How Tiziana Rocca brought the Taormina Film Fest to Los Angeles

How Tiziana Rocca brought the Taormina Film Fest to Los Angeles | L'Italo-Americano - Italian American bilingual news source
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How Tiziana Rocca brought the Taormina Film Fest to
Los Angeles
BY VALERIO VIALE (/AUTHOR/VALERIO+VIALE) | JAN 23, 2016
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Tiziana Rocca, General Manager of TFF, and actor Richard Gere. Photo courtesy of T. Rocca
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CATHERINE ACCARDI
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123/historicusTiziana Rocca, general manager of the Taormina Film Fest since 2012, has been
restaurantlargely innovating the historic Sicilian festival, founded in 1955.
return)
Her main concerns are to celebrate and foster Italian young talents, as well as to
assure female !lmmakers of an equal visibility as their male counterparts.
The countdown is running fast, as Mrs. Rocca is going to launch the !rst edition of the
TaorminaFilmFest@LosAngeles (mailto:TaorminaFilmFest@LosAngeles), on January
20 at the Italian Cultural Institute of L.A.
Tiziana, thanks to the precious collaboration with the IIC, the Consulate General of
Italy, in L.A., and the ICE - Italian Trade Promotion Agency, have !lled a gap in the
local offer of entertainment, by organizing this noteworthy showcase of the very best
Italian, and especially Sicilian independent cinema.
On the occasion of this much anticipated !rst edition in L.A., Rocca is going to
announce of!cially the dates for the 2016 Taormina Film Fest, which will be hosted in
the same marvelous ancient Greek theater in Taormina, from June 10 to the 18.
The General Consul of Italy in L.A. is going to make it of!cial, by honoring the
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Cefalù a place of
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PHYLLIS MACCHIONI
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How Tiziana Rocca brought the Taormina Film Fest to Los Angeles | L'Italo-Americano - Italian American bilingual news source
26/01/16 16.21
TaorminaFilm Fest@ LosAngeles with an award, conferred to Tiziana Rocca by the
Councilman, Joe Buscaino.
We from L’Italo-Americano warmly wish Tiziana’s brainchild to catch on fast in L.A.
What’s your cultural background? Was there a speci!c moment of realization, in
which you decided to join the entertainment business?
For twenty-!ve years, I’ve been working in the entertainment business. I was a
pioneer in my !eld, having become the !rst female events’ manager in Italy.
Today, I believe that in order to organize a festival, you need to be an “entertainment
manager”, able to !nd a balance between quality and glamour. The Cannes Film
Festival remains the ideal model to look a"er.
At Taormina Film Fest, we focus on young, emergent talent. We want to recognize the
new media, which are quickly changing the ways of telling stories. Our festival was
the !rst in Italy to award the best web series.
To put together a successful festival, it’s essential to take some risks, by welcoming
innovative formulas along with the not yet established !lmmakers.
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Tiziana Rocca, General Manager of TFF, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and
Distribution for Warner Bros. Photo courtesy of T. Rocca
What was your experience as !lm festival attendee like, before taking up your
managerial position?
I particularly love the Venice Film Festival. Its current director, Alberto Barbera,
hosts a special award conferred to female !lmmakers, in partnership with the
Taormina Film Fest.
Over the years, I’ve been a regular at the prestigious Venetian competition. However,
in the past, my focus was on the publicity and marketing side of the movie industry.
Nowadays, !lm festivals are not funded by the State any longer, but !nanced by
sponsors. It’s necessary to increase the event’s visibility and appeal, in order to secure
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26/01/16 16.21
those private resources. Certainly not an easy task, but the Taormina Film Fest’s
revitalized success shows that it’s feasible.
A strong evidence is offered by the fact that major US movie studios, which for long
time didn’t take part to our event, have been coming back in these past four years.
One of our main objectives, by partnering with several institutions, is to !ght the
typical Italian summer slump and to expand Italy’s !lm distribution to summer, like it
normally occurs in the US.
On the Taormina Film Fest’s of!cial website - as you refer to Italian
actress/!lmmaker Asia Argento, who “godmothered” last edition – you state:
“Having such a strong, brave and !erce woman as godmother of a Festival that has
always placed particular attention towards the female universe is a matter of pride
for us.” Isn’t that a paradox how this remarkable tradition take place in such a
backward-looking region, like Sicily?
I have never thought in these terms, but times have changed in Sicily as well. Now
women are liberated in Southern Italy and, o"en, eager to come out on top, before
raising their own families.
As a woman, I’ve always intended to represent female !lmmakers, in the fairest way
possible. I’m glad that several worldwide festivals are doing the same, more and
more.
Another matter of pride to me, is how our festival gives particular attention to
philanthropic causes, by also conferring the Taormina Humanitarian Award upon the
most remarkable personalities, operating in this !eld.
Last in a long series of recipients, actress Rosario Dawson, who, in the last edition,
gave voice to the female victims of domestic violence in Africa.
The 2015 Taormina Film Fest showcased also a new app, which enables the blind to
be more engaged, in the fruition of the movies.
In the Taormina Film Fest’s past edition, a brand new “USA Day” was introduced in
the calendar. What was that about?
In partnership with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Italian
Association of Film Industries (ANICA) and the U.S. Embassy, we hosted a networking
day, during which Italian and American indie producers could meet and, possibly,
further collaborations.
The event served also to promote all the bene!ts, offered by Sicily, and Italy in
general, as !lming locations.
Due to the USA Day’s large success, we’re going to repeat it again in the next edition.
Reveal us more about what we are going to see, at this !rst edition of the
TaorminaFilmFest@LosAngeles (mailto:TaorminaFilmFest@LosAngeles). How do
you envision the expansion of Italian Cinema abroad?
We are going to kick off our !rst edition with the solo exhibition, Phil Stern. Welcome
back to Sicily, a real tribute to the WWII war photographer, who followed the US
troops to document the liberation of the Italian island.
Alongside a collection of photographs by Carmelo Nicosia, we are going to screen the
documentary Phil Stern. Sicily 1943. The War and The Soul (Sicilia 1943. La guerra e
l’anima) by Ezio Costanzo and Filippo Arlotta.
Essential part of my “mission” is to showcase the !rst and second placed among the
young documentary !lmmakers from Sicily, Elio So!a and Francesco Cannavà, with
the auspice of initiating their international collaboration.
Italian actress, Valeria Golino - awarded with the prestigious Coppa Volpi, during last
Venice Film Festival – is going to be the recipient of the
TaorminaFilmFest@LosAngeles (mailto:TaorminaFilmFest@LosAngeles) Award,
sponsored by our main media partner, Variety.
As far as the expansion of our movies abroad, there has been already a considerable
number of noteworthy initiatives in L.A. - like Cinema Italian Style, coproduced by
Luce Cinecittà – which have been screening the very best of our cinema.
Recently, Italian top directors, the likes of Matteo Garrone and Paolo Sorrentino, but
also a veteran like Giuseppe Tornatore, have been successfully casting international
actors.
Films, such as 2014 Oscar winner The Great Beauty but also the latest Agent 007’s
Spectre (2015) – partly shot in Rome – are drawing attention to the capital as well as
other Italian cities as ideal locations.
It’s essential to showcase our !lms to US indie producers, as a way to promote Italian
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How Tiziana Rocca brought the Taormina Film Fest to Los Angeles | L'Italo-Americano - Italian American bilingual news source
cinema and foster co-productions.
In conclusion, what do you like about L.A.?
I’ve been coming here for many years and I love it. Lots of my friends live here. Los
Angeles is like a second home to me.
I strongly wanted to create this “bridge” between Taormina and L.A.
Taormina Film Fest in L.A. is going to last longer in the next editions and I will always
keep a proli!c exchange between Sicily and L.A.
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