Interview with Tiziana Rocca, 'excellence rewarded at the Filming Italy Venice Award'

The Filming Italy Venice Award, organized by Tiziana Rocca, will be presented on August 31 during the Venice Film Festival

Miss Rocca, the Filming Italy Venice Award returns on August 31. What should we expect from this edition?

This year, we’ll honor two protagonists of international cinema who have left a profound mark: Alicia Silverstone and Ferzan Özpetek. The ceremony will take place in the Stucco Room of the Excelsior Hotel, during the Venice Film Festival—a venue that, for me, represents a unique and special stage.

You are the creator and founder of this award. Where does this strong connection with the Venice Film Festival originate?

It’s a relationship built over time. I began by organizing collateral events on the terrace of the Venice Casino, welcoming stars like Woody Allen, Meryl Streep, Sylvester Stallone, and George Clooney. Over the years, this professional and emotional bond with the Festival has transformed into a genuine mission: promoting cinematic excellence through the Filming Italy Venice Award.

What is the philosophy behind the award?

Our objective is twofold: on one hand, to valorize the artistic and cultural aspects of cinema; on the other, to acknowledge its industrial and productive dimensions. Each year, we honor artists who breathe life into characters or create powerful stories behind the camera, recognizing their journey while also looking toward future projects.

The Venice Film Festival is an international symbol. How does your award differentiate itself?

The Festival unites tradition and innovation, and with the Filming Italy Venice Award, we strive to capture its essence, reinventing ourselves annually. It’s an opportunity to celebrate international cinematic excellence, but also to advance fundamental themes such as inclusion and gender equality.

Over the years, the award has evolved into a genuine cultural platform. How have you accomplished this?

Through consistency and particular attention to young talent and female artistry. The Filming Italy Venice Award dialogues with other initiatives I’ve created, such as Filming Italy Sardegna and Filming Italy Los Angeles. The latter, especially, provides visibility to Italian excellence abroad—an aspect I consider fundamental.

Who will be the symbolic faces of this edition?

This year, we’re proud to have Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph as our ambassador and Italian actress Matilde Gioli as our godmother. Additionally, our Honorary President will be Franco Nero, a true icon of world cinema, who in 2026 will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

How important is a festival like Venice today, in your opinion, for the promotion of auteur cinema?**

It's fundamental for the promotion of auteur cinema, as it offers one of the few international platforms capable of giving visibility to works that often struggle to find space in commercial circuits. Many directors and independent productions have a concrete opportunity to reach a wider audience, thanks to the presence of the press, distributors, and industry professionals. In a landscape dominated by market logic and serial productions, a festival of this caliber assumes an essential role, because it preserves and revitalizes auteur cinema as a form of cultural and artistic expression.

What is the secret to successfully balancing cinema, glamour, and communication?**

It's essential that cinema remains at the center, with its narrative power and cultural value, but that it's accompanied by a context capable of attracting media attention and engaging the audience. Glamour, when well-balanced, contributes to creating that unique atmosphere that makes an event like a festival unforgettable, while communication plays a key role in effectively conveying all this: it enhances content without emptying it of meaning, as happened with the Taormina Film Festival, of which I am the director. When these elements blend with each other, an alchemy emerges that gives cinema visibility and charm, without distorting its essence.