Taormina Artistic Director Marco Müller On Inaugural Turn At The Helm, The ‘White Lotus’ Effect & Whether He Plans To Re-Up
deadline.comVeteran 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. “The festival harvest is like the weather, so sometimes you just have to shake the tree and the beautiful fruits come into your hands,” Müller told Deadline. “This year, with the strike in Hollywood and the fact that I signed my contract around April 12, the fact that both Warner Bros and Universal went for Taormina for me is a good starting point for the future — if ever I would have a future here.” He did allow that anniversary editions “are always a headache because people are always expecting it to be very special.” Regarding that future, Müller, whose Taormina contract is up in late August, said, “I don’t know, I’m quite happy because I started producing again.” Based in China for the past four years, Müller is active in working with local titles and also is the head of the Film Art Research Center at Shanghai University. RELATED: Abel Ferrara Writing Book About “All The Crazy Sh*t In This Business”; Talks Next Feature, AI & More – Taormina He calls coming to Taormina “really a test for me” but laments that there’s still “a lot to do here.” Because of the success of the second season of The White Lotus, which filmed locally, tourists have flooded the hilltop Sicilian town, and “Taormina has become an expensive place.” And that has affected audience turnout, Müller
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