Last year, Italian marketing guru Tiziana Rocca returned to the post of artistic director of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival, eight years after being forced to resign due to political infighting, after a successful five-year term. A festival specialist who fosters close ties to Hollywood, she revived Taormina’s competitiveness and invited celebrities like Martin Scorsese to speak at the festival in her return year.
It’s set to be another extravaganza this year, with celebrities including Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe, Clive Owen, Jane Campion and Scott Eastwood set to land in the Sicilian town next week. While preparing for the upcoming event, Rocca said in an interview with Variety that her priority is to build a festival that “everyone can enjoy.”
“We have a wonderful Greek theater with a very long history, which is a spectacular venue that can hold 6,000 people,” she added of the festival’s home base, an impressive auditorium carved into a Sicilian hillside facing the Ionian Sea. “But in order to fill this theater, we need to make sure that this program is very popular. This year we will have films from all over the world, so we want to get a lot of young people into the theater every night. The energy of this festival is very important.”
Highlights of this year’s festival include the world premiere of HBO’s “House of Dragons,” which opens the festival, and director Derrick Bolte’s “Bear Country,” starring Crowe. The competitive selection brings together Berlin standouts such as Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Ashley Walters’ Animolu and Mahnaz Mohammadi’s Roya, as well as recent Cannes standouts such as Rafiki Faryala’s Congo Boy.
“When the theater is full and people are watching something together, it’s a very emotional experience,” Rocca added, noting that one of the festival’s key missions is to keep ticket prices low so local families can attend screenings and events. “I respect the public and the city, and I know that people who come to the festival sometimes make a lot of sacrifices. I want everyone to feel like they have a chance to be a part of the festival.”
Bringing Italy and the world’s leading talent to the public is also a priority for Rocca, who says one of his “great joys” as artistic director is being able to foster learning opportunities for emerging filmmakers and young students.
“I always try to invite actors and directors to come and experience Taormina, and to be generous on the red carpet,” she continues. “I tell them, take your picture and sign all the autographs. Last year, we brought in director Martin Scorsese. He was supposed to give a 30-minute master class, but he talked to the students for an hour and a half. He’s very generous to the younger generation. He told them, ‘Don’t lose hope, follow your dreams.'”
Rocca said up-and-coming filmmakers were living in “tough times” where there was a “lack of hope” that they could make it in an industry that always felt like it was on the verge of crisis. “Young people in the film industry have lost a little bit of hope, so I think it’s important for young students to hear from the people who made the films, and to hear that it was difficult for them too in the beginning.”
Tiziana Rocca and Michael Douglas at Taormina Film Festival, presented by Taormina Film Festival
The artistic director declares that he wants Taormina to be a “festival of humanity.” “I don’t like artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence can’t replace someone. Artificial intelligence can only copy, it can’t create. That’s why the human element is so important in a festival where people talk to each other. I try to avoid social media. I tell my students to stay away from social media when they come to the festival and to put their phones in their pockets.”
Asked about opening this year’s festival with the Italian premiere of the first episode of Season 3 of HBO’s House of the Dragon, Rocca said it felt “natural” to screen the series at the festival. “When HBO suggested we show this series, we felt it was the perfect venue for this series. Our beautiful theater is the perfect venue for all things spectacular, and ‘House of the Dragon’ is spectacular.” Taking place at the Greek Amphitheater in Taormina Stars scheduled to attend the opening night gala include Steve Toussaint (Lord Corlys Velaryon), Harry Colette (Jacaerys Velaryon), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen), and Phoebe Campbell (Rhaina Targaryen).
As for the industry side of the case, Rocca says it all comes down to Taormina as a meeting place. “I want the festival to be a place where people can meet and talk about creativity,” she added. “These encounters may lead to people working together, as has happened many times before. We are a festival that is loved by everyone. There is a place for everyone, both the public and the industry. It is an inclusive festival. It is for real people.”
In conclusion, Mr. Rocca said that the festival is key to the local economy of the Sicily region: “This festival is very important for the industry, but also for the region because it attracts a lot of tourists. When the festival is held, everything is full. There are no hotel rooms left, the restaurants are full, and it is an event with real economic value.”
