Taormina Film Festival to Tribute Giuseppe Tornatore’s ‘Malena’ That Launched Monica Bellucci

Italy’s Taormina Film Festival will pay homage to its Sicilian setting by celebrating the 25th anniversary of Giuseppe Tornatore’s steamy period drama “Malena” that launched Monica Bellucci‘s international career. 

The storied event, now headed once again by marketing guru Tiziana Rocca, will host a screening of a restored copy of the film about a 13-year-old boy’s obsession with a small-town siren in World War II Sicily that becomes the sad odyssey of a woman punished for her beauty, and is featuring a still of Bellucci in “Malena” on its poster. 

“On the 25th anniversary of the release of Malena, we are happy and proud to dedicate this year’s Taormina Film Festival poster to one of the most iconic films in contemporary Italian cinema,” said Rocca in a statement, adding that “Malena” “has left an indelible mark on the collective imagination, portraying with extraordinary delicacy and poetry the story of a woman, her allure, and her solitude.”

Under Rocca’s new mandate the fest will be divided into three sections: international feature film competition, an out-of-competition section, and special events.

Feature films completed after Oct. 1, 2024, and presented exclusively as an Italian premiere are eligible for the competition selection. An international jury will award the following prizes: best film, best actress, and best actor.

Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort known to U.S. audiences as the location of “The White Lotus” Season 2, the summer fest boasts an 8,000-seat open-air ancient Greek amphitheater in the shadow of Sicily’s active Mt. Etna volcano. Guests have included Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Steven Spielberg, Federico Fellini, Pedro Almodovar and Tom Cruise.

The 71st edition of the Taormina Film Festival will run June 10-14