TAORMINA FILM FEST 2013

The Lone Ranger

Taormina Greek Theatre

June 22nd 2013, 9,30pm

 

Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice.

Johnny Depp said he wanted to reinvent the Native American character. “Since cinema has been around, Native Americans have been treated very poorly by Hollywood. What I wanted to do was play Tonto not as a sidekick – like ‘Go fetch a soda for me, boy!’ – but as a warrior with integrity and dignity. It’s my small sliver of a contribution to try to right the wrongs of the past.” Johnny revealed the role is quite personal for him. “I’m probably one sixteenth Native American, but of course that’s hard to trace,” he said. The Lone Ranger, which also stars Johnny’s frequent collaborator Helena Bonham Carter and Ruth Wilson, opens in Italy on July 3 and in the UK on August 9.

The Lone Ranger brings reunites Depp with Verbinski, after the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also working on this project.

Year: 2013
Director: Gore Verbinski
Writers: Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner

Watch the trailer

Tickets on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730
Stalls (Parterre) and Gallery: € 10,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 5,00

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The Lone Ranger began as a radio show during the 1930s and 1940s before becoming a television series in 1949. The opening episode told the now familiar story of how the Lone Ranger got his name and his mission in life. He had been one of a posse of six Texas Rangers tracking a gang of desperadoes when they were lured into an ambush in a canyon and five of them were slaughtered. The sixth, young John Reid, was left for dead but managed to crawl to safety where he was found and nursed back to health by a friendly Indian named Tonto.
Tonto, who famously called the Lone Ranger “kemo sabe” (trusty scout), vowed to stay with him as the Lone Ranger sought to avenge the deaths of his comrades.
After taking their revenge, the pair then set out to avenge wrongs throughout the Old West. They never accepted payment for their good deeds but funded their vigilanteism from a silver mine which the Lone Ranger inherited from his dead brother – the same mine which afforded him his endless supply of trademark silver bullets.
The Lone Ranger, who rallied his horse to the chase with the cry “Hi-Yo Silver”, was one of the most popular shows on television when it ended in 1957.

More info on the story of this fictional vigilante on http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/l/lonerang.htm

 

Taormina Media Awards “W. Goethe” 

June 18/20 2013 – 3rd Edition

Panoramic terrace of the Historical Archives, Belvedere square

An international journalism award dedicated to journalistic works on Taormina.

2013 edition will see just one winner: Roberto Vecchioni

Roberto Vecchioni (1943) is an Italian singer-songwriter, singer-lyricist, lyricist and writer. He is acclaimed as one of the most skillful Italian singer-songwriters: his inspiration draws mainly from autobiographical themes, intermingled with dreamy, literary and historical (often mythological) ones.

Roberto Vecchioni wins the prize thank to the article “Lady Chatterley a Taormina”

Click here to read the article  (in Italian)

UPDATING – The award ceremony has been hel at the Greek Theatre on June 19

Vittorio Sgarbi, the Russian Minister Vladimir Korotov (consul in Sicily), Dino Papale, Roberto Vecchioni and journalist Tony Zermo

 

 

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THE AWARDS

Four journalistic awards, each of € 4.000,00 (four thousands) euros will be granted to authors of either articles or television progammes on Taormina published/broadcasted between May 1, 2012 and March 15, 2013.

See detailed regulations (in English).

The award ceremony will be held at the old Greek Thetre.

The four awards are named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, André Gide, Edmondo De Amicis and Roger Peyrefitte, artists who often visited Taormina.

Winners of year 2012:

– Marina AVAKYAN: Таормина: сердце Сицилии – Italian Translation: Taormina: il cuore della Sicilia

– Dante MARIANACCI: Taormina vue d’Alexandrie d’Egypte – Italian Translation: Taormina vista da Alessandra d’Egitto

– Aldo MOLA: La siciliana Taormina fu il grande sogno di Giuseppe Garibaldi

– Vittorio SGARBI (Peyrefitte award): All’ombra dell’Etna. Perdersi a Taormina: la summa della Sicilia che però non è Sicilia

More info: www.taorminamediaaward.it

TAORMINA FILM FEST 2013

Song for Marion

Taormina Greek Theatre

Monday, June 17th 2013, 9.30pm

Song for Marion is a music-based British dramedy written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. The film stars Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston and Vanessa Redgrave.
The film was nominated for three awards – Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress – at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards.

Tickets online at ticketone.com € 5,00 / 10,00

See the Official trailer

SYNOPSIS

Arthur (Stamp) is the grumpy husband of Marion (Redgrave), who is terminally ill yet continues to participate with enthusiasm at her local seniors’ choir. Arthur is unimpressed when the choir, led by mistress Elizabeth (Arterton) serenades the couple at their home. As Marion’s health deteriorates, Arthur is keen to please his dying wife and even agrees to take her place in the choir. The transition proves to be more trying for Arthur thanks to the unconventional songbook that includes racier songs such as Let’s Talk About Sex. Arthur’s experience in this new social environment will take him on a journey of self-discovery and thaw his bitterness, qualities that he will need in his imminent transition to life without Marion.
The movie is accompanied by a song titled “Unfinished Songs” written by Diane Warren and performed by Celine Dion.

 

 

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, Saturday – Man 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, Sunday – Song for Marion (Unfinished Song) >> see the dedicated page

– June 21, Friday – Parental 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.

 

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!)