Italy’s Taormina Film Fest has appointed Marco Muller as artistic director, ahead of its 70th edition this summer (July 12-19).
Italian executive Muller has previously been director of Venice, Locarno, Rotterdam and Rome film festivals. He is currently director of the Film Art Research Centre at Shanghai University, and professor emeritus at the Shanghai Film Academy.
Muller created and directed China’s Pingyao and Macao film festivals, and has written and edited more than 20 monographic books on international cinema.
Muller will work with a selection committee comprised of former BFI London Film Festival director Sandra Hebron, journalist Enrico Magrelli, film professor Carmelo Marabello and former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight head Eduoard Waintrop, with the group joined by Joumane Chahine as a consultant for international relations.
“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,” said Muller, who added that he sees his role as an “opportunity to experiment in Taormina the moving thought of how a useful popular festival can still be built.”
Taormina Film Fest is organised by the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation with the support of the Regional Department for Tourism, Sports and Entertainment of the Sicilian Regional Authority and the Ministry of Culture Movies and Audiovisual Department.
“I am sure that [Muller’s] high international profile will contribute to significantly strengthen the expectations and the quality of the choices to be made for the content of the Festival, which remains, as always, a highly anticipated event,” said Elvira Amata, regional councillor for tourism, sports and entertainment.
Taormina Film Fest programmes national and international premieres, masterclasses and film retrospectives. It has previously welcomed and honoured cinema icons including Marlon Brando, Julie Andrews, Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Steven Spielberg.
Guests at the 2023 edition included Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Amber Heard and Mads Mikkelsen.
No comments yet