Banu Sıvacı’s “Hear the Yellow” has swept the main awards at this year’s Taormina Film Festival. The drama, which started its festival journey in Berlin back in February, was elected Best Film and Best Script at the Sicilian event, with its leads Süleyman Kadim Kabaali and Selva Erdener winning Best Actor and Best Actress respectively.
“Hear the Yellow” is Sıvacı’s sophomore effort. The drama follows young Suna, who returns to her small Turkish village to find it riven with cracks caused by draught. Her parental home is as fragile as relationships between the locals, but Suna persists in shining a light into the past’s dark corners. Sıvacı’s feature debut, “The Pigeon,” also premiered in Berlin, back in 2018.
This year’s jury at Taormina was presided over by New Zealand director Jane Campion, alongside her “The Piano” lead Holly Hunter, costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, casting director Francine Maisler, breakout director Akinola Davies Jr. (“My Father’s Shadow”), Amazon MGM Studios’ head of global marketing Sue Kroll, and Italian actor/director Pietro Castellitto. Other major names to touch down in the Italian town include Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, Connie Nielsen, Scott Eastwood, Aaron Paul, Nina Dobrev, Sam Nivola, Clive Owen and Gore Verbinski.
