above it all, the volcano, Mount Etna, with its bursts of fire and ash adds drama to the proceedings. The landscape is palm trees and prickly pear cacti and all the colors of the Mediterranean. The air smells of basil. The festival screenings take place in the Teatro Antico amphitheater, one of the largest historic Greek theaters in all of Sicily.
It’s easy to see why, back in 1955, organizers decided to set up a film festival here. First in the city of Messina, from 1957 on before moving to the nearby municipality of Taormina.
Here on “Isola bella” (Sicilian for “beautiful island”) you have it all: The sun, the sea and sunsets that look CGI-ed in their beauty (one of the reasons The White Lotus picked the region as a backdrop for its latest season). Above it all, the volcano, Mount Etna, with its bursts of fire and ash adds drama to the proceedings. The landscape is palm trees and prickly pear cacti and all the colors of the Mediterranean. The air smells of basil. The festival screenings take place in the Teatro Antico amphitheater, one of the largest historic Greek theaters in all of Sicily.
It’s easy to see why, back in 1955, organizers decided to set up a film festival here. First in the city of Messina, from 1957 on before moving to the nearby municipality of Taormina.
- 6/27/2023
- by Ilaria Ravarino
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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.
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,...
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.
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,...
- 6/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Barrett Wissman is gearing up for his inaugural edition of the Taormina Film Festival as the newly appointed Executive and co-Artistic Director of the Sicily-set event, running from June 23 to July 1.
Unfolding in the hilltop town of Taormina, famed for its Teatro Antico amphitheatre, views on Mount Etna, and more recently, its appearance in The White Lotus, the event is one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious film festivals.
Wissman signed up for the role just two-and-a-half months ahead of its 69th edition and is the 15th person to take up the challenge in the last decade, with the festival going through a raft of solo artistic directors and co-artistic director teams.
It’s not quite a baptism of fire for Wissman, however, who has decades of experience in performing arts, social media, festival and events management as the founding chairman of London-based agency Img Artists.
The Texan arts...
Unfolding in the hilltop town of Taormina, famed for its Teatro Antico amphitheatre, views on Mount Etna, and more recently, its appearance in The White Lotus, the event is one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious film festivals.
Wissman signed up for the role just two-and-a-half months ahead of its 69th edition and is the 15th person to take up the challenge in the last decade, with the festival going through a raft of solo artistic directors and co-artistic director teams.
It’s not quite a baptism of fire for Wissman, however, who has decades of experience in performing arts, social media, festival and events management as the founding chairman of London-based agency Img Artists.
The Texan arts...
- 6/21/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Taormina Film Festival, one of Italy’s oldest movie celebrations, has undergone many makeovers through the years.
Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort that recently got a promotional boost as the location of “The White Lotus” Season Two, this storied summer fest boasts an 8,000-seat open-air ancient Greek amphitheater in the shadow of Sicily’s active Mt. Etna volcano.
In 2000, Tom Cruise stood on stage, greeted by hundreds of lit candles and a standing ovation to celebrate his 38th birthday while he was promoting “Mission: Impossible 2.” Ups and downs followed, as several chiefs took the Taormina reins over the the ensuing decades, until more recently the event fell off the international radar as it became mired in local squabbles and power play.
Enter Barrett Wissman, a Texan who for the past 20 years has been the chairman of Img Artists, which reps classical musicians, dancers and performing artists,...
Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort that recently got a promotional boost as the location of “The White Lotus” Season Two, this storied summer fest boasts an 8,000-seat open-air ancient Greek amphitheater in the shadow of Sicily’s active Mt. Etna volcano.
In 2000, Tom Cruise stood on stage, greeted by hundreds of lit candles and a standing ovation to celebrate his 38th birthday while he was promoting “Mission: Impossible 2.” Ups and downs followed, as several chiefs took the Taormina reins over the the ensuing decades, until more recently the event fell off the international radar as it became mired in local squabbles and power play.
Enter Barrett Wissman, a Texan who for the past 20 years has been the chairman of Img Artists, which reps classical musicians, dancers and performing artists,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Italian premieres of Cannes Film Festival opener Jeanne du Barry starring Johnny Depp and Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny will be among the international highlights of the 69th Taormina Film Festival which gave a taster of its line-up at a press conference in Rome on Tuesday.
Principal cast for James Mangold’s Indiana Jones reboot including Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies and Mads Mikkelsen are expected to be in attendance for the screening.
The event, unfolding June 23 to July 1 in Sicily, is under the new co-artistic directorship of Barrett Wissman this year.
There will also be Italian premieres for Lisa Cortes’s Little Richard: I Am Everything, a documentary about the life and career of the legendary musician, and A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, starring Teyana Taylor.
Italian highlights include the world premiere of the comedy The Worst Days by Edoardo Leo,...
Principal cast for James Mangold’s Indiana Jones reboot including Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies and Mads Mikkelsen are expected to be in attendance for the screening.
The event, unfolding June 23 to July 1 in Sicily, is under the new co-artistic directorship of Barrett Wissman this year.
There will also be Italian premieres for Lisa Cortes’s Little Richard: I Am Everything, a documentary about the life and career of the legendary musician, and A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, starring Teyana Taylor.
Italian highlights include the world premiere of the comedy The Worst Days by Edoardo Leo,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Bella Thorne is headed to the 69th edition of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival (June 24 to July 1) after being invited to guest curate one of its gala evenings with a special program of short films including her own directorial debut Paint Her Red.
The event titled “Influential Shorts” will unfold in the festival’s landmark, open-air venue of the Ancient Greek Teatro Antico, set against the backdrop of Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano.
The event is one of the first initiatives put in place by incoming Taormina Film Festival Executive and co-Artistic Director Barrett Wissman.
The appointment of the entrepreneur, philanthropist and long-time Chairman of cultural arts entertainment agency Img Artists, was also announced by governing body Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation on Thursday with immediate effect.
“I am excited to be able to recognize Bella’s talent now as a film director and as a curator. Launching such a...
The event titled “Influential Shorts” will unfold in the festival’s landmark, open-air venue of the Ancient Greek Teatro Antico, set against the backdrop of Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano.
The event is one of the first initiatives put in place by incoming Taormina Film Festival Executive and co-Artistic Director Barrett Wissman.
The appointment of the entrepreneur, philanthropist and long-time Chairman of cultural arts entertainment agency Img Artists, was also announced by governing body Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation on Thursday with immediate effect.
“I am excited to be able to recognize Bella’s talent now as a film director and as a curator. Launching such a...
- 5/4/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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