The 49th Taormina BNL FilmFest, directed for the fifth consecutive year by Felice Laudadio, will screen 50 feature films during the event's eight days, 10 as world premiers and 16 as international premiers.

Announcing the line-up Laudadio expressed his delight at being able to use Taormina with the aim of helping Italy's summer distribution season get a head start.

'Grande Cinema' In The Greek Theatre
In this section, eight films will be screened each evening; many are the first or second works of young directors.

Palabras Encadenas (Killing Words) by Laura Manas
Identity by James Mangold.
Conspiracy Of Silence by John Deery.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Lowthorpe.
Phone Booth by Joel Schumacher .
Mystics, by David Blair.
Assassination Tango by and starring Robert Duvall.
Effroyables Jardins (Strange Gardens) by Jean Becker.

WORLD CINEMA
The non-competitive World Cinema section of the Festival includes the following films, most of which are first or second works by the director. All are world premiers.

BL,.M, by Irish director Sean Walsh.
A Breach In The Wall, by Jimmy Karlsson.
Alla Fine Della Notte (At the End of the Night) by Salvatore Piscicelli
Lettere Al Vento, by Edmond Budina,
Mosku by Tapio Suominen.
Names In Marble, by Elmo Nuganen.
Narren, by Tom Schreiber.
Noora, by Mahmoud Shoolizadeh.
Tiempo De Tormenta by Pedro Olea.
El Ultimo Tren, by Arsuaga.

In addition, the Hungarian director Miklos Jancso will be present to be honoured with a special tribute, whilst the four films of his Tetralogy will be screened:

The Lord's Lantern In Budapest (1999)
Damn You! The Mosquitoes (2000)
Last Supper At The Arabian Gray Horse (2001)
Wake Up Mate, Don't Sleep (2003), World Premiere

Shooting Stars
Ten films in the Shooting Stars section will present rising young European actors and actresses to the public. This section is organized in association with European Film Promotion and each title will be introduced by the up and coming star of each movie.

Leonor Baldaque in The Uncertainty Principle by Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal.
Daniel Bruehl in Goodbye, Lenin! by Wolfgang Becker, Germany.
Libero De Rienzo in Santa Maradona by Marco Ponti, Italy.
Nina Dogg Filippusdottir in The Sea by Baltasar Kormakur, Iceland.
Minna Haapkila in Lovers & Leavers by Aku Louhimies, Finland.
Maria Hofstatter in Dog Days by Ulrich Seidl, Austria.
Marilita Lambropoulou in The King by Nikos Grammatikos, Greece.
Mattias Schenaerts in Meisje by Dorothee van den Berghe, Belgium.
Jamie Sives in Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself by Lone Scherfig, Great Britain.
Tatiana Vilhelmova in Wild Bees by Bohdan Slama, Czech Republic.

The Bnl Prizes For Short Films
An international jury composed of British producer Simon Perry (president), Spanish distributor Ricardo Avila, Danish festival consultant Lissy Bellaiche, French director Laetitia Colombani and Italian producer Fernando Ghia will award the following prizes:

- Premio BNL - I Corti Siciliani: a prize of Euros 10,330, to the best short film among 30 made by directors born or living in Sicily, chosen by the cultural group Visionaria.

- Premio BNL - International Short Film: a prize of Euros 10,330, to the best short film among 27 chosen by Lorenza Micarelli, director of the Solinas Prize.