Banu Sıvacı’s “Hear the Yellow” has swept the primary awards at this yr’s Taormina Film Festival. The drama, which began its pageant journey in Berlin again in February, was elected Greatest Movie and Greatest Script on the Sicilian occasion, with its leads Süleyman Kadim Kabaali and Selva Erdener successful Greatest Actor and Greatest Actress respectively.
“Hear the Yellow” is Sıvacı’s sophomore effort. The drama follows younger Suna, who returns to her small Turkish village to seek out it riven with cracks attributable to draught. Her parental house is as fragile as relationships between the locals, however Suna persists in shining a lightweight into the previous’s darkish corners. Sıvacı’s characteristic debut, “The Pigeon,” additionally premiered in Berlin, again in 2018.
This yr’s jury at Taormina was presided over by New Zealand director Jane Campion, alongside her “The Piano” lead Holly Hunter, costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, casting director Francine Maisler, breakout director Akinola Davies Jr. (“My Father’s Shadow”), Amazon MGM Studios’ head of worldwide advertising and marketing Sue Kroll, and Italian actor/director Pietro Castellitto. Different main names to the touch down within the Italian city embrace Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, Connie Nielsen, Scott Eastwood, Aaron Paul, Nina Dobrev, Sam Nivola, Clive Owen and Gore Verbinski.
The Campion-led jury additionally awarded Greta Scarano’s efficiency in Guido Chiesa’s “Piccolo Miracolo,” giving her a Greatest Actress award ex-aequo. Tut Nyuot gained Greatest Rising Actor for Ashley Walters’ jail drama “Animol,” whereas Berfin Sönmez gained Greatest Rising Actress for Ben Voit’s “Gropiusstadt Supernova.”
The Taormina Youth Campus, which consists of over 300 college students and 25 younger jurors and held in collaboration with ANEC Sicilia and AGIS Sicilia, awarded Gore Verbinski’s genre-bending sci-fi “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” with this yr’s Golden Cariddino. “Piccolo Miracolo” gained a particular point out. The ARCA award for Greatest Quick Movie went to Fabio Schifilliti’s “Fili Invisibili.”
The 72nd version of the star-studded Italian fete opened with the Italian premiere of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” screened within the city’s imposing historical Greek theatre. Different highlights embrace the world premiere of Derrick Borte’s “Bear Country” starring Russell Crowe, who additionally gave a masterclass where he spoke about his upcoming role in Chad Stahelski’s “Highlander” reboot.
Different Taormina competitors titles included dissident Iranian filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi’s potent drama “Roya” about an Iranian trainer detained in Tehran’s Evin jail and Michael Gallagher’s “The Leader,” starring Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga within the true story of the cult often called Heaven’s Gate that satisfied dozens to desert their lives and await evacuation from planet Earth. Gallagher and Blake Nelson spoke with Variety on the ground about the relevance of telling the story of the famed cult amidst growing political tensions worldwide.
The 72nd Taormina Movie Competition ran between June 10 and 14.
