After the inauguration of Taormina Film Festival in homage to the 70th anniversary with a special Nastri d’Argento event on 12 July at the Teatro Antico, The opening film will be Saint Clare by Mitzi Peirone world premiere on July 13, in the presence of leading actress Bella Thorne. The festival will take place from 12 to 19 July in Taormina. Based on Don Roff’s novel “Clare at Sixteen”, SAINT CLARE, set in a small town, tells the story of a lonely young woman haunted by voices that lead her to commit murders that are never discovered or punished, until her last crime will reveal unsuspected secrets.
The film is directed by Italian director and screenwriter Mitzi Peirone (Braid), who also wrote the screenplay together with Guinevere Turner (American Psycho). Bella Thorne (Divinity) is the protagonist, alongside Ryan Philippe (Crash) and Rebecca DeMornay (Wedding Crashers); the film is produced by David Chackler, Arielle Elwes, Joel Michaely. Original soundtrack by Zola Jesus. “We couldn’t have dreamed of a better debut for our dreamlike film than the beautiful and historic Taormina. We are elated and honored: especially for a film that deals with spiritual beauty, feminine sanctity and destiny, there is no better home in the world than Sicily”, declared Peirone.
Mitzi Peirone, at 26, was the first person to successfully finance a feature film with cryptocurrencies; his film Braid premiered at various film festivals where it received numerous awards and nominations, including best film at the Lausanne festival. Bella Thorne, director on the rise, will begin an interesting festival circuit with her second short film Unsettled in the next few weeks, before tackling her first feature film Color You Hurt. This year, the highly anticipated film by Lee Isaac Chung, Twisters, has also been announced as part of the Taormina programme, which will have its Italian premiere at the festival.
The Taormina Film Festival is promoted and organized by the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation with the support of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment of the Sicilian Region, the Sicilia Film Commission, the Municipality of Taormina and the MiC, Ministry of Culture – General Directorate of cinema and audiovisual.