Taormina Film Fest 2013

Greek Theatre and Taormina Congress Hall, from June 15th to 22nd

From Saturday 15 to Saturday 22 2013

 

DEFINITE PROGRAMME OF THE PROJECTIONS
AT THE GREEK THEATRE (in Italian)

SEE A QUICK ENGLISH TRANSLATION

 

59th editon of the TAORMINA FILM FEST
Taormina Film Fest, a historic film festival, and Italy’s oldest, began in 1955. It is a competitive event screening film previews, independent features, documentaries, shorts and tributes to filmmakers of the past.

From http://variety.com
The 59th Taormina Film Festival will open with Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot “Man of Steel” on June 15. Eight-day event is gearing up to showcase 30 films, seven shorts and five docus, along with 10 master class programs.
This year fest explores horror and comedy as the deepest appeals of the bigscreen.
The fest will continue to shine the spotlight, as it did last year, on web cinema. Preems will include skeins such as Amanda Flor’s “Marduk,” described as a combo of caustic cynicism and “South Park”-esque antics, among others.
“This year’s program features novelties aimed at attracting people from all over the world with ad hoc initiatives and the involvement of many leading foreign partners who have acknowledged the strategic relevance of the festival in terms of business opportunities and synergies,” said  general manager Tiziana Rocca.
Daily program will feature the TaoClass, during which students and cinephiles will get the chance to interact with thesps and helmers, a centerpiece on Russian cinema and a program blending horror and comedy.

Fest will flaunt its charitable side with a handful of socially committed events and kudos, such as the Humanitarian Taormina Award, which will be presented to Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Last year’s nod went to thesp Sean Penn and Father Rick Frechette for their help in bringing aid to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.

Other kudos to be handed out include the Taormina Arte Award for career recognition, the Cariddi Award for Italian helmers, the Città di Taormina for young TV talent and the award for online skein.
FF has forged partnerships with Buenos Aires’ Pintalla Festival as well as the Project Taormina Campus, which will host students from Virginia U., Alabama’s Auburn U., Spain’s Cordoba U. and Poland’s Krakow U.
Fest is promoted by the Committee Taormina Arte and sponsored by the Regional Dept. of Tourism of Sicily and the Cinema Dept. of the Ministry of Culture.

Some of the festival’s most exciting moments occur during Taormina’s renowned Master Classes. Held every day at Palazzo dei Congressi of Taormina, elite actors and directors in the world of cinema share their experience and expertise with the audience of festival attendees and journalists. Oliver Stone, Terry Gilliam, Sophia Loren and Nadine Labaki are only a few names of previous participants who have made this an unforgettable event.

PROGRAMME : See the LEAFLET (in Italian)
Location and dates have been updated.
For more info please check www.taormina-arte.com
or contact the Taormina Congress Hall tel. +39 0942 628730

June 15, SaturdayMan of Steel – Guest of honour the actor Russel Crowe >> see the dedicated page

June 16, Sunday – Humanitarian Taormina Award to Albert II, Prince of Monaco. The award will be given to Prince Albert for his efforts to protect the global environment and to promote scientific research

June 17, SundaySong for Marion (Unfinished Song) >> see the dedicated page

June 21, FridayParental Guidance  >> see the dedicated page

June 22, Saturday The Lone Ranger >> see the dedicated page

>> Meg Ryan will be at the Taormina Film Festival. She will receive the Taormina  Arte Award and will hold an onstage master class about her acting career.

 

 

>> Other special guest will be the Renata Litvinova,  a Russian actress, director, and screenwriter.

 

FLOR ART

floral competition  – 1st edition

April 20 and 21 2013

Taormina Town Centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sicilian Puppets Opera – I Pupi siciliani

Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano, 6.00pm
Free entrance 

April 13 and 14 2013  –  May 4 and 5 2013

Take a leap into the past!
Right in the historical centre of Taormina, in the courtyards of the oldest and most fascinating palace of Taormina, a Sicilian Puppets show will be held by the Gargano family.

The Gargano family  is the last remaining family of “puppeteers” in the town of Messina. Venerando, Giorgio and Rosaria Gargano, together with their families, are the fifth consecutive generation of a tradition that dates back to nineteenth century, as the “Opera”.
“Puppet Opera is a sort of puppet theatre that spread in South Italy and above all in Sicily at the end of the Nineteenth”. The puppets, which are moved from atop the stage, usually “perform the heroic deeds of Charlemagne and his paladins. The whole repertoire is  mostly based on chivalric tales derived from Carolingian romances which were recounted by the “Cantastorie” (story-tellers)  throughout the squares in Sicily, long before. Each puppet represented a specific paladin distinguishable by armour and cloak; thus the audience could side with one or another.” Main characters are Orlando and Reginald, followed by Charlemagne, Angelic and the saracen Rodomonte and Agramante. Sicilian puppets “I Pupi” can be 130 cm heigh and can weigh 35 kilograms.
(Source: blog.etnamadre.it)

In 2001 UNESCO included the Sicilian Puppets under the “Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.

More info (in English) and beautiful photos on puppets at www.blog.etnamadre.it/en/sicilian-puppets-history.html (Thank you Mr Rosario for your post!)

 

 

 

Taormina modellismo

Model making exhibition

Previous Church del Carmine, from March 29th to April 1st 2013

Opening: Friday March 29th at 5.30pm
Opening Hours: 10,00am – 9,00pm
Free entrance

Organised by AFS, the Sicilian Railway Association of Messina, the exhibition will show trains, ships, cars and other models.
Various railway antiques and a long railway route in reduced scale will be showcased as well.
During the event, members of the AFS will accompany visitors  explaining construction techniques, materiales and details.

 

More info at:
www.a-f-s.itinfo@a-f-s.it

Info tel (mobiles):
–   D. Andò, +39-389-7839459;
–   V. Annuario, +39-349-3414301;
–   N. Caristi, +39-347-4166130

 

 

Taormina Classica 2013

39th Concert Season by the Almoetia Association

Santa Caterina Church, 7.30pm – Free entrance

MARCH

  • Saturday 9: Art Gallery Ensamble. Soprano and instruments with musics by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Piazzolla, Morricone and others.
  • Saturday 16: Duo Bourton- Cicero. Soprano and piano with musics by Verdi, Puccini and Lehar.
  • Friday 22: Duo Bechstein. Piano with musics by Chopin, Bellini, Verdi and others.

 
APRIL

  • Sunday 7: Duo Zampini – Oliva. Flute and piano with musics by Morricone, Mancini, Bollin.
  • Friday 19Trio Calliope. Oboe, horn and piano with musics by Gerswhin, Nyman, Morricone and Rota.
  • Sunday 21: Martin Munch. Piano with musicS by Ravel, Debussy and Satie.

 
MAY

  • Sunday 12Frank Wasser. Piano with musics by Beethoven, Schumann, Debussy, Chopin and Liszt.

 

More info on www.almoetia.it

 

Lumieres de la Mediterranee

Luci del Mediterraneo

Paint exhibition by Vanecha Roudbaraki

March 9 to 24 – Taormina, previous church Del Carmine

Vernissage: March 9th at 6.30pm
Open from 10.30am to 12.30pm and from 5.00pm to 8.00pm. Saturday from 6.30pm to 9.30.
Free Entrance.

Contemporary Franco-Iranian artist Vanecha Roudbaraki (B. 1966, Rasht, Iran) is known for her evocative works which explore the relationship and existence between man and nature. Brilliantly colored with vivid palette in a range of hues and tones,Vanecha Roudbaraki’s paintings are passionate examples of expression and tangible objectivity. Drawing inspiration from the world around her, her works of natural abstraction explode with light and color, and express to viewers her zeal for the aesthetic. Vanecha Roudbaraki has exhibited at venues the world over. She has conducted more than 60 exhibitions in the world, so 31 private exhibitions. 
(Source: vanecha.fr)

The paintings exhibited in Taormina are on sale. Part of the proceedings will be donated to a local onlus association.

 

 

 More info on http://www.vanecha.fr/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nel Silenzio

Photo Exhibition by Pina Inferrera

March 2nd to 16th 2013, previous church San Francesco di Paola

Opening: March 2nd at 6.00pm
Open every day from 4.00pm to 8.00pm.
Closed on Monday. Free Entrance.

Pina Inferrera was born in Messina (near Taormina) but lives in north Italy. She graduated in sculpture at the Art Academy of Brera (Milano) and exhibited her works in Italy and abroad: London, New York, Tournai, Frankfurt, Paris.
She is art the director of “Idea Vita”, a cultural association which organizes international art shows in the field of contemporary art with the collaboration of local institutions, art galleries and critics and member of the art commission of the Modern Art Museum “A. Malandra” of Vespolate (province of Novara).
Source: www.dechiricogalleriadarte.com/en/artists/pina-inferrera-44

More info and photos on www.pinainferrera.com/index.html

 

 

 

DI-SEGNI, tutto inizia da un segno sopra un foglio…

Drawing exhibition by various artists

Previous church Del Carmine
Opening hours: 4.30pm – 8.30pm. Closed on Monday. Free entrance.

Historical drawings on paper by artists such as Alinari, Botero, Caruso, Casorati, De Pisis, Germanà, Guidi Echaurren, Pantaleoni, Sironi e Treccani and will be showed next to the works of contemporary artists, such as Francesco Calabrò, Mamy Costa, Palmina Barbagallo, Thomas Berra, Filippo De Mariano, Andrea Gitto, Giuseppe Greco, Damiano Messina, Fabio Polizzotto, Pia Previti, Francesco Raciti and Ben Ventura.

More info:
http://www.artpromotiontaormina.com/

 

 

“Per Amore” Art Exhibition

Previous Church “del Carmine

Everyday from 6.00pm to 9.00pm; Saturday from 6.00pm to 10.00pm

 Art exhibition by Pippo Consolo.

Pippo Consolo is a Sicilian artist born in the small town of Ragalna, near Catania, in 1943. His first exhibitions date back to the Seventies and many of his works are now hold in private collections.

 

 

 

Isola Bella in mostra

Previuos church of Sant’Agostino, in piazza IX aprile

From January 4th to February 16 2013.
Free entrance. From 10.00am to 12,30 and from 5.00pm to 8.00pm.

Over 50 photographs capture the beauty and the rich biological heritage of the Isola Bella Nature Reseve, the small island in the Bay of Taormina  characterised by a narrow path that often connects the island to the mainland beach.
The island is home to several species of birds, and a few types of lizards and has a small and rather rocky beach which is a popular destination for sunbathers.

Photos by Pietro Pitruzzello, Domenico Catalano, Elisa De Angelis, Antonio Drosi, Elio Nicosia and Biagio Licari.