{"id":1355,"date":"2026-06-04T18:42:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1355"},"modified":"2026-06-04T18:42:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T18:42:29","slug":"taormina-film-festival-head-tiziana-rocca-says-she-wants-to-deliver-a-human-festival-amidst-ai-boom-asks-stars-to-be-generous-to-local-audiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1355","title":{"rendered":"Taormina Film Festival Head Tiziana Rocca Says She Wants to Deliver a \u2018Human Festival\u2019 Amidst AI Boom, Asks Stars to Be \u2018Generous\u2019 to Local Audiences"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tLast year, Italian marketing guru Tiziana Rocca returned to the post of artistic director of Italy\u2019s Taormina Film Festival eight years after she was forced to step down due to political infighting following a successful five-year stint. The festivals specialist, who nurtures close ties to Hollywood, revived Taormina\u2019s competitive strands and brought major names such as Martin Scorsese to speak at the festival in her return year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1353\">Spike Lee, Amy Schumer, John Krasinski and More Appear in PSA About Why New York Is \u2018The Easiest Place to Film in the Country\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThis year\u2019s edition is set to be another starry one, with major names such as Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe, Clive Owen, Jane Campion and Scott Eastwood set to land in the Sicilian town next week. Speaking with <em>Variety <\/em>amidst preparations for the upcoming event, Rocca says her priority is to build a festival that \u201cfeels like it is for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWe have this incredible Greek theater with so much history that is a spectacular venue for 6,000 people,\u201d she adds of the festival home, an imposing auditorium carved into a Sicilian hillside above the Ionian Sea. \u201cBut to fill this theater, we need to make sure that the program is very popular. This year, we have films from all over the world, and we want to have lots and lots of young people in the theater every evening. This festival energy is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tFestival highlights this year include HBO\u2019s \u201cHouse of Dragon,\u201d which will open the festival and the world premiere of Derrick Borte\u2019s \u201cBear Country,\u201d starring Crowe. The competitive strand will gather Berlin standouts such as Gore Verbinski\u2019s \u201cGood Luck, Have Fun, Don\u2019t Die,\u201d Ashley Walters\u2019 \u201cAnimol\u201d and Mahnaz Mohammadi\u2019s \u201cRoya,\u201d as well as recent Cannes breakouts such as Rafiki Fariala\u2019s \u201cCongo Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhen the theater is full, and people are watching something together, it is a very emotional experience,\u201d adds Rocca, who says one of her key missions with the festival is to keep ticket prices low so local families can attend screenings and events. \u201cI respect the public, the city, and I know sometimes there is a lot of sacrifice involved in people coming to the festival. I want everybody to feel they have a chance to participate in the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHaving major Italian and international talent available to the public is another priority of Rocca\u2019s, who states one of her \u201cgreat joys\u201d as an artistic director is being able to facilitate learning opportunities for budding filmmakers and young students.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI always try to get actors and directors to come, experience Taormina, and to be generous on the red carpet,\u201d she continues. \u201cI tell them: take the pictures, sign all the signs. Last year, we brought Martin Scorsese, who was supposed to give a 30-minute masterclass but spoke for an hour and a half with our students. He is so generous to the younger generations. He told them: \u2018Don\u2019t lose hope, follow your dreams.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1351\">Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u2018The Odyssey\u2019 Earns R Rating<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tRocca says budding filmmakers are living through \u201cdifficult times\u201d when there is a \u201closs of hope\u201d that one can make it in an industry that feels like it is always inching close to crisis. \u201cYoung people in film have lost a bit of hope. For this reason, I think it\u2019s important for young students to hear from those who have made it and for them to hear that it was difficult for them at the start, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe artistic director is categorical in saying she wants Taormina to be \u201ca human festival.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t like artificial intelligence. It cannot substitute anyone. All it can do is copy; it can\u2019t create. For this reason, it\u2019s very important to have a human factor to the festival, for it to be about people talking to each other. I try to avoid social media, I tell students to get off social media, to leave their phones in their pocket when they come to the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAsked about opening this year\u2019s festival with the Italian premiere of the first episode of HBO\u2019s \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d Season 3, Rocca says it feels \u201cnatural\u201d to screen series at the festival. \u201cWhen HBO proposed that we screen the series, I felt we were the perfect place for it. Our beautiful theater is the perfect venue for all things spectacular, and \u2018House of the Dragon\u2019 is spectacular.\u201d Stars set to attend the opening night gala at Taormina\u2019s Greek amphitheater include Steve Toussaint (Lord Corlys Velaryon), Harry Collett (Jacaerys Velaryon), Bethany Antonia (Baela Targaryen) and Phoebe Campbell (Rhaena Targaryen).<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAs for the industry side of the affair, Rocca says it all boils down to Taormina as a meeting place. \u201cI want the festival to be a place where people can meet, where they can talk about creativity,\u201d she adds. \u201cThese encounters may lead to people working together. It has happened a lot in the past. We\u2019re a festival everyone loves: the public, the industry, there\u2019s a place for everyone. It\u2019s an inclusive festival. For real people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tLastly, Rocca says the festival is key to the local economy of the Sicilian region: \u201cThe festival is very important for the industry but also for the region because it brings a lot of tourists. When we have the festival, everything is fully booked. No hotel room remains, restaurants are full, it is an event of true economic value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1349\">Paramount Wants Lawsuit Seeking to Block Warner Bros. Deal Tossed: \u2018Clumsy Attempt to Politicize Antitrust Litigation\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taormina Film Festival head Tiziana Rocca talks hosting a &#8216;human festival&#8217; amidst AI boom, facilitating encounters between stars and students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1300,1301],"class_list":["post-1355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-taormina-film-festival-2","tag-tiziana-rocca"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Taormina Film Festival Head Tiziana Rocca Says She Wants to Deliver a \u2018Human Festival\u2019 Amidst AI Boom, Asks Stars to Be \u2018Generous\u2019 to Local Audiences - 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