{"id":793,"date":"2026-06-04T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/taormina-film-festival-head-tiziana-rocca-says-she-wants-to-deliver-a-human-festival-amidst-ai-boom-asks-stars-to-be-generous-to-local-audiences\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:41:09","slug":"taormina-film-festival-head-tiziana-rocca-says-she-wants-to-deliver-a-human-festival-amidst-ai-boom-asks-stars-to-be-generous-to-local-audiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/taormina-film-festival-head-tiziana-rocca-says-she-wants-to-deliver-a-human-festival-amidst-ai-boom-asks-stars-to-be-generous-to-local-audiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Taormina Movie Pageant Head Tiziana Rocca Says She Desires to Ship a \u2018Human Pageant\u2019 Amidst AI Increase, Asks Stars to Be \u2018Beneficiant\u2019 to Native Audiences"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tFinal 12 months, Italian advertising guru Tiziana Rocca returned to the publish of inventive director of Italy\u2019s Taormina Movie Pageant eight years after she was pressured to step down on account of political infighting following a profitable five-year stint. The festivals specialist, who nurtures shut ties to Hollywood, revived Taormina\u2019s aggressive strands and introduced main names corresponding to Martin Scorsese to talk on the competition in her return 12 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis 12 months\u2019s version is about to be one other starry one, with main names corresponding to Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe, Clive Owen, Jane Campion and Scott Eastwood set to land within the Sicilian city subsequent week. Talking with Selection amidst preparations for the upcoming occasion, Rocca says her precedence is to construct a competition that \u201cappears like it’s for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe’ve got this unimaginable Greek theater with a lot historical past that could be a spectacular venue for six,000 folks,\u201d she provides of the competition residence, an imposing auditorium carved right into a Sicilian hillside above the Ionian Sea. \u201cHowever to fill this theater, we have to be sure that this system could be very in style. This 12 months, now we have movies from all around the world, and we need to have heaps and many younger folks within the theater each night. This competition power is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPageant highlights this 12 months embody HBO\u2019s \u201cHome of Dragon,\u201d which is able to open the competition and the world premiere of Derrick Borte\u2019s \u201cBear Nation,\u201d starring Crowe. The aggressive strand will collect Berlin standouts corresponding to Gore Verbinski\u2019s \u201cGood Luck, Have Enjoyable, Don\u2019t Die,\u201d Ashley Walters\u2019 \u201cAnimol\u201d and Mahnaz Mohammadi\u2019s \u201cRoya,\u201d in addition to current Cannes breakouts corresponding to Rafiki Fariala\u2019s \u201cCongo Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen the theater is full, and individuals are watching one thing collectively, it’s a very emotional expertise,\u201d provides Rocca, who says one in every of her key missions with the competition is to maintain ticket costs low so native households can attend screenings and occasions. \u201cI respect the general public, town, and I do know typically there’s a whole lot of sacrifice concerned in folks coming to the competition. I need everyone to really feel they’ve an opportunity to take part within the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving main Italian and worldwide expertise accessible to the general public is one other precedence of Rocca\u2019s, who states one in every of her \u201cnice joys\u201d as a creative director is having the ability to facilitate studying alternatives for budding filmmakers and younger college students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI at all times attempt to get actors and administrators to come back, expertise Taormina, and to be beneficiant on the crimson carpet,\u201d she continues. \u201cI inform them: take the photographs, signal all of the indicators. Final 12 months, we introduced Martin Scorsese, who was supposed to present a 30-minute masterclass however spoke for an hour and a half with our college students. He’s so beneficiant to the youthful generations. He informed them: \u2018Don\u2019t lose hope, observe your goals.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRocca says budding filmmakers live by means of \u201ctough instances\u201d when there’s a \u201clack of hope\u201d that one could make it in an trade that appears like it’s at all times inching near disaster. \u201cYounger folks in movie have misplaced a little bit of hope. For that reason, I feel it\u2019s essential for younger college students to listen to from those that have made it and for them to listen to that it was tough for them firstly, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTiziana Rocca and Michael Douglas on the Taormina Movie Pageant, courtesy of Taormina Movie Pageant<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe inventive director is categorical in saying she needs Taormina to be \u201ca human competition.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t like synthetic intelligence. It can not substitute anybody. All it might probably do is copy; it might probably\u2019t create. For that reason, it\u2019s essential to have a human issue to the competition, for it to be about folks speaking to one another. I attempt to keep away from social media, I inform college students to get off social media, to go away their telephones of their pocket after they come to the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRequested about opening this 12 months\u2019s competition with the Italian premiere of the primary episode of HBO\u2019s \u201cHome of the Dragon\u201d Season 3, Rocca says it feels \u201cpure\u201d to display sequence on the competition. \u201cWhen HBO proposed that we display the sequence, I felt we had been the proper place for it. Our lovely theater is the proper venue for all issues spectacular, and \u2018Home of the Dragon\u2019 is spectacular.\u201d Stars set to attend the opening evening gala at Taormina\u2019s Greek amphitheater embody Steve Toussaint (Lord Corlys Velaryon), Harry Collett (Jacaerys Velaryon), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen) and Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen).<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for the trade facet of the affair, Rocca says all of it boils all the way down to Taormina as a gathering place. \u201cI need the competition to be a spot the place folks can meet, the place they will speak about creativity,\u201d she provides. \u201cThese encounters might result in folks working collectively. It has occurred lots prior to now. We\u2019re a competition everybody loves: the general public, the trade, there\u2019s a spot for everybody. It\u2019s an inclusive competition. For actual folks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLastly, Rocca says the competition is essential to the native economic system of the Sicilian area: \u201cThe competition is essential for the trade but additionally for the area as a result of it brings a whole lot of vacationers. When now we have the competition, all the pieces is totally booked. No lodge room stays, eating places are full, it’s an occasion of true financial worth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Final 12 months, Italian advertising guru Tiziana Rocca returned to the publish of inventive director of Italy\u2019s Taormina Movie Pageant eight years after she was pressured to step down on account of political infighting following a profitable five-year stint. The festivals specialist, who nurtures shut ties to Hollywood, revived Taormina\u2019s aggressive strands and introduced main […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/VARIETY-SIZING-20.png?w=1000&h=563&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[612,616,611,247,608,54,614,272,615,610,613,607,609],"class_list":["post-793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-asks","tag-audiences","tag-boom","tag-deliver","tag-festival","tag-film","tag-generous","tag-human","tag-local","tag-rocca","tag-stars","tag-taormina","tag-tiziana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":794,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793\/revisions\/794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailycelebnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}