The Sicilian Film Festival (SFF), under the patronage of Accademia del Cinema Italiano Premi David di Donatello and also made possible with the support of the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority and the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, and Cultural Arts Council, proudly announces its 2011 sponsors. A prestigious group of private companies and businesses, institutions, individuals, not-for-profit and media organizations have helped establish the SFF as the most prominent showcase of Sicilian and Southern Italian culture and art in the United States. The festival will attract guests, actors and directors from Italy and welcome tourists and residents of South Florida to a common stage where ideas can be exchanged in a warm and welcoming environment.
At the 2011 Sicilian Film Festival, South Beach will meet Sicily April 7 to 13, 2011 with film screenings at the Miami Beach Cinematheque, at the Historic City Hall, 1130 Washington Avenue, South Side, Ground Floor, Miami Beach, FL 33139; a ‘Kick-Off’ Press Party along with opening of the photography exhibit “Roberto Granata: A Sicilian Photographer In Hollywood” at Vino e Olio in the Design District on Wednesday, April 6, 2011; and lecture by film journalist and author titled, “The Taste of Sicilian Cuisine” highlighting original recipes featured in famous movies. This fundraiser includes a buffet dinner at Café Milano, Miami Beach with Guest Speaker and Film Journalist, Laura Delli Colli. Proceeds from the sale and auction of photos by the Roberto Granata Foundation benefit children displaced by earthquake tragedies worldwide. More details are available at www. SicilianFilmFestival.com.
2011 SFF Sponsors:
Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali
Assessorato Turismo Regione Siciliana
City of Miami Beach
Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority
Consolato Generale d’Italia Miami
Societa Dante Alighieri, Miami
Barry University, The School of Adult Education
Miami Beach Cinematheque
Rai
Rai Fiction
Accademia del Cinema Italiano
Filmoteca Regionale Siciliana
Queer Frame
Atlantide Entertainment
CinemadaMare
Salina Doc Fest
Fondazione Roberto Granata
Di Santo LLP, Attorneys at Law
Gerson, Preston, Robinson, P.A. Certified Public Accountants
Com.Unica
Miami Art Guide
The Beach Channel
89.7 Classical South Florida
The Eurochannel
Around Town Magazine
Biscayne Times
SunPost Weekly
DRW, Davie & the Ranches Magazine with the Weston Express also serving Cooper City
Speaker Web.tv
Emanuele Viscuso Trompe L’oeil
Magnetude
RAC, Produttori di Sistemi di Riposo
G.H,Mumm
Donnafugata
BV Brands
Vino e Olio, Design District
Café Milano, Miami Beach
Valentino sul Mare Ristorante, Miami Beach
Trattoria Sole, South Miami
Rosinella, Miami Beach
Pelican, Miami Beach
The Clay Hotel, South Beach
The Relaxing Hotels, Roma
Antico Palazzo Rospigliosi, Roma
Zaiera Resort, Siracusa
ABOUT THE SFF:
Celebrating its sixth year, Sicilian Cinema has made a name for itself thanks to the Sicilian Film Festival (SFF). The seven-day Festival was created in Miami in 2006 by the Sicilian-born sculptor, musician, writer, and designer Emanuele Viscuso. Now residing in Miami Beach, Viscuso seeks to underline the importance of Sicily, its cinema, literature, art, food and wine, fashion, and culture on an international platform.
The SFF has created renewed pride, not only among Sicilians, but all Italians living around the world. It is the first organization to showcase:
• Sicily’s importance in film production (it is second in Italy, after Rome, in producing movies);
• some of the best Italian directors including Sicilian, Giuseppe Tornatore who won an Oscar for Cinema Paradiso;
• Hollywood stars of Sicilian origin such as Frank Sinatra, Vincente Minnelli, Martin Scorcese, Frank Capra, Susan Sarandon, Cindy Lauper, Sylvester Stallone, and Joseph Barbera;
• the impressive number of international directors who have chosen Sicily as a site for shooting their movies.
As an enormous number of Sicilians and Sicilian descendants throughout the world are tired of the unjust association of their name with the Mafia, they hope to find a new cultural identity. Through Viscuso’s efforts, the Sicilian Film Festival has successfully achieved the correct formula where many people can unite in one project.
While based primarily in Miami, the SFF holds events in both US and other cities worldwide. An official proclamation of a Sicilian Film Festival Day in 2007 recognized the cultural impact the Festival has had upon the City of Miami. When presenting Emanuele Viscuso with a Key to the City, Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower said, “We appreciate the efforts of this Festival in bringing the Sicilian culture to the fore and sharing the beauty and life of Sicily with the people of Miami and the U.S.A. Through theater, music, art, and love, boundaries are traversed and all nations learn to share each others works and get to understand and appreciate different cultures.”
In addition, the Italian region of Sicily bestowed upon Viscuso, the special honor of “Sicilians in the World: Ambassador of Culture” as a sign of its support of his efforts in establishing the Festival. This honor was received along with seventeen other people of Sicilian origin who represent different vocations and facets of Sicilian culture. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Sicilian Film Festival, Sicilian artists, both known and emerging, have a thriving opportunity in Miami Beach to display their genius to the world.
