city Sicilian: Last News

The Taormina Film Festival kicked off this weekend with the world premiere screening of Mitzi Peirone’s Saint Clare, starring Bella Thorne, Rebecca De Mornay and Ryan Phillippe.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The story of Giancarlo Parretti, the flamboyant Italian waiter-turned-financier who bought MGM in 1990 and was ousted and indicted when his takeover deal for the Hollywood studio collapsed, is in early stages of getting the big screen treatment. Independent Los-Angeles-based film producer Niels Juul (“Ferrari,” “Killers of the Flower Moon”) has tracked down Parretti, now 82, and living in the lap of luxury in a palazzo in his native Orvieto.

A body believed to be that of Mike Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter has been located in the wreckage of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily.

Veteran film festival chief Marco Müller took over the reins of Taormina in April, giving him a short window to pull together the ongoing 70th edition. After a week that has included the world premiere of Saint Clare starring Bella Thorne, the Italian premiere of Warner Bros/Universal’s Twisters and Baltasar Kormakur’s Touch from Focus, as well as a high-profile visit from Sharon Stone, he still appears to be on the fence about returning next year.

Sharon Stone appeared at the Taormina Film Festival today, during a press conference held at the luxe San Domenico Palace (where season 2 of The White Lotus was partially filmed). Stone is in the hilltop Sicilian town to accept the Golden Cariddi for Lifetime Achievement later this evening.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor In the Antico Teatro in the Sicilian town of Taormina, the 70th edition of the Taormina Film Festival got off to a lively start, with the Nastri d’Argento Awards ceremony, amid a mix of comedy and controversy. The comedy was on hand with the loudest applause of the evening going to Carlo Verdone and Christian De Sica (above), two “pillars of Italian comedy” as they were introduced by Pilar Fogliati, star of “Confidenze,” and “Romeo Is Juliet.” Pilar herself was a recipient of her first Nastro d’Argento.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor The world premiere of Mitzi Peirone’s horror film “Saint Clare” will open the Taormina Film Festival, this year celebrating its 70th anniversary edition. The adaptation of Don Roff’s novel stars Bella Thorne, Ryan Phillippe, Frank Whaley and Rebecca De Mornay. It’s the first of four world premieres to screen at the outdoor Teatro Antico in the Sicilian town, which looks out towards Mount Etna, an active volcano, to the West.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent U.S. actor Elena Kampouris (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”) is set to star in the Sicily-set “Here Now,” a romantic thriller marking Italian director Gabriele Muccino‘s return to English-language filmmaking.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has released first-look images of limited series “The Leopard,” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date. Production on the lavish historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” – and potential to make a global mark – is currently underway in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse and Catania. The show is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The movie, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The newly rebooted Taormina Film Festival kicked off on Friday night in the Sicilian city’s landmark Teatro Antico amphitheatre in an unusual but magnificent style with benefit event “Pavarotti Forever”.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor The 69th Taormina Film Festival boasts an impressive lineup of Italian and world premieres as it seeks to reboot and re-establish its status as a date to watch on the festival circuit. Located in the historical Sicilian town – its visibility recently getting an unlooked for boost with the second season of HBO’s ”The White Lotus” – will be hosting a series of screenings. The outdoor Teatro Antico will provide a suitably antique background for the Italian premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” with Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Mads Mikkelsen in attendance. The directorial debut of Italian artist Marco Perego, “The Absence of Eden,” will receive its world premiere. The film stars Perego’s wife Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona. The thriller tells the story of an undocumented immigrant fleeing a drug cartel whose path crosses with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in a crisis over the moral dilemmas of his job. An unlikely alliance forms as the two endeavor to save the life of a young girl.

Italian towns fighting for survival as local populations plummet, celebrity attention can be the difference between life and death. Local administrations in Italy have been trying for years to lure newcomers by putting dilapidated houses on the market for €1, and now a growing number vying to snare celebrity buyers to drive demand for the run-down homes. In a recent eight-part BBC documentary series, TV personalities Amanda Holden and Alan Carr renovated houses they had bought in the picturesque Sicilian town of Salemi for a euro each.

EXCLUSIVE: Bella Thorne is headed to the 69th edition of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival (June 24 to July 1) after being invited to guest curate one of its gala evenings with a special program of short films including her own directorial debut Paint Her Red.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Shooting has kicked off in Rome on limited series “The Leopard” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks Netflix’s most ambitious Italian original to date. Production on the lavish period piece will take place in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse, Catania as well as the Italian capital over the next four months. The historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown,” and potential to make a global mark, is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The film, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, 51, has revealed she “hates wearing clothes” and even quipped about being “a nudist” after seeing lots of naked men during a trip abroad.The star made these cheeky claims during a chat with her new BBC co-star Alan Carr, 46.Amanda shared a clip from her brand new BBC One show with her comedian pal to her Instagram.During the video, the Heart Radio presenter confessed to being “basically a nudist” after she had seen lots of naked men in Corfu."I hate wearing clothes,” she told Alan as the pair explored an ancient, Sicilian town. "You are basically a nudist!" Alan replied, as Amanda went on to agree with the statement.READ MORE: "I am actually,” she quipped.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDisney, Amazon, Netflix and Showtime all have TV series of different types either recently shot or set to shoot in Sicily.As one of its first Italian originals, Disney+ has commissioned a still-untitled TV series about Sicily’s Florio family, who, during the 19th century, built an economic empire on the island and became known as the merchant princes of Europe.Casting is now underway for this high-end period epic, to be directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese (“Perfect Strangers”) and produced by Rome-based Lotus Prods., a unit of Leone Film Group. The Sicilian skein, which is expected to start shooting in July, is based on local bestseller “The Lions of Sicily,” by Stefania Auci, that has been translated in several languages.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDisney+ has commissioned a still-untitled TV series on Sicily’s Florio family who during the 19th century built an economic empire on the island and became known as the merchant princes of Europe.Casting is underway in Rome and Palermo, the Sicilian capital, on this high-end period epic to be directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese whose hit dramedy “Perfect Strangers” has spawned countless remakes around the the world, including an Arab-language adaptation for Netflix.The Sicilian skein, which according to sources is expected to start shooting in July, is based on local bestseller “The Lions of Sicily,” by Stefania Auci, which has sold more than 500,000 copies in Italy and been translated in 30 languages. News that Genovese is directing this Disney+ Italian original has been reported in the Italian press and confirmed by multiple sources.The show, which marks the most high-end Disney+ Italian original to date, is being executive produced by Rome-based Lotus Productions — a unit of Leone Film Group. Both Leone in Rome and Disney in London declined to comment.The Florio’s, who moved to Sicily from Calabria following an earthquake in the late 19th century that had left them penniless, gradually built an empire on the island over the following two decades, becoming a dynasty of shipowners, winemakers, and tuna merchants but also creators of the Targa Florio, the world’s oldest endurance car race.

Editors note: When we think of Robert De Niro and Italy, it’s easiest to focus on the Sicilian town of Corleone, because of his Oscar-winning turn in The Godfather: Part II. But De Niro wanted to focus on Naples, which director Paolo Sorrentino brought to life in The Hand of God. De Niro was so moved, he wrote a guest column for Deadline on why the film touched him so dearly.

An Italian town is selling off hundreds of its homes, all for just one euro each.

Sunseekers looking for a change of scenery after lockdown ends could have their prayers answered by this Sicilian town selling homes for just 90p (€1).