Space for the celebration of the female on the second day of the Taormina Film Festival n.71, with an icon of world cinema, Catherine Deneuvesplendid in its 81 years, awarded in the evening at the Antico Theater with Taormina Achievement Award and protagonist at the PalaCongressi of a masterclass.
Forerunner of the works, the panel «Taormina celebrates women, not the different ones – Female identity between strength and truths », with Iris Knobloch (president of the Cannes Film Festival), Sandy Powell, Davine Joy Randolph, Alessandra Mastronardi, Ilenia Pastorelli and Lucrezia Guidone. With them also Valeria Solarino (Festival godmother), Sarah Felberbaum, Giulia Perulli, Donatella Finocchiaro and Nina Zilli.
There was talk of the condition of the artist womanwith the focus on a gender gap that is above all numerical (few female registrs, screenwriters, costume designers, producers), but who also touches the female roles, pigeonholed in a few specific parts (wives, mother, lover …) that do not do justice to the complexity of the woman, made of lights and shadows, of little known shades through cinema. The debate then focused on the wage gap For women, to whom more prominent and diversified roles must be entrusted.
But how to promote female empowerment in art? “Great divers often present in Taormina, such as Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Liz Taylor, were representative of a female Empowerment in times when there was no talk of gender gap,” said the artistic director Tiziana Rocca. While today, however, the urgency of a radical change, based on teamwork, which is not only sisterhood, but also dialogue and comparison with men, which have control over important sectors of the artistic context, is felt. But it is also essential to change the “fiction on the female” and entrust it to women.
And speaking of women capable of narrating themselves, Catherine Deneuve, meeting the press, said: “I’m not a sex symbolor at least I have never felt, nor are they a diva in the sense of being capricious and not very reliable and I have never been isolated as a real star. I made cinema, but then I came home to my sisters, by my daughter, and today I am a grandmother who does not only make the jams».
A woman with a private life beyond cinema, who gave a fundamental contribution to the day on the female, confirming the image postponed through the roles in the cinema, as an authentic and free woman, full of personality and charm. Suffice it to mention cult works such as “Bella during the day” by Luis Buñuel, “Repulsion” by Roman Polanski and the masterpieces of François Truffaut “My drug is called Julie” and “The last metro”.
Oscar candidate in 1993 for Règis Wargnier “Indochina”, The French actress presented her latest interpretation in Taormina, “Spirit World – La Festa delle Lanterne”in the room from June 26 with Europticutures. A story between drama and fantastic directed by the director of Singapore Eric Khoo, and inserted among the celebratory screenings of the Festival, after the world premiere at the last film festival in Rome (Progressive Cinema competition).
In the film Deneuve is Claire Emery, a singer and world star, who dies shortly after a concert in Japan. Having become an evanescent spirit he will embark on a journey in search of his affections in the afterlife. “I liked it was not a real woman, but a ghost – he said -. I don’t know if a script of this type could be written in Europe because Japanese culture is very different from ours, also for the way of conceiving life and death. It was a special role, which allowed me to stay in Japan for more than a month in a difficult period, in which it was useful to me to stay with my head ». It refers to the convalescence from the stroke that hit her in 2019 on the set of “De son vivant” by Emmanuelle Bercot.
Lover of eastern culture, unlike Claire’s character, The actress reiterates that affections must be reconciled with the profession: «A film takes only a part of your time, but then you have to live your life with the family and friends. It has always been like this for me ». And speaking of women engaged in cinema, hints at the decrease in job proposals for lords over the years: «It is difficult to find interesting roles after a certain age, but the possibilities are there; It depends on the quality of the scripts ».
In love with Italy, where he learned our language, Historical companion by Marcello Mastroianni (“I did not learn from him because the French spoke very well”) and directed by directors such as Marco Ferreri (“La bitch”) and Mario Monicelli (“We hope it will be female”), he declares that he regretted the great Italian cinema: “I miss that cinema and all the films that took place then In Italy, where today the situation is more complex, than France in which there are more aid at the state level. I have not had interesting proposals from today’s directors, but Of today’s cinematography I love Alice Rohrwacher’s originality and poetry. I also like Marco Bellocchio».
What would you recommend to a young woman who intends to embark on the actress’s career? “You can’t give certainties. The company will change, and in ten years perhaps we will only work with the green screen or artificial intelligence. I would say that it is better to do it as a second job “.
A role he wanted to play? “Catherine II of Russia: he had a strong personality, he was a real queen, with a culture and a way of dialogue with men very forward for his time”.