Press Area
5/17/2009 - Catherine Deneuve at Taormina Film Fest
After Egypt and Turkey, the Festival hosts France as Guest of Honor with a retrospective of eight contemporary films, a Grande Cinema premiere in the Teatro Antico and a Gran Galà France on the evening of June 19. Actresses Dominique Sanda and Catherine Deneuve will be present to receive the prestigious Taormina Arte Award.
Catherine Deneuve will present André Téchiné’s new film, La fille du RER/The Girl on the Train (in competition in the “Mediterranea” section), which tells the bizarre, true story of an imaginary act of anti-Semitic  violence, invented by a young woman. The incident provoked a huge political and media storm in France until the truth finally came out.

Other important guests, new films from the major studios, and the titles selected for the three competitions Mediterranea, Beyond Mediterranea and Sicilian Short Films will be announced shortly.  The international jury includes two directors nominated for an Academy Award © this year, Laurent Cantet (La classe) and Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) and American actress Aimee Mullins.

Also confirmed are the festival’s two new sections, Campus Taormina, which will become more interactive for the 400 students attending, and Spazio Taormina, the industry section dedicated to producers, distributors and buyers. Taormina Film Fest in Sicily will celebrate the festival’s anniversary with the documentary “Taormina 55” directed by journalist Antonello Sarno, featuring unseen images of the festival and its many special guests over the years.

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